Language Techniques (Also For Language Creative Writing) Flashcards
Sibilance technique
Repetition of ‘s’ sounds
Plosives technique
Sounds that are generally associated with letters p, t, k, b, d, g
Asyndetic / syndetic tetracolon/ tricolon technique
Asyndetic tricolon: list of 3 words without any conjunction
Syndetic tricolon: list of 3 words with conjunctions
Asyndetic tetracolon: list of 4 words without any conjunction
Syndetic tetracolon: list of 4 words with conjunctions
Emotive verb/adjective/noun technique
Verb/adjective/noun that conveys an emotion
Example “cried”
Ambiguity technique
Method of storytelling in which writers purposefully write in a vague or ambiguous manner to add a layer of complexity
Humour technique
Makes audiences laugh, or that intends to induce amusement or laughter
Black humour technique
Making amusement from particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss
Modal verbs technique
Verb that shows possibility
Example: could, would, might
Simile technique
Comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid
Example: as brave as a lion
Metaphor technique
Describes something by saying it’s something else
Example: he was a goal scoring machine
Gothic trope technique
Examples:
Crows or ravens, bats, howling wolves, clanking chains
Secret passages, tunnels
Crumbling, decaying ruins of church or state, orphanages
Assonance technique
Same or similar vowel sound is repeated
Consonance technique
Uses sounds of similar consonants in words, a sentence or phrase
Superlative words technique
Words used to describe a noun when comparing it to two or more nouns to the highest or lowest degree
Example: Biggest, smallest
Verbs technique
Conveys an action, an occurrence, or a state of being
Example: Eating
Epistrophe technique
Punctuation splitting the sentence evenly in half
Kinaesthetic language technique
Conveys a lot of movement
Olfactory language technique
Language associated with sense of smell
Tactile language technique
Language associated with sense of touch
Gustatory language technique
Language associated with sense of taste
Auditory language technique
Language associated with sense of hearing
Visual language technique
Language associated with sense of seeing
Utopia technique
Employs its playfulness in a pretty systematic way
Dystopia technique
Exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system
Fricative sounds technique
Alliteration of a consonant sound, such as f or v
Juxtaposition / sharp juxtaposition technique
2 contrasting things placed directly next to each other
Bathos technique
Sharp anticlimax
Dehumanification technique
Where a characters human identity is removed
Collective pronoun / pronoun technique
Names something that has many members or parts
Eg. we, our
Comparative words technique
Example: brighter and harder
Imperative verbs technique
Verbs that give a command to the person being addressed
Questioning technique
Where questions are asked
Anthropomorphism technique
Attributes human characteristics to non-human entities, like animals and plants, or inanimate objects, like stars or machines
Deification technique
When an idea is made to appear holy or sacred
Objectification technique
Gives an idea physical properties, for example by using close metaphors like the ‘mind as a computer’
Zoomorphism technique
Assign animal qualities to a non-animal subject, like a human being, inanimate object, or idea
Personification technique
Emphasise a non-human’s characteristics by describing them with human attributes
Gerund verb technique
ing verbs
Example: eating
Abstract noun technique
Nouns that cannot be quantified
Examples: Love, concept, experience, courage, judgement, probability, freedom and soul
Hyperbole technique
Rhetorical and literary technique where an author or speaker intentionally uses exaggeration and overstatement for emphasis and effect
Melodrama technique (for plays only)
Uses exaggeration and stereotyped characters to appeal to the audience’s emotions
Short snappy sentence type (and stichomithia for plays)
Sentence under 3 words
Long breathless sentence type
Very long sentence: around 15 words long
Quote in essays with 3 words at the start, ellipses(…), and 3 words the end
Complex sentence type
Made up of a main clause and a subordinate clause connected to each other with a subordinating conjunction
Monosyllabic sentence type
1 word sentence, such as:
“Yes.”
‘’No.’’
Anacoluthon sentence type
When a speaker begins a sentence in a way that implies a certain logical resolution and then ends it differently
“I will have such revenges on you both, That all the world shall―I will do such things, What they are, yet I know not.”
Chiasmus sentence type
Two-part sentence or phrase, where the second part is a mirror image of the first
Example: “foul is fair and fair is foul”
Imagery of … sentence type
Exclamative sentence type
Exclamatory sentence, also known as an exclamation sentence or an exclamative clause, is a statement that expresses strong emotion. It ends with an exclamation mark. (!)
Iambic pentameter sentence type
Each line has five sets of two beats, the first beat is unstressed and the second beat is stressed.
E.g. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
Used to mimic heartbeat
Aposiopesis (for plays)
Portrays its users as overcome with passion (fear, anger, excitement) or modesty.
To mark the occurrence of aposiopesis with punctuation, an em-rule (—) or an ellipsis (…) may be used.
Eg. “Get out, or else—!”
Lexical field
Words used in a text that relate to each other
Reverse pschycology
Example: better to ask for the earth than to take the earth
Extended metaphor
When a whole sentence acts like a metaphor.
Factual language
Plain facts spoken in the play or narrative.
Quiproquo in drama
Misunderstanding between characters
Triadic structure
Example: to show holy trinity, such as truth
Hyphenated sentence type
—
Sarcasm
Speaks in a patronising manner
Dramatic irony
When the audience know more than the characters in the play
Duallogue vs Dialogue
Duallogue between only 2 characters
Dialogue between 2 or more characters
Parallel phrasing
2 things happening at same time
Temporal markers
Phrase conveying time
Hubris as a character
Character’s overconfidence
Mercantile diction
Of or relating to merchants or trade / money.
Ellipses
Used to create dramatic tension
Semantic field
Group of words that have the same meaning
Cyclical structure
When a text ends in the same way it begins
Characters that resonate at the same emotional wavelength
Compounded adjectives
Combination of two or more words which can perform the role of an adjective in a sentence.
Anaphora
Repeating words and phrases from time to time.
Topographical marker
Word conveying place
Eg. A public place
Synaesthesia
Sound imagery
