emphasis

/ˈɛmfəsɪs/noun
Middle School
1

Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.

2

Special attention or prominence given to something.

3

Prominence given to a syllable or words, by raising the voice or printing in italic or underlined type.

4

The phonetic or phonological feature that distinguishes emphatic consonants from other consonants.

5

The use of boldface, italics, or other such formatting to highlight text.

Sound Patterns & Rhymes

Alliteration

Words starting with the same consonant sound — used in poetry and prose to create rhythm, emphasis, and memorable phrasing (e.g. “Peter Piper picked”)

Assonance

Words sharing similar vowel sounds regardless of starting letter — creates internal melody in writing

Consonance

Words sharing similar consonant sound patterns — adds texture and cohesion to writing