English Language Techniques Flashcards
Personification
Giving an inanimate object or animal human like qualities/emotions.
“The tree danced happily in the breeze.”
Alliteration
A phrase where the words start with the same letter to create an effect.
“Great goal”
Onomatopoeia
A phrase or word that describes sound.
“The thunder cracked and screamed through the night”
Simile
When you describe or compare something to another thing.
“The mountain was like a guardian angel”
Metaphor
When you describe or compare an object, animal or human to something. (Not using like, as, was)
“The swan is an angelic create”
Sibilance
Where you repeat several different words that all begin with letters that make a hissing sound (S,Z etc)
“Sam zipped in his ship while sipping seat salt”
Rhetorical question
A question that you say out loud but you don’t expect an answer
“Why did you crash your car!?”
Colloquial language
Informal language that you’d say to your friends.
“Hey mate, wassup?”
Hyperbole
When you exaggerate something, very descriptive
“I could EASILY read over a thousand books in one night!”
Imagery
When you describe something to the reader so that they can get image of what your describing in their head.
“The plush golden beaches with the soft velvet sand.”
Noun
Refers to all of the nouns, can be any noun.
“The man loved to walk down the road”
Verb
A doing word that describes what someone is doing
“Running down the road”
Adjective
Describes a noun.
“The beautiful car”
Adverb
Describes what a verb is doing
“Running fast…”
Repitition
Repeating a phrase for added effect
“Go! Go! Go!”
Oxymoron
When you purposely contradict yourself
“The slave was free”
Pronoun
A word that comes before a noun phrase
“Perfect peter”
Abstract noun
A noun that gives the feeling, idea or something else which you cannot interact with.
“Lucy loved him”
Assonance
How similar syllables of nearby words are to each other.
“Beats, sweeps, cleans”
Dialect
A form of language that is commonly used within a single area/country/social group
” ‘ello mate how are ya?”
Dialogue
A conversation between two people or characters
“Greetings!” He said
“Hello! Fine weather we’re having” she replied
Dissonance
A lack of agreement or musical harmony between characters
“No you go first!”
“No! I insist you go first!”
Enjambment
When you end a line in a poem without punctuation and you continue onto the next line.
Irony
When something is said and the opposite is carried out.
“You shouldn’t park your car here” she said before parking her car there.
Monologue
A long speech given by a character generally expressing their thoughts or feelings.
Rhythm
A beat or repeated pattern within language or poetry
Caesura
A pause or break within a phrase that then leads into another.
Symbolism
When you use images or symbols to convey an idea.
Pathos
A way of appealing or visualising the feelings of the audience
Rhyme
A poetic technique that gets words that sound similar and puts them in the same or a different line
“The stone then hit the bone”
Preposition
A word that gives the relation of something to something else
