Techniques Flashcards
Allegory effect
Allows authors and creators to explore often overwhelming or controversial ideas in an approachable manner.
Allegory
When characters and plot represent ideas that relate to morality, politics, or religion.
Alliteration effect
Draws attention to certain phrases or sentences.
Draws the eye of the reader and the phrase has more emphasis when read.
Allusion
A way of making reference to something else without explicitly stating what it is you’re referring to.
Allusion effect
Allows authors to infer meaning by creating parallels between their text and whatever it is they’re alluding to.
It can also be used in the opposite manner, to create contrast between the author’s argument and their allusion.
Anaphora
When words (or a phrase) repeat at the beginning of consecutive sentences, clauses, or lines (in poetry).
Anaphora effect
Used like alliteration to create emphasis and draw the eye of the reader, creating rhythm and injecting emotion into the text.
Archetype
A stereotype of a character or thing.
It is a model around which certain character types are built (ie. a tragic hero).
Archetype effect
Used to build a connection between the reader and the characters in the text.
It prompts a feeling of familiarity which causes readers to become more emotionally invested in a text.
Aphorism
A short statement about a widely accepted truth.
These are often amusing or witty in nature.
Aphorism effect
Use of aphorisms builds trust between the reader and the writer; by making use of universal truths, the reader comes to understand the writer as trustworthy, thus increasing engagement and helping persuade them of the writer’s argument.
Assonance
Repetition of a similar vowel sound in consecutive words or words in close proximity.
Assonance effect
Like alliteration or anaphora, assonance creates rhythm in a text.
It allows readers to interpret a sentence the way the author intended by making clear which vowel sound should be stressed.
