Sound Devices In The Raven

The Raven: Sound Devices

Edgar Allan Poe has been called literature's “most brilliant star,” but he is also very known for an unstable life. Poe was abandoned by his father at birth, loss his mother at 3, and was kicked out of college at age 18. As a result, his upbringing would allow him to struggle much of his adult life; but Poe did land jobs at some literary magazine companies, opening the opportunity for him to write short stories. Poe most famous story “The Raven” was also famous because of his use of sound devices that allowed him to create tone allowing the reader to better understand the story. One sound device he uses is internal rhyme. Internal Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds that falls inside of a line. An example

This techniques allows the mood to change, while emphasizing a certain point or objective. Alliteration affects me by grabbing my attention to a certain viewpoint in the poem. A third device that is less used in the poem, but is effective is Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like their meaning. In the poem, “silken, rustling” is used in line 13, third stanza. In the poem they are commonly used to accurately described a sound or description words. Another example of Onomatopoeia would be “tapping” or “muttered.” These types of moods allow the reader to now visualize and interpret the overall meaning of the lines. Poe's poem uses sound devices such as internal rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia the speaker to understand what and how everything is taking place throughout the story. Secondly, all three devices allows the reader to have a better understanding of the whole poem. “The Raven” explains a loss in Poe's life without important details. However, sound devices in the poem can allow the reader to interpret how Poe must have felt, and allow the reader to be involved in the story. Theses devices make the poem more enjoyable and understandable to the reader, but allows the reader to become part of