The words 'em and livin' are an example of: a. assonance b. consonance c. true rhyme ?

Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound within
a group of words. For instance, refer to "May was late today." In this example, the "a"
SOUND is the same in "May," "late," and "today." Remember, it is not the same letter
that creates the assonance, but the sound. As another example, "neighbor," "grace," and
"save" are ALL examples of assonance because in all three words, the "a" (though written
as "ei" in "neighbor") creates the SAME SOUND.

Consonance
is much the same, except it concentrates on consonant SOUNDS within a group of words.
For example, in "Dennis went to town," consonance applies because the SOUND is the same
in three of the words: the "n" sounds the same in "Dennis," "went," and "town." It does
not matter that the sounds are found in different places within the three
words.

The only things you cannot do in creating
consonance are: do not place one of the letters at the
beginning of a word. (Repetitive consonant sounds at the beginning
of words is called "alliteration," and cannot be mixed with consonance.) Secondly, if an
"n" is used that is part of a "consonant blend" that creates a different SOUND, it
cannot be used. For example, "bank" does not have the same sound as "went."
Let your ears guide you, not your
eyes.

True rhyme is when words sound exactly
the same.  "Fame" and "game" create true rhyme, but "done" and "when" do NOT create true
rhyme. They are used as "near rhyme," which is something poets will often do.  For
example, Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 (a great love poem) uses a rhyme between "possess'd (a
contraction of "possessed") and "least." They sound very similar, but are not the
same.

In answer to your question, then, I find the choices
provide only one correct answer. With 'em and livin', the last letters of the words are
not the same—different sounds mean consonance is not
used.

Because the sounds are not the same, I would identify
the words as "near rhyme," not "true rhyme." The consonants used have different sounds,
and the vowels, which generally carry the rhyme, also have a different
sound.

In terms of assonance, you should select that answer
"a"), as the vowels used create the same sound, according to Bedfords/St.
Martins:

readability="5">

...Assonance occurs when the vowel sound within a
word matches the same sound in a nearby
word...

Bedfords/St. Martins
also gives a more in-depth example:

readability="8">

...the repetition of internal vowel sounds in
nearby words...for example, "asleep under a tree," or "each
evening."

According to this
source, vowels sounds can be found within words or at the beginning of words. In other
words, if the repeated sounds are found—with vowels—within
the word or at the beginning of words, assonance exists if the sounds are the
same.