Literary techniques Flashcards
What is a simple sentence?
Consists of only one clause, a subject and a verb.
Tim waited for the train.
What is a compound sentence?
Consists of two independent clauses.
Subject/Verb/ conjunctive (and/for/so/but/)/Subject/ Verb
He danced and she sang
What is a complex sentence?
Has one independent clause and at least one dependent/subordinate clause clause.
Because it was raining, the football match was cancelled.
HOWEVER
They use co-ordinating conjunctions to show the clauses are not equal i.e My dad laughed when I made a joke
which is dependent clause/ subordinating conjunctive/ dependent clause
What is plosive language and its effect?
Plosive consonants are an abrupt sound caused by closing the mouth then releasing a burst of breath. These are B,P,T,D. Have a harsh feel, for example car crash or anger
What is Interior Monologue?
Written representation of a character’s inner thoughts, impressions and memories as if directly “overheard” without the intervention of a sumarrising and selecting narrator.
What is a focaliser?
The term used to describe the kind of perspective from which the events of a story are witnessed.
What is second person adress?
When the narrator refers to the reader as “you” or some equivalent
What is an unreliable narrator?
A narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted, so that it departs from the ‘true’ understanding of events shared between the reader and the implied author. The discrepancy between this type of narrator’s point of view and the view that readers suspect to be more accurate creates a sense of irony. The term does not necessarily mean that such a narrator is morally untrustworthy or a habitual liar (although they may be), since the category also includes harmlessly naïve, ‘fallible’, or ill-informed narrators.
What is sibilance?
Alliteration using “s” sound
What are superlative and comparative adjectives?
Superlative : - est is used i.e nicest
Comparative: -er is used i.e blacker
What is sensory description?
Language that appeals to the readers five senses
What are intensifiers?
Adverb that defines the degree of an adjective or another adverb. Always precede the adjective/ adverb they modify i.e extremely, really, quite
What is a declarative?
Makes a statement
What is a interrogative?
Ask question
What is an exclamative?
Introduce exclamation with element of surprise
What is anthropomorphism?
the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object.
i.e Winnie the Pooh
What is anaphora?
the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
What is a motif?
Motif is a literary technique that consists of a repeated element that has symbolic significance to a literary work. Sometimes, a motif is a recurring image. Other times, it’s a repeated word, phrase, or topic expressed in language. A motif can be a recurring situation or action
What is an allusion?
noun
an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
What is assonance?
Assonance most often refers to the repetition of internal vowel sounds in words that do not end the same. For example, “he fell asleep under the cherry tree” is a phrase that features assonance with the repetition of the long “e” vowel, despite the fact that the words containing this vowel do not end in perfect rhymes
What is consonance?
Consonance is nearly identical to another figure of speech called assonance, with one critical difference: consonance has to do with repeated consonant sounds (i.e., non-vowel sounds), whereas assonance has to do with repeated vowel sounds
