Auditory imagery
Descriptive language that evokes sounds and acoustic effects, including onomatopoeia, assonance, alliteration, and explicit reference to sounds. Auditory imagery creates rhythm, musicality, and emotional resonance through sound patterns.
Real World
In Simon Armitage's 'Remains,' the repeated phrase 'probably armed, possibly not' echoes like a looping sound in the speaker's mind, using auditory repetition to convey the psychological torment of PTSD.
Exam Focus
Connect auditory imagery to phonetic devices like sibilance or plosives — examiners reward analysis of how sound reinforces meaning.
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