IGCSE English Language A (Edexcel)

Adjective

A word that describes a noun or pronoun

Adverb

A word that describes a verb or an adjective

Alliteration

The use of several words together that begin with the same sound or letter

Anecdotal

consisting of short stories based on someone's personal experience

Atmosphere

The feeling that an event or place gives you

Broadsheet

A newspaper printed on large sheets of paper, especially a serious newspaper

Chronologically

Organised in linear time

Clause

A group of words that make up part of a sentence, built around a finite verb

Clichés

Phrases that are used so often they start to lose their impact

Conjunction

a word that joins part of a sentence

Connotation

Ideas linked to a word; ideas that have become associated with a word

Contrast

Where two objects, people, or ideas are placed next to each other to highlight their differences

Denonation

What something literally is or shows

determiner

A word used before a noun in order to show which thing is being referred to

Dialogue

The speech between two or more people involved in a conversation

Diction

the writers choice of words

Direct address

Using second person pronouns 'you' or 'your'

Direct speech

Words spoken by a character on a novel, play, or poem

Dynamic verb

A verb that describes actions or events that are happening , e.g. 'I go'

Emotive language

Language that produces an emotional reaction

Explicit

Expressed in a way that is very clear and direct

Exposition

A thorough description

First person

Written from the perspective of one person - that is, using 'I' ; this differs from the second person, which directly addresses the reader ('you'), and the third person ('he', 'she', and 'it')

Flashback

When the narrator of a story jumps out of the present in order to describe an event which happened in the past (often in the form of dreams)

Hyperbole

Exaggerating for effect

Imperative verbs

Verbs that give an instruction or command

Implicit

suggested or understood without being stated directly

Infer

Read between the lines

Interjection

A word used to expression strong feeling

Ironic

Using words to convey a meaning that is completely opposite to their apparent meaning (also a palpatine meme)

Juxtaposition

Putting two very different things close together in order to encourage comparison between them

Litotes

Ironic understatement used to mean something by saying it's opposite

Memoir

A form of autobiography

Metaphor

Describing something by comparing it to an image which it resembles, in a way that says the object IS the image

Mnemonic

A device used to aid memory - usually in the form of a saying or rhyme

modal auxiliary

Verb a verb that helps another verb to express a meaning, e.g. 'can', 'would', 'should'

Monologue

The speech or thoughts of one person alone

mots justes

A French phrase, meaning words are apt, or just right

Narrative

The story or plot

Narrator

A character who tells the story in a novel, play, poem, or film

Noun

A person, place, thing, or idea

Objective

based on facts rather than feelings or opinions

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Paradox

a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities

Periodic sentence

A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end.

Personal pronoun

A word used instead of a noun, such as 'I', 'You', or 'They'

Personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Persuasive

good at persuading someone to do or believe something through reasoning or the use of temptation.

Phonological

Relating to the sound structure of words

Plagiarism

taking credit for someone else's writing or ideas

Premodified

A noun with a description before it, e.g. 'the big blue car'

Preposition

A word that is used before a noun or pronoun to show time, place, or direction

Prolepsis

Suggestions of things that will happen, before they do

Pronoun

A word that takes the place of a noun

Protagonist

the main character in a literary work

Pun

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

quotation marks

punctuation marks used to show speech or quoted text or titles of short works

Quotations

Words from a text

Referend

The thing or idea to which a word refers

Register

The type or style of vocabulary used according to the situation

Repetition

Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis

retrospective

looking back at past things

Rhetorical device

Using language in a certain way to achieve an effect

rhetorical question

A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.

rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhyme in a poem

Rule of Three

when groups of 3 adjectives or phrases are used to make ideas memorable

Setting

The time and place of a story

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Stereotypes

widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group

Symbolic

Where a person, object, or event is used by a writer to convey a meaning other than it's literal meaning

Synonym

A word that means the same as another word

Syntax

Sentence structure

Third person

Narrator is outside the action and refers to characters as he or she

Time-shift

Moving between different periods of time

Topic sentence

A sentence, most often appearing at the beginning of a paragraph, that announces the paragraph's idea and often unites it with the work's thesis.

Transactional

Non-fiction writing for a purpose: to inform, explain, review, argue, persuade, or advise

Travelogue

A book that describes a travel experience

unbaised

Fair because not influenced by one's own or someone else's opinions

Verb

An action word

Verbose

wordy or ,sesquipedillian'