Paper 1 terminology

Ideology

System of thought, values and/or belief. It may relate to political, social, economic, moral etc. thinking

Genre

A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content.

Formal features

The features which define the text's form, e.g. it's structure, modes, adherence to genre conventions
THINK: What makes a poem a poem? or What makes journalism, journalism?

Mediated audience

An audience removed from direct speech; a group hears/views the speech through a different medium (Radio, tv, newspaper, etc.)

Implied reader

The hypothetical reader a text producer is targeting when writing and who might be expected to 'follow' the author's point of view

Lexis

LINGUSTICS A technical term for the vocabulary of a language, as opposed to its grammar.

Semantic field

Group of words which are related in meaning

Jargon

Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand

Register

A form of language appropriate to a particular situation. It refers the "level" of the language as matched to this situation. Technical terms used to describe it: formal, informal, casual, frozen (or static), familiar, ceremonial, consultative, intimate.

Tone

The attitude or emotions of a writer taken towards their subject matter as revealed by diction, syntax and figurative language.

Idiom

A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

Imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste), e.g. visual, tactile, kinaesthetic, gustatory, olfactory, auditory

Extended metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a text

Parataxis

Writing successive independent clauses, with coordinating conjunctions, or no conjunctions. Ideas are presented in parallel with one another or "equally".

Simple sentence

A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause.

Abstract noun

Names an idea, a feeling, a quality, or a characteristic, i.e. something which has no tangible form

Ethos

One of the fundamental strategies of argumentation identified by Aristotle. Ethos is an appeal to credibility. The writer is seeking to convince you that he or she has the background, history, skills, and/or expertise to speak on the issue.

Pathos

An appeal to emotion. This is one of the fundamental strategies of argumentation identified by Aristotle. Typically, pathos arguments may use loaded words to make you feel guilty, lonely, worried, insecure, or confused.

Logos

An appeal to reason. Logos is one of the fundamental strategies of argumentation identified by Aristotle. It occurs when a writer tries to convince you of the logic of his argument. Writers may use inductive argumentation or deductive argumentation, but they clearly have examples and generally rational tome to their language.

Satire

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.

Syntax

Language rules that govern how words can be combined to form meaningful phrases and sentences, e.g. word order

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things without using the word like or as.

Verbal Irony

Irony in which a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning.

Multivocality

The same symbol may be understood by different people in different ways

Voice

A writer's distinctive use of language, emerging from the text's "detail", "imagery", "diction", "syntax" and "tone"

Detail

The facts, observations and incidents revealed by the author or speaker. The focus on such detail is indicative of the author or speaker's tone.

Synthetic personalisation

Making it seem as if text receivers are being addressed as individuals rather than as a mass

Modality

a system of alternative wordings in a language that construes different degrees of necessity, obligation, and probability from either a subjective or an objective perspective.

Using modal verbs: can, must, need, should, would, could.

Dominant reading

A way of reading in which the reader shares the meanings that are encoded in the text and accepts the preferred reading, which reinforces dominant ideologies

Oppositional reading

a reading in which the viewer correctly decodes the meanings of a text, but challenges it from an oppositional perspective

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements

Connotation

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

Denotation

the literal meaning of a word

Polysyndeton

Deliberate use of many conjunctions

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Asyndeton

omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

Monosyllabic

having only one syllable (short words)

Colloquial language

informal language; language that is "conversational"