In poetry, which cueing system helps readers notice rhymes?

• A. Syntactic
• B. Semantic
• C. Phonological
• D. Pragmatic

Answer: (C)

Rhymes are all about sound. When you notice rhyme, you’re recognizing that certain words share ending sounds, which is a feature of spoken language rather than meaning or sentence structure. That sound-based awareness comes from the phonological cueing system. It helps you pick up rhyme schemes, internal rhymes, and other sound patterns in poetry—like hearing that cat rhymes with hat or that two lines echo each other with similar endings.

Other cueing systems focus on different information: syntactic cues deal with how a sentence is built and the grammar of the line; semantic cues rely on meaning and imagery; pragmatic cues involve purpose and how the text is used or interpreted. Since rhymes depend on sound rather than meaning or grammar, the phonological system is the best fit for noticing rhymes.