Language Terms & Techniques Flashcards
Personification
To give an inanimate object a human feeling or characteristic.
‘The candle danced whilst the air blew it.’
Alliteration
To give the same start of a letter as the last.
‘It was, simply silent.’
Onomatopoeia
Sound of an object performing.
‘The Bunsen burner roared.’
Simile
Word (as,like) to connect/link a clause.
‘The shopkeeper watched the customer, like he does to his money.’
Metaphor
A word describing a noun which then suggests a resemblance.
‘The curtain of night fell upon us.’
Sibilance
A consonant(s) with a higher pitch/amplitude, made by air.
‘Zebra,zap,stop.’
Rhetorical Question
A question with a straight forward answer, doesn’t need to be answered.
‘Are you stupid?’
Colloquial Language
Words or expression used in ordinary language by common people, doesn’t need to be formal.
‘I wasn’t born yesterday.’
Hyperbole
Words exaggerating within a statement.
‘His nose was 3 feet long.’
Imagery
A description that forms some sort of image.
‘The crystal blue river gleamed under the sun’s gaze.’
Noun
An object, place, thing, etc.
“The man”
Verb
An active/action word.
“Ran”
Adjective
A describing word, describing a noun.
“The red road.”
Adverb
A word describing a verb.
“Quickly,”
Repetition
A word repeating itself, within a short space of words.
“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which apparently opposing terms appear in conjunction.
“There is a love hate relationship.”
Pronoun
Pronoun taking place of a noun: he,she, etc.
“He waved at her.”
Abstract noun
A noun suggesting an idea, quality or state rather than a concrete object.
“Liberty, anger.”
Proper noun
A noun referring to a specific to a specific person, place, animal or thing.
“John saw Jill.”
Collective noun
A noun that specifies the collection of things taken as a whole.
“A flock of sheep.”
Pathos
Appeals to the emotions of the audience.
“If we don’t move soon, we’re all going to die.”
Rhyme
Correspondence of sound between words (endings).
“Mole and hole”
Rhythm
A (strong) pattern of sound or movement.
“Ruth listened to the rhythm.”
Caesura
A pause near the middle of a line.
“Song of joy, // song of praise.”
Symbolism
The use of symbols to represent the idea or qualities.
“Black symbols represents death.”
Semantic field
A lexical set of semantically related items, for example verbs of perception.
Proposition
Tells you where the object is.
“It was near the car.”
Article
Describes words like, “the”, or “a” (essentially anything that doesnt fit into other categories, eg. Verb, noun, etc.)
Syndetic List
List without commas but replaces it with ‘and’.
eg. A bucket and shovel and rocks.
Asyndetic List
A list.
eg. I have a bag, hat, shoes and a pencil.
