AICE Lang Terms - Techniques

allegory

a fictional work in which characters represent ideas or concepts (e.g. animal farm, lord of the flies)

alliteration

repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words (e.g. Sally sells seashells by the seashore)

allusion

a figure of speech used for the purpose of comparison or contrast, in which reference is made to a literary character, event, or work, or to an event, figure, or time in history (e.g. to refer to someone as a Romeo)

acronym

a word formed from the initial letters of two or more successive words (e.g. NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement)

anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause (e.g. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.)

Analogy

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way; an extended metaphor; a situational metaphor (e.g. comparing the human heart to a pump)

anaphora

repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses (e.g. I have a dream that... I have a dream today...)

anastrophe

inversion of the natural or usual word order (e.g. For his gold I had no desire)

antimetabole

repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order (e.g. Eat to live, live to eat.)

antithesis

the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas often in parallel structure (e.g. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.)

apposition/appositive

juxtaposing two coordinate elements, the second of which explains or modifies the first (e.g. The artist, Sabiha, finished her portfolio)

assonance

the repetition of similar vowels`, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words (e.g. The rain in Spain)

asydeton

a syntactical technique that occurs when the conjunctions (such as and or but) that would normally connect a string of words, phrases, or clauses are omitted from a sentence (e.g. I came, I saw, I conquered)

accumulation

overwhelming listing using for emphasis (e.g. he brought pain, fear, sorrow, shame, and misery wherever he went)

chiasmus

reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses (e.g. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first)

climax

arrangement of words or clauses in an order of increasing importance (e.g. Peeta and Katniss's agreement to die in The Hunger Games)

concession

acknowledging a valid point of an opposing argument by agreeing with it (e.g. "While it's true that...", or "I understand that...")

connotation

words that contain an emotional meaning or are more likely to resonate with the audience based on the audience's perspective or the context of the situation (e.g. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun."

colloquial language

the casual conversation of everyday language (e.g. ain't, gonna, wanna, y'all)

denotation

the dictionary definition of a word, not including its connotations (e.g. dove-feathered)

ellipsis

deliberate omission of word or words readily implied by the context; also the punctuation mark "..." indicating a pause or something unsaid

epanalepsis

repetition at the end of the clause of the word that occured at the beginning of the clause (e.g. Nothing is worse than doing nothing)

epiphora

repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses (e.g. Where now? Who now? When now?)

euphemism

the substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensive (e.g. "passed away" instead of "died"

hyperbole

the use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or heightened effect (e.g. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse"

inclusive diction

the use of inclusive personal pronouns to link the author with the audience (we or our) (e.g. instead of saying "a deaf man", you say "a man who is deaf")

irony

use of a word to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word (e.g. A pilot has a fear of heights)

litotes

a special kind of understatement that involves expressing a positive sentence using its negative form (e.g. instead of "That was a really bad movie", you say "That movie wasn't bad")

metaphor

implied comparison between two things of unlike nature (e.g. The world is a stage)

metonymy

a figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it (e.g. The White House - it refers to the U.S. President and their administration)

diacope

repetition of a phrase or world throughout a story (e.g. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way)

commoratio

repetition of an idea that is repeated one after another in different words, but has a similar meaning (e.g. He passed on! The parrot is no more! He ceased to be!)