aqa GCSE ENGLSIH LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES

Question 1

Adjective

Answer 1

Adjectives are words used to describe. For example: ‘The puppy had a warm belly’, ‘The President gave an important speech’ and ‘We put on our cumbersome diving suits’.

Question 2

Adverb

Answer 2

An adverb is a word that describes or gives more information about a verb, adjective, adverb, or phrase: In the phrase “she smiled cheerfully”, the word “cheerfully” is an adverb. It is describing how she is smiling. These words often end with –‘ly’.

Question 3

Alliteration

Answer 3

Alliteration is the use of the same consonant letter or sound at the beginning several connected words. You could also call them alliterative phrases. For example: ‘Hannah’s home has heat, hopefully!’, ‘She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore’ and ‘Mike’s microphone made much music’.

Question 4

Anecdote

Answer 4

An anecdote is a witty or interesting short story, often used in speech, to give a real-life example which supports a point.

Question 5

Assonance

Answer 5

Assonance is similar to alliteration, however, instead of repeating a consonant sound, assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. This effect can often also create rhyme. For example, ‘Beans Means Heinz’.

Question 6

Colloquial Language

Answer 6

Colloquial language is simply a more sophisticated way of saying slang. Colloquialisms are words and phrases which are considered informal and not appropriate for a formal setting.

Question 7

Direct Address

Answer 7

Direct address is a technique used by writers and speakers to communicate directly with their audience. The word ‘you’ is often used. For example: ‘Fellow students, have you ever felt afraid to walk around the school by yourself?’.

Question 8

Emotive Language

Answer 8

Emotive language is a choice of words used to create an emotional impact on the writer’s audience, for example ‘sponsor a poor, lost puppy for only £5 a month’. This might make the reader feel sad, guilty and responsible which might make them more likely to donate to the cause.

Question 9

Exaggeration

Answer 9

Exaggeration is a phrase that represents something as better or worse than it really is. If the exaggeration is really extreme - it might be a hyperbole instead!

Question 10

Form

Answer 10

Form is the overall layout and structure of a text. Some text types have certain forms that you will be expected to know in your exam. For example, the form of an article, letter or speech.

Question 11

Hyperbole

Answer 11

A hyperbole (hi-per-bol-ee) is a figure of speech in which extreme exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect. For example: ‘Your suitcase weighs a ton’, ‘I have a million things to do’ and ‘I am so hungry I could eat a horse’.

Question 12

Imagery

Answer 12

Imagery is a technique used by writers to enable their reader to create a clear picture in their head. This often involves a detailed description of a scene with lots of adjectives and the use of the five senses technique. If you can clearly imagine a scene, then it’s likely that imagery has been used!

Question 13

Imperative

Answer 13

An imperative is a command word. It is a word that tells you to do something, much like those that you find in instructions and recipes. For example: ‘stir’, ‘join’, ‘take off’ and ‘whisk’.

Question 14

Juxtaposition

Answer 14

Juxtaposition is when two things are placed closely together with contrasting effect such as: ‘Making a mountain out of a molehill’, ‘Better late than never’ and ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’.

Question 15

Metaphor

Answer 15

A metaphor is a figure of speech where a word or phrase (that ordinarily means one thing) is used to describe another, therefore making an implicit comparison. For example: ‘a sea of troubles’, ‘the curtain of night’ or ‘all the world’s a stage’.

Question 16

Noun

Answer 16

A noun is a word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these (proper noun).

Question 17

Onomatopoeia

Answer 17

Onomatopoeia is a language technique used to describe words that are formed from the sound that the object makes. For example: ‘Boom! Bang! Crash!’, ‘My favourite game is Ping Pong’ and ‘The thirsty dog slurped the dirty water from the puddle’.

Question 18

Oxymoron

Answer 18

Oxymoron is used describe words which contradict each other. For example: ‘deafening silence’, ‘hell’s angels’ or ‘living dead’.

Question 19

Pathetic Fallacy

Answer 19

Pathetic fallacy is a technique used by writers to set the mood of a text. For example, ‘a wet, dull day greeted Mary as she stepped into the grey light. Men huddled by in drab wet coats or stood in dismal doorways waiting for a bus which never seemed to arrive’. The writer never tells us that Mary is in a bad mood and is having a bad day, but, we can infer this from the description of the weather.

Question 20

Personal Pronoun

Answer 20

Personal Pronouns are words such as ‘us’, ‘we’ and ‘our’. They make the reader feel involved in your writing. They are often used in persuasive writing as the words pressure people to take responsibility. They can also be used to create groups in an ‘us’ against ‘them’ situation.

Question 21

Personification

Answer 21

Personification is when a human characteristic is given to an inanimate object or an object without conscious thought. For example: ‘The moon winked at me through the clouds above’, ‘The wind howled its mighty objection’ and ‘The popcorn leapt out of the bowl’.

Question 22

Pronoun

Answer 22

Pronouns are words such as ‘She’, ‘He’, ‘Him, ‘Her’, ‘They’ and ‘I’ which refer to people and participants in a text.

Question 23

Proper Noun

Answer 23

Proper nouns are used to name individual people, places and organisations. For example: ‘Shaun’, ‘London’ or ‘Nike’.

Question 24

Repetition

Answer 24

Repetition is a language device that simply repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable. The repeated words can be right next to each other (such as: ‘Education, education, education), at the beginning of each sentence or spread through the text.

Question 25

Rhetoric

Answer 25

Rhetoric is a word used to describe persuasive writing. For example, you could say ‘the writer has used a hyperbole, which is a common figure of rhetoric.

Question 26

Rhetorical Question

Answer 26

A rhetorical question is asked only for emphasis or to make a point, it’s not meant to be answered. For example: ‘It’s too hot today. Isn’t it?’.

Question 27

Rule of Three

Answer 27

The rule of three technique comes from the idea that things that come in threes are more effective and therefore more memorable. For example: ‘mothers, sisters and daughters’ or ‘lions, tigers and bears’.

Question 28

Semantic Field

Answer 28

A semantic field is a theme created by using words which relate to each other. For example the words ‘well-made’, ‘sophisticated’, ‘elegant’ and ‘rare’ suggest a luxurious semantic field.

Question 29

Simile

Answer 29

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things, with the help of the words “like” or “as”. For example: ‘The water well was as dry as a bone’, ‘Her hair was as soft as a spider’s web’ and ‘The truth was like a bad taste on his tongue’.

Question 30

Superlative

Answer 30

A superlative is a word which describes something in its most extreme form. For example, in this list ‘tall, taller and tallest’ the word ‘tallest would be the superlative as you can’t be taller than the tallest. The best way to spot superlatives is to lookout for the suffix ‘est’ at the end of the word. Other examples include ‘shortest, biggest, smallest, fastest, slowest’.

Question 31

The Five Senses

Answer 31

This technique refers to sensory details which appeal to the five senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight) to help create imagery. If you want to show off with your vocabulary, try using words such as auditory, visual and aroma to help you describe this technique with more sophistication. Some examples include: ‘The heavy door suddenly, slammed shut’ and ‘the room was brightly lit by a large window and housed several modern pieces of electrical equipment but the effect was softened by a drinks cabinet and a warm red carpet’.

Question 32

Verb

Answer 32

A verb is a word which describes an action. Verbs come in three forms - past, present and future or ‘walked’, ‘walking’ and ‘to walk’ or ‘ran’, ‘running’ and ‘to run’. Verbs can be described using adverbs.