Language Techniques English Flashcards
Metaphor
Describing one thing of another
e.g. a heart of gold
Simile
Using ‘like’ or ‘as’
e.g. light as a feather, brave as a lion
Alliteration
two or more words that start with the same sound are used repeatedly in a phrase or a sentence
e.g. anxious ants, wild wind, tasty tacos
Onomatopoeia
a word of a sound
e.g. meow, moo, crash, slam
Personification
Giving an object, animal or plant a human trait
e.g. The moon smiled
Hyperbole
an exaggerated statement or claim that is not meant to be taken literally
e.g. I told you a million times
Assonance
a repetition of vowel sounds in any part of a word
e.g. Go slow over the road (repetition is the long o sound)
Dialect
form of language spoken in a country or group
e.g. if someone says they are “a hop, skip, and a jump away,” they mean, “I am not far away.”
Oxymoron
Two words that don’t meet
e.g. bitter sweet, awfully good
Repetition
The act of repeating, or doing, saying, or writing something again
Symbolism
The use of words or images to symbolize specific concepts, people, objects, or events
e.g. a character’s long, wild hair might symbolize a period of youth or innocence
Imagery
when a writer appeals to a reader’s senses by using descriptive and figurative language
e.g. hear, sight, taste, feel, touch
Irony
the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning
e.g. A person saying, ‘I’m loving the gorgeous weather’ when it is raining means the opposite of what they are saying
Enjambment
a poetic term for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next
e.g. I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o’er vales and hills
Flashbacks
Takes the narrative to a past memory
Foreshadowing
Hinting something that will happen later on
Contrast
Showing noticeable differences
Pathos
An argument that appeals to the audience emotion
Allusion
a casual or indirect reference to a person, place, or thing of significance
e.g. She had the feeling she had a golden ticket: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Cliche
an expression, idea, or action that has been overused to the point of seeming worn out, ineffective, or meaningless
e.g. better safe than sorry
Dialogue
a conversation between 2 or more characters
Allegory
something that holds a hidden meaning
e.g. political
Anaphora
the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each line of a poem, speech
e.g.“I wish I may; I wish I might.”
Consonance
the repetition of similar sounds – or consonants (non-vowels) – in language. Consonance is used by writers to communicate rhythm, mood, and flow.
