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Paper 1 terminology with explanations, examples and effects
Not necessarily any significant difference between them, though one could try to draw up borders.
Literary devices: A language technique that creates meaning and deepens the reader’s understanding of the ideas presented in the text.
Stylistic devices: A language technique that affects how language is experienced and delivered, without necessarily deepening the meaning. (Arguably a subset of literary devices)
Rhetorical devices: A use of language that is intended to have an effect on its audience through sentence structure, sound or pattern.
Definition: A shortened form of a word or phrase
Example: etc. (et cetera), LOL (laughing out loud)
Effect:
Easier writing and reading
Though it may exclude readers unfamiliar with the abbreviation
Common in online communication
Definition: An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of the abbreviated words
Example: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Effect:
Easier writing and reading
Though it may exclude readers unfamiliar with the abbreviation
Common in online communication
Definition: Putting two or more contrasting or opposite theses/ideas/claims together, often in parallel structures
Example: “There is not a Black America and a White America”
Effect:
To emphasize the contrast and make it more effective
Make sentences elegant
Adds impact
To make the point memorable and convincing.
Definition: Forming a united whole text
Effect:
The reader is guided through the text
Shows relation between different words, clauses and paragraphs
Definition: A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, and is used in ordinator/familiar conversation.
Example: “What’s up?”
Effect:
A feeling of realism for the reader
Connection between writer and reader, in some instances
Can express the location, era, society, etc. in a text
Inappropriate for certain text types (e.g. news)
Definition: Words or phrases that are positively or negatively loaded/charged
Example: United vs divided, happiness vs despair
Effect:
Creates emotions (involves the audience emotionally)
Indicates the writer’s view in a non-fictional text
Definition: A type of parallelism, repeating the same word or phrase at the END of successive sentences
Example: “I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best.”
Effect:
Makes the point clear, underlines its importance
Adds elegance and memorability
Definition: Language that is not meant literally, using figures of speech to express something outside the exact meaning.
Examples: Euphemism, metaphor, simile, etc.
Effect:
Effect depends on how the figurative language is used.
Overall, though, it creates indirect meanings and feelings in the reader.
Aids in a flowery and beautiful language.
Definition: A description that produces a mental sensory image
Example: “The edging ticking of the clock resonated through the room”
Effect:
Appeals to feelings
Creates a sense of immediacy
Helps the reader envision and imagine
Definition: Words that create a bond between writer and reader and/or include the reader
Example: Personal pronouns such as “we”, “us” and “our”
Effect:
Creates a feeling of intimacy or unity
Reduces the feeling of distance between writer and reader
May make the reader more inclined to take in the writer’s argument
Definition: Verbal irony is saying the opposite of what one means. It
Example: Telling a tall person that they are short
Effect:
Irony is context dependent
Humorous + entertaining
Adds extra meaning
Definition: Special words or expressions used by a profession or group
Example: “Olfactory imagery” in literary analysis
Effect:
Affects how precise a text is
Affects how trustworthy the writer seems
May be difficult for others to understand
Definition: Placing opposites or extremes beside each other (literally means positioned side by side)
Example: “From the trenches of the IB to the sunlit summer break”
Effect:
Highlights differences (compares and contrasts)
Creates emphasis/impact
Definition: Substituting a word or phrase with another it is closely associated with (describing something indirectly by referring to a related object)
Example: “The crown is less powerful today than in the 16th century” (the crown represents the monarchy
Effect:
Elegance and poetic color
Adds meaning by playing upon associations
Definition: Two opposites are joined to create an effect. A paradox that seems self-contradictory.
Examples: Sweet sorrow, shared secrets, living dead
Effect:
Can add elegance/beauty
Makes the meaning more profound
Definition: Formed through ‘to be’ + ‘-ed’
Example: She was killed last year (as opposed to the active: Tom killed her last year)
Effect:
Sounds more formal
Hides the agent (creates tension/excitement)
Definition: Words, phrases, or clauses that are similar in length, structure, and grammatical form placed next to each other creating a syntactic repetition
Example: “The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer”
Effect:
Emphasize the meaning
Creates contrast
Creates rhythm and elegance in the language
Build imagery
Definition: The use of personal pronouns like “I”, “you”, “we” and “us”. This can be a direct appeal or trying to include the whole audience.
Example: “I urge you to”, “it is high time we”
Effect:
Creates a connection between the speaker and the audience
Can make the speaker seem respectful of others
Definition: The use of several (unnecessary) conjunctions between words or phrases.
Example: “You need so much for the exams; a pen and a ruler and a brain and a need to live…”
Effect:
Emphasize that many things are listed
Creates rhythm
Affects the speed (slows down or speeds up, depending)
Definition: The narrator’s position in relation to a story being told. Has a unique voice perspective and style.
Examples and effects:
First person
Pronouns: I, me, myself
Central
The narrator is also the main character
Peripheral
The narrator is another character in the story, who witnesses the main character
Frame
The narrator is a character in an outside story
Second person
Pronouns: You, your
Immersive experience as if they were the first person
Third-person
Pronouns: He, she, they
Omniscient
The narrator know everything about the story and its characters, including inner thoughts and feelings
Limited
The narrator sticks closely to one character
It can remain with one character or switch
Objective
Neutral narrator that is not privy to characters’ thoughts or feelings
Mostly observational tone
Comma: ,
Period: .
Question mark: ?
Exclamation mark: !
Dash: – (not the same as a hyphen)
Colon: :
Semi-colon: ;
Parenthesis: ()
Simple sentence
Subject and verb, one clause
“I am hungry”
Compound sentence
Two main clauses
Conjunction between them
“I am hungry and thirsty”
Complex sentence
Subordinate clauses and subordinating conjunctions
“Since I haven’t eaten, I am hungry”
Definition: A part is used to represent the whole, or the whole is used to represent a part
Example: “All hands on deck” (hands = workers)
Effect:
Adds elegance and poetic color
Adds to the meaning and associations
Definition: The process of the speaker addressing mass audiences as if they were familiar individuals through inclusive language.
Effect:
Makes the listener feel close to the speaker
Creates a sense of intimacy
Makes the speaker seem trustwrothy
Definition: A set of forms taken by a verb to indicate the time of the action in relation to the time in which it is described.
Example: Present tense (happening currently), historical present tense, past tense
Effect:
Present tense makes the story come alive
Historical present tense creates immediacy in the past
Past tense can feel more distant for the reader
Definition: The body of words, artistic and stylistic forms, and techniques utilized in the language.
Example: A broad vocabulary
Effect: Depends on the type of vocabulary.
Broad vocabulary = seems intellectual, trustworthy
Limited vocabulary = seems younger and/or less educated
Definition: A group of words that have the same basic behavior and function.
Examples and effects:
Nouns: specific
Adjectives: describes, flowery language
Verbs: active, movement
Adverbs: Describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb
Examples: loudly, slowly, daily
Modal verbs: express the speaker’s attitude towards truth, and possibility, show obligation, indicate ability or give permission
Examples: should, must, will, might
Modal adverbs: A specific group of adverbs that add additional meaning to modal verbs
Examples: Actually, allegedly, clearly, doubtlessly
Determiners: A word that modifies, describes, or introduces a noun
Examples: my, your, his, its, that, this, some
Prepositions: Indicate direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, etc.
Examples: in, at, on, of, to
Interjection: Used to express a feeling, request, or demand something
Alas, hurray, oh dear
