Mar
4
Onomatopoeia
March 4, 2008 | Tagged American history, double entendre, meter, onomatopoeia, rhyme, sound devices, subtext | Leave a Comment
Objectives:
- Know what onomatopoeia is.
- Understand how “sound-words” can convey meaning that strictly denotative words can’t.
Warm-up:
Describe a situation or a time when words could not express how you really felt, for example when something amazing or devastating happened, or when you felt uncomfortable or “on the spot.” What kinds of words/sounds came out of your mouth by choice or mistake.
Mini-Lesson:
- Start talking about what kids wrote…
- What about the ubiquitous “umm” of stressful times when your brain works so much faster than your mouth?…Or those extra special times when you finally get to talk to that special someone and all that comes out are mashed-up words…What about those crazy made-up sounds that work like inside jokes?…What about that cough-masked explicative?
- Onomatopoeia is/is derived from Greek for “name-making”
- Lyrics to Cab Calloway’s “Jumpin’ Jive” are not necessary to catch the examples of onomatopoeia.
Guiding questions:
- What kinds of non-sense words (without denotation) are used in this song?
- What effect do they have on the audience?
My students love this clip of Cab Calloway’s “Jumpin’ Jive” with the Nicholas Brothers.
Some of Cab Calloway’s songs use onomatopoeia to mask references to drugs, alcohol & sex, topics that ranged from illegal to taboo during a career that coincided with Prohibition and organized crime. If you’d like to explore some of these topics, you might consider handing-out a copy of the song’s lyrics.
Application: (usually adding onomatopoeia to a draft, but otherwise…as you see fit)
Another song that works well for onomatopoeia: “Doo, doo, da is all I want to say to you” The Police.
As always, please suggest:
- other songs that would work well
- modifications to the lesson
Comments
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)License & Sharing
