English language terminology

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sound, especially at the beginning of words.

Allusion

A reference to another event, person, place or work.

Ambiguity

Use of language where the meaning is unclear or has two or more possible meanings or interpretations.

Anaphora

Repetition at the start of a sentence or statement.

Antithesis

Opposites - direct contrast.

Colloquial

Ordinary everyday speech and language (slang or dialect)

Connotation

An implied meaning

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something the characters on stage do no (Birling saying how great The Titanic is in an Inspector calls)

Direct Address

When the writer speaks directly to the reader.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration (usually for comic effect)

Imagery

The use of words to create a picture or "image" in your head.

Juxtaposition

Placing two ideas/statements/things near each other in order to compare and contrast.

Metaphor

Direct comparison saying one thing IS another (not 'like').

Onomatopoeia

Words which sound like the things they are describing: "bang", "crash", "squelch" etc .

Oxymoron

Two things which are generally incompatible put together, like "bitter sweet".

Pathetic fallacy

When surroundings or weather reflect a mood of a character or event (Frankenstein's stormy night)

Personification

Giving living attributes to inanimate or non human things - is a type of metaphor. "Time must untie this knot".

Protagonist

The main character.

Pun

A play on words: "Time must untie this knot, not I…" from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Satire

The highlighting or exposing of human foolishness making fun of them. This kind of writing can range from being gentle and light to extremely biting and bitter in tone (see Charlie Brooker on TV).

Simile

Direct comparison using like or as.

Statistics

(in nonfiction) facts and figures

Structure

The way a poem or play or other piece of writing has been put together

Symbol

Like the use of images, symbols present things which represent something else.

Syntax

Refers to the way in which words are placed together in writing.

Simple sentence

A sentence which contains only one main clause. They are often short and simple (eg. The boy ran quickly) but this kind of sentence could be long too. Eg. "The boy wearing the black and white padded jacket ran quickly down the road at lunchtime". It contains a simple subject and predicate.

Compound sentence

A _ sentence consists of at least two main clauses joined together by a conjunction. Co-ordinating conjunctions are words which join two parts of a sentence together so that neither part is more important than the other eg. and, but, or, nor, either, neither.

Complex sentence

A sentence consists of a main clause plus one or more subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause cannot stand on its own and may come before or after the main clause.

Adverb

Adds information to a verb

Verb

A doing word (ran), or a state of being (is , was)

Noun

A person, place or thing.

Pronoun

Replaces a name (he, she, it, them, their, your etc)

Abstract Noun

A thing that does not physically exist like 'love' and 'fear'

Adjective

Describes a noun

Preposition

Shows relation of one thing to another - on, at, in, by

Conjunction

Joins word and clauses: 'and' 'so' 'where' etc.

Present Participle

Verb ending in 'ing': Walking, talking and jumping and so on

Interrogative

Basically, a question - think of interrogate. Can be a Sentence or a word. "What?"

End-stopped line

A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a full stop or semicolon.

Anecdote

A brief account of an interesting incident or event that usually is intended to entertain or to make a point.

Bias or to be biased

To be in favour of, or to pre-judge something or someone. You might say Arsenal are the greatest football team in the world. That is a ------ opinion, not a fact.

Emotive Language

Words and phrases that appeal strongly to the reader's feelings. May be in fiction, but often of note in Non-fiction - Paper 2

Rhetorical question

A question asked that is not intended to be answered.

Sarcasm

Harsh, cutting, personal remarks to or about someone. Irony is less harsh.

Intensifier

A word, especially an adverb, that usually increases the degree of emphasis or force to be given to the element it modifies, as 'very', 'somewhat', 'enormously' and so on.

Superlative

Word that includes the letters 'est' which express the most extreme version of something e.g. highest (nothing can be higher) warmest (nothing can be warmer).

Plosive

a consonant that is produced by stopping the airflow using the lips, teeth, or palate, followed by a sudden release of air. Particularly strong examples are 'p' and 'b', as they are held in the lips before 'exploding' out in a rush of sound. However, 'k' 't' 'k' and 'g' may also also referred to in this way.

Assonance

Repeated vowel sounds