english language - techniques

metaphor

• Creates a vivid image and helps the reader understand an idea or emotion more deeply

• emphasises a quality in a powerful way

• adds and makes writing engaging

simile

• Makes a description clearer by comparing something to something familiar

• emphasises a quality in a powerful way

• adds and makes writing engaging

Useful words: vivid, relatable, oppressive, delicate, threatening, comforting.

personification

• helps reader connect emotionally an with idea/object

• creates vivid and encouraging atmosphere images

• helps reader understand abstract ideas more easily

• makes objects or settings seem alive, creating atmosphere and emotion

Useful words: hostile, alive, threatening, aggressive, comforting, powerful.

Pathetic fallacy

Uses weather to reflect a character’s emotions or create a particular atmosphere.

Useful words: bleak, miserable, gloomy, foreboding, peaceful, hopeful.

Semantic field

Groups words connected by a common theme. This develops a particular atmosphere or idea throughout a description

Useful words: reinforces, develops, emphasises, intensifies, highlights.

sensory imagery

it makes descriptions more immersive, allowing the reader to imagine experiencing the scene

Useful words: immersive, vivid, realistic, overwhelming, uncomfortable, intense.

Onomatopoeia

It makes events seem more immediate and can draw attention to a particular noise.

Useful words: realistic, eerie, sudden, dramatic, unsettling, vivid.

alliteration

It can draw attention to a phrase, create rhythm and reinforce a particular impression

Useful words: emphasises, reinforces, highlights, intensifies, draws attention to.

sibilance

Depending on the context, it can create a sinister, secretive, soothing or peaceful atmosphere

Useful words: sinister, secretive, soothing, whispering, threatening, deceptive.

repetition

• emphasises writers message

• creates sense of urgency

• encourages reader to focus on certain idea

• Useful words: emphasises, reinforces, intensifies, highlights, conveys, suggests.

short sentences

• create tension, shock, urgency or dramatic pauses.

• create confidence or certainty, so always consider the context.

• Useful words: abrupt, sudden, tense, dramatic, urgent, shocking.

Rhetorical question

It can challenge the reader, express frustration or encourage reflection

Useful words: challenges, questions, encourages, confronts, emphasises, provokes.

zoomorphism

It can make them seem threatening, predatory, powerful or less human, depending on the comparison.

hyperbole

• exaggeration

• can communicate desperation, excitement, anger or the scale of a problem

• helps pursuance writer by making more intense

• highlights importance and seriousness of issue

juxaposition

• This makes their differences more noticeable

• can highlight conflict or irony

• creates strong visual or emotional impact

• helps understand opposing view points

symbolism

Gives an object, colour or place a deeper meaning. For example, a locked door might symbolise confinement or a lack of opportunity.

long sentences

build tension, create detailed descriptions and overwhelm the reader with information or emotions. Their effect depends on what is being described.

emotive language

• makes it more memorable

• encourages reader to agree with writers viewpoint

• makes description more vivid and engaging

triplet

• emphasises an idea by repeating in 3 parts

• creates satisfying rhythm that is pleasing to hear

• builds momentum + impact

anecdotes

• makes argument more personal and relatable

• helps reader connect emotionally to topic

• evokes sympathy by showing the impact on a real person