Weekly Update: 9-9-16 My Dorky Hip Hop Rhyme

Repeating sounds create harmony and flow,

Helps you remember little facts you ought to know.

Hail to thee, three kings of repetition:

Assonance and Consonance and Big Alliteration.

Thus begins the most interesting part of this week's homework.

Yeah, I'm gangsta.

For my class on Teaching English Learners in Secondary Schools, we had to visit a website called Flocabulary, which showed quick hip-hop videos that broke down important topics in subjects, for example, writing a thesis, figurative language, or study skills. It's like a modern School House Rock. We had to watch some of these videos and create our own hip-hop poem. Well, my hip-hop is pretty bad, but my poetry is pretty good, so I wrote a little song about the difference between alliteration, assonance, and consonance. It's pretty funny, but if you picture me trying to spit rhymes, it's absolutely hilarious.

In addition to schoolwork, I netted 3 jobs this week, which is crazy this early in September. I'm supposed to research agents for Three Floating Coffins, but so far, I've done zilch on it. I've barely had time to squeeze in a half an hour of writing a day. On the bright side, I have this Saturday free for the first time in ages, so maybe I'll use it to get stuff done.

And now without further ado: My Dorky Hip Hop Rhyme

* * *

"Repeating Sounds"

Just add music!

Repeating sounds create harmony and flow,

Helps you remember little facts you ought to know.

Hail to thee, three kings of repetition:

Assonance and Consonance and Big Alliteration.

You’re gonna know their names, gonna give them what is due.

And if you mix them up, they'll be coming after you.
But should you forget, don’t break down and sob.

Just take a deep breath and remember Bob.

Heed the story of Bob, better show some respect

Taken down by consonance, he was assonance-d to death.

Right in the beginning, our boy was feeling good.

Bob built a boat out of balmy balsa wood.

Now all these bouncing “B’s make your tongue pretty sick

But alliteration catches your eye pretty quick.

Consonant or vowel, doesn’t matter in the least.

As long as they come first, alliteration’s at the feast.

Alliteration always strings up starting sounds with ease.

And as for Bob, he set out to sail the seven seas.

Repeating sounds create harmony and flow,

Helps you remember little facts you ought to know.

Now Bob was sailing free, when by bad circumstance

His ship ran afoul of some hard consonance.

His bark struck rock and broke open with a crack.

(You’ll be hearing the “k,” not in front, but in back.)

The consequence of consonance is constantly repeating

The consonants in mid or back. The sound is never fleeting. 

To hear the work of mid-word “k,” then let me interject

How Bob quickly panicked when he saw his boat was wrecked.

Heed the story of Bob, better show some respect

Taken down by consonance, he was assonance-d to death.

Feel scared and down, Bob’s head began to cloud.

He let out a shout, bounced overboard, and drowned.

If you want to say “ow,” that’s because it’s the sound

In “drowned,” “shout,” “out,” “bounced,” “cloud,” and “down.”  

From deep inside the word, a repeating of the vowels

Makes you stretched out your mouth, makes you speak from your bowels.

It doesn’t have to rhyme, but it comes pretty close.

Now poor Bob’s dead, so let’s leave behind his ghost.

Repeating sounds create harmony and flow,

Helps you remember little facts you ought to know.

Put it all together, hear the sound repetition

“Bob built a boat”—and we’ve got alliteration.

“The bark struck rock”—courtesy of consonance.

“He bounced out and drowned”—so respect the assonance.

One more time, hear the sound repetition

“Bob built a boat”—and we’ve got alliteration.

“The bark struck rock”—courtesy of consonance.

“He bounced out and drowned”—so respect the assonance.

If these words bash your brain, leave you feeling quite repugnant

Then I’d better stop my rhyme; this repeating’s gone redundant.