CAMBRIDGE - LIT INTERVIEW PREP - TERMINOLOGY

Syntax

The arrangement and ordering of words and clauses in a sentence.

Diction

A writer's choice of words.

Connotation

The associations or implied meanings attached to a word.

Denotation

The literal or dictionary meaning of a word.

Semantic field

A group of words associated with a particular subject or idea.

Register

The level or style of language used in a particular context.

Modality

Language expressing degrees of certainty, possibility, obligation or necessity.

Clause

A group of words containing a verb, usually forming part of a sentence.

Subordinate clause

A clause that depends on a main clause and cannot normally stand alone.

Fronted adverbial

An adverbial phrase or clause placed at the beginning of a sentence.

Inversion

A deliberate reversal of the usual word order.

Active voice

A construction in which the subject performs the action.

Passive voice

A construction in which the subject receives the action.

Declarative

A sentence or clause that makes a statement.

Interrogative

A sentence or clause that asks a question.

Imperative

A sentence or clause that gives a command or instruction.

Metaphor

A comparison in which one thing is described as another.

Simile

A comparison using words such as "like" or "as".

Personification

Giving human qualities or actions to something non-human.

Imagery

Descriptive language that creates a sensory or imaginative impression.

Symbol

An object, image or action representing a wider idea.

Allusion

A reference to another text, person, event, myth or cultural idea.

Irony

A contrast between appearance or expectation and underlying meaning or reality.

Dramatic irony

When the audience knows something that a character does not.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement that may reveal a deeper truth.

Oxymoron

A phrase combining apparently contradictory terms.

Ambiguity

The presence of multiple possible meanings or interpretations.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

Understatement

Deliberately presenting something as less significant than it is.

Rhetorical question

A question asked for effect rather than to receive an answer.

Juxtaposition

The placing of contrasting things close together to highlight their differences.

Contrast

The presentation of opposing or significantly different ideas or images.

Repetition

The deliberate reuse of a word, phrase, sound, image or idea.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.

Parallelism

The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical structures.

Listing

The presentation of several words, phrases or ideas in succession.

Antithesis

A balanced contrast between opposing ideas.

Tone

The attitude or emotional quality conveyed by a text or speaker.

Mood

The emotional atmosphere created by a text.

Voice

The distinctive personality or manner of expression in a text.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words.

Sibilance

The repetition of hissing sounds such as "s", "sh" and "z".

Plosive

A forceful consonant sound such as "p", "b", "t", "d", "k" or "g".

Onomatopoeia

A word whose sound imitates or evokes the sound it describes.

Rhyme

The repetition or correspondence of sounds, usually at the ends of lines.

Rhythm

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Metre

A regular rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry.

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a poetic line.

End-stopping

A poetic line ending with punctuation that completes a grammatical unit.

Stanza

A grouped unit of lines in a poem.

Form

The type, shape or genre of a literary work.

Structure

The organisation and arrangement of a text.

Narrative perspective

The viewpoint from which a story is presented.

First-person narration

Narration using "I" or "we".

Third-person narration

Narration referring to characters as "he", "she", "they" or by name.

Unreliable narrator

A narrator whose account cannot be assumed to be completely trustworthy.

Focalisation

The perspective through which information in a narrative is presented.

Free indirect discourse

A technique blending a character's thoughts or language with third-person narration.

Foreshadowing

Hints or indications of events that occur later.

Motif

A recurring image, idea, object, phrase or pattern with significance.

Theme

A central or recurring idea explored by a literary work.

Characterisation

The methods a writer uses to create and develop a character.

Volta

A significant turn or shift in thought, argument, tone or emotion.

Satire

The use of humour, irony or ridicule to expose or criticise something.