Language Techniques Flashcards
Personification
Give a inanimate object a human feeling or characteristic
E.g. The tree danced happily in the breeze
Alliteration
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
E.g. The slimy snake slithered away
Onomatopoeia
the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named
E.g. Pow , pop , blurt , thump , ding
Simile
Using like or as to compare something
E.g. The sand was as hot as the sun
Metaphor
A word or phrase applied to an object which is not literally applicable
E.g. The curtain of night fell upon us
Sibalance
A word making a “S” or “sh” sound
Sadly sam sold seven venomous serpents to sally and Cyrus in San Francisco
Rhetorical question
Asking a question but not directly asking so you don’t get a answer
E.g. Are we to believe that
Colloquial language
Informal and more suitable for use in speech than in writing
E.g. Go bananas or go nuts - go insane or be very angry Y’all - you all
Wanna - want to
Hyperbole
Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
E.g. shes so dumb she thinks taco bell is a mexican phone company
Imagery
Paints a picture in your head
E.g. The sunset was the most gorgeous they’d ever seen the clouds were edged with pink and gold
Noun
A noun is a object or person
E.g. The MAN walked across the ROAD
Verb
A doing word
E.g. The boy RAN after me
Adjective
A adjective is a descriptive word
They live in a BEAUTIFUL house
Adverb
A adverb describes a verb
E.g. I rapidly ran to the shop
Repetition
Repeating the same word a few times
E.g. Let it snow , let it snow , let it snow
Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction
E.g. suddenly the room filled with a deafening silence
Pronoun
A word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse
E.g. I , me , he , she , herself , you , it , that , they
Abstract noun
A noun denoting an idea quality or state rather than a concrete object
E.g. when Joseph dived into the violent waves to rescue a drowning puppy his BRAVERY amazed the crowd
Proper noun
A proper noun is a specific name for a particular person.Place or thing . Proper nouns are always capitalised in English no matter what
E.g. I ordered the laptop from Amazon
Collective noun
A collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole . Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing such as the word “group” which can be applied to people “ a group of people “
E.g. My family are always arguing The neighbours often hear us - a flock of sheep
Assonance
Resemblance of sound between syllables of nearby words. Arising particularly from the rhyming of two or more stressed vowels
E.g. Oh , how the evening light fades over the lake
Dialect
A particular form of language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group
E.g. North American “hello” South American “howdy”
Dialogue
A conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book , play or film
E.g. “Lisa” said Kyle “ I need help moving this box of toys for the garage sale”
Dissonance
Lack of agreement or harmony between people
E.g A baby crying or a alarm
Enjambment
The continuation of a sentence without pause beyond the end of a line or stanza
Irony
the expression of ones meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite typically for humorous or emphatic effect
E.g. when a customer says “ Good job “ to a waiter who dropped his tray
Monologue
A long speech by one actor in a play or film or as part of a theatrical or broadcast programme
Pathos
A quality that evokes pity or sadness
E.g. - “ Of Woodward’s three maim characters , coasts’s journey is the most pathos filled “
Rhyme
Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of the words , especially when there are used at the ends of lines of poetry
E.g. - ‘balloon’ rhymes with ‘moon’
Rhythm
A strong regular repeated pattern of movement or sound. The measured flow of words and phrases and short or stressed and unstressed syllables
E.g. - “ Ruth listened to the rhythm of his breathing “
Caesura
A pause near the middle of a line
E.g. - ‘ sing a song of sixpence ‘ the caesura occurs in the middle of each line ‘ sing a song of sixpence // a pocket full of rye ‘
Symbolism
An artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas , emotion , and state of mind
E.g. - ‘ wandering companionless ‘ through the night sky
Semantic field
A bunch of words that are based on one topic
E.g. - Football , yellow card , goal , referee , linesman
Preposition
A word governing and usually preceding a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause
E.g. - ‘ she arrived AFTER dinner ‘ ‘ The man ON the platform ‘
Article
English has two articles the and a / am . The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns. a / am is used to modify non - specific or non - particular nouns . We call the the definite article and the a / an the indefinite article
E.g. - ‘ After THE long day , THE cup of tea tasted particularly good ‘
