Which term is the repetition of vowel sounds?

• A. Alliteration
• B. Analogy
• C. Assonance
• D. Anthology

Answer: (C)

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words, which gives a musical, flowing effect to the language. This device concentrates on vowels rather than consonants, so you hear the same vowel sound repeated as the words meet. For example, in the line “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain,” the long “ai” sound repeats across several words, creating a soft, melodic link between them. This is different from alliteration, which repeats initial consonant sounds like in “wild wind,” where the emphasis is on the starting letters rather than the vowels. Analogy is simply a comparison used to explain or illustrate, not a sound pattern, and an anthology is a collection of literary works, not a technique of sound repetition.