consonance: repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity
"so was the fish-cart, heralded by its horn; so likewise, was the countryman's cart of vegetables, plodding from door to door, with long pauses of the patient horse..."
-The House of the Seven Gables
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne's purpose for using consonance is much like his purpose for using assonance. He wishes to make his prose flow. Consonance lends itself to reading, similar to poetry. Hawthorne wants the reader to not have to struggle to read. The use of consonance produces a sort of rhythm. It also keeps with the dark romantic tone. writing "the fish monger and the farmer were selling their wares" communicates the same point, however, it is not as embellished, or "pretty" as Hawthorne's writings, and it takes away from the dark romantic, fairytale-like, grotesque atmosphere and tone.
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