What does onomatopoeia mean? What are some examples of onomatopoeia in poetry? Professor Raymond Malewitz answers these questions using an example from William Carlos Williams' poem "The Injury" and the language theories of Ferdinand de Saussure.
The short video is designed to help high school and college English students to not only identify onomatopoeia in literature but also to analyze its purposes and effects. The video is sponsored by the School of Writing, Literature, and Film at Oregon State University. For more discussions of literary topics and essay writing tips, please subscribe to the free SWLF YouTube Channel or visit https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/
Spanish subtitles are now available for this video. To access these subtitles, click on the settings icon in the video.
0:00 How Language Works
1:04 Onomatopoeia Defined
3:07 Onomatopoeia in Poetry
Below are a few more videos in the series. Please drop us a comment letting us know what literary terms you would like us to explore in future videos!