This lesson will teach you about a fun writing technique: onomatopoeia. You will learn how to recognize and use it to increase the interest and excitement in your writing.
Onomatopoeia
Whoosh, swoosh, splash! You've just landed in a lesson about the effect of onomatopoeia. What is onomatopoeia? Turns out, you have already experienced it in this lesson! Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like or is similar to what it's describing. For example, 'tick tock' describes the sound of a clock, and 'meow' sounds just like the noise a cat makes. If you've ever had a case of the hiccups, you can see that 'hiccup' is yet another example.
Don't Let Your Writing Fizzle
Onomatopoeia is an amazing technique to add to your writing. It brings another level of interest to text because it appeals to another sense: hearing. Adding sounds through onomatopoeia can really make your writing sizzle, instead of allowing it to fizzle!
One type of writing that almost always includes onomatopoeia is in comic books. Comics have long included words like pop, bam, wham, and crack to bring the action and excitement of a comic to life. It allows the reader to do more than see or read what's happening. When a character jumps through a glass window, you can hear the glass explode, shattering and cracking all over. The splish-splash of rain on a roof or boom of thunder all add to the interest and excitement of a story.
Advertisers also use the interest and excitement of onomatopoeia to appeal to their audience. Have you ever poured a bowl of Rice Krispies? You probably listened for the snap, crackle, and pop as you add milk. Upset stomach? The plop, plop, fizz, fizz of Alka Seltzer reminds you of the soothing relief it can provide. In these cases, onomatopoeia is not just adding excitement or action. It's connecting you to a product and making it memorable.
But onomatopoeia can do even more for your writing: many authors use it to add humor, or laughter and amusement, to stories and poems. Shel Silverstein is one poet who often includes onomatopoeia to make the reader laugh or bring his story to life. Think of all the ways words like toot, bang, buzz, and sniffle can make a piece of writing more enjoyable.