How to Use Cacophony
In order to use cacophony,
- Think of a situation in which noisiness or harshness occur.
- Use hard sounds to create a cacophonous effect.
For example, imagine someone has dropped many pots and pans.
Situation:
Pots and pans hitting the hard tiled floor
Sentence using Cacophony:
The pots and pans clanged and clamored on the ground in a ting-tang bang of metal hitting tile.
This example utilizes cacophony in numerous ways. Words like “clang” and “clamor” with their hard c’s mimic the sound of the metal hitting tile. Hard t’s in “ting-tang,” “metal,” and “hitting tile” also bring to mind hard surfaces colliding. Finally, the hard g’s in “clanged,” “ground,” “ting-tang” and “bang” also bring to mind harshness.
For a second example, consider a terrible sound:
Situation:
Fingernails on a chalkboard
Sentence using Cacophony:
The fingernails scratched down the chalkboard in a horrific screech and scream of bone on board.
Doesn’t reading the sentence simply make you cringe? Hard sounds in words like “finger,” scratch,” “chalkboard,” “horrific screech and scream” and “bone on board” all build up for a horribly ear-aching cacophony.
When to Use Cacophony
Cacophony can be used in both poetry and prose to connote harsh or noisy sounds or situations. Because our ears recognize hard and rough sounds, we respond to such sounds with feelings of negativity, discomfort, or interest based on the connotation of the sounds. Cacophony can bring to mind a big brass band, a car crash, or hard rain on a tin roof. Cacophony may also be found in descriptive conversation and sound-based songs in order to create a unique listening experience. Because cacophony is considered a poetic device, it would not be used intentionally in more technical and literal pieces such as essays or manuals.