Language techniques

ACCUMULATION

ACCUMULATION

The listing of things to make a point.

ACRONYM

A word formed from the initial letters in a phrase.

ACROSTIC

A poem where letters form a word, phrase, or sentence.

ADJECTIVE

Describes traits, qualities, or number of a noun.

ADVERB

Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or phrase.

ALLEGORY

Writing with a double meaning.

ALLITERATION

Repeating consonant or vowel sounds.

ALLUSION

A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification. Authors assume that the readers will recognize the original sources and relate their meaning to the new context.

AMBIGUITY

Lacking a clear meaning.

ANECDOTE

Short narrative of an event.

ANTHOLOGY

Collection of poetry, drama, or verse.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

Giving animals human qualities.

ANTICLIMAX

A drop, often sudden and unexpected, from a dignified or important idea or situation to one that is trivial or humorous. Also, a sudden descent from something sublime to something ridiculous. In fiction and drama, this refers to action that is disappointing in contrast to the previous moment of intense interest.

ANTITHESIS

Using opposite phrases together.

ARCHETYPE

Recurring character, idea, or object.

ATMOSPHERE

Emotional feelings inspired by a work.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Non-fictional account of a person's life.

AUDITORY IMAGERY

Detailed description of sounds.

BILDUNGSROMAN

German term for a coming-of-age story.

BIOGRAPHY

Non-fictional account of a person's life.

CHARACTER

Representation of an individual in a work.

CHARACTERISATION

Use of description to create vivid characters.

CLICHÉ

Overused word, phrase, or idea.

CLIFFHANGER

Suspenseful moment to keep the audience engaged.

CLIMAX

Point of greatest intensity in a narrative.

COLLOQUIALISM

Everyday word or phrase in speech.

CONFLICT

Opposition between characters or ideas.

CONTRAST

Comparison of objects, events, or characters.

CYCLICAL

Story starting and ending similarly.

DIDACTIC

Text that teaches a lesson.

DIALECT

Form of language spoken by a group.

DIALOGUE

Lines spoken by characters.

DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

A poem in which a poetic speaker addresses either the reader or an internal listener at length

EXCLAMATORY LANGUAGE

Conveys strong emotion.

ELLIPSIS

O(1) In its oldest sense as a rhetorical device, ellipsisrefers to the artful omission of a word (2) In its more modern sense, ellipsis refers to a punctuation mark indicated by three periods to indicate material missing from a quotation. . . like so.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

Appeals to the audience's emotions.

ENJAMBEMENT

Line continuing into the next without pause.

EPIGRAPH

Short quotation at the beginning of a book. intended to provided context or thematic allusion.

EPILOGUE

Conclusion added to a literary work.

EUPHEMISM

Using a mild phrase instead of a blunt one.

FABLE

Story illustrating human tendencies through animals.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

A deviation from what speakers of a language understand as the ordinary or standard use of words to achieve some special meaning or effect.

FLASHBACK

Scene occurring earlier in the plot.

FORESHADOWING

Hints about future events in a narrative.

GENRE

Type or category of literature or film.

GUSTATORY IMAGERY

Detailed description of tastes.

HYPERBOLE

Exaggeration or overstatement.

IDIOLECT

Speech habits peculiar to a person.

IMAGERY

Mental pictures evoked by literature.

INTERIOR MONOLOGUE

Depicts internal thoughts of a character.

INTERTEXTUALITY

Text referring to another text.

IRONY

Saying one thing and meaning another.

JARGON

Confusing words used in a specific field.

JUXTAPOSITION

Arrangement of ideas for comparison.

LINEAR

Sequential or in chronological order.

MALAPROPISM

Misusing words for comic effect. Typically, the malapropism involves the confusion of two words that sound somewhat similar but have different meanings.

MAXIM

Proverb containing wisdom or insight.

MEMOIR

Autobiographical sketch focusing on events.

METAFICTION

Fiction in which the subject of the story is the act or art of storytelling of itself, especially when such material breaks up the illusion of "reality" in a work.

METAPHOR

Comparison implying one object is another.

MODALITY

Certainty in language use.

MONOLOGUE

Character speaking aloud to himself.

MOOD

Emotional state or atmosphere in literature.

MOTIF

Recurring element in literature.

NARRATION, NARRATIVE

Telling a sequence of events.

NARRATOR

Voice that tells a story.

NON-LINEAR

Out of order, e.g., flashbacks.

NOUN

Word referring to a person, place, or thing.

OLFACTORY IMAGERY

Detailed description of smells.

ONOMATOPOEIA

Use of

Point of View

The method of narration that determines the position from which the story unfolds, governing the reader's access to the story.

Polysyndeton

Excessively long sentences incorporating the repetition of 'and'.

Prologue

Introductory material before the main content of a work, setting the stage for the story.

Pronoun

A word that can replace a noun in a sentence, such as he, she, they.

Pun

A play on words with similar sounds but different meanings, used for humor or emphasis.

Satire

Criticism through humor aimed at stupidity, vice, or societal norms.

Setting

The time, place, and social context in which a story occurs.

Sibilance

Repetition of the 's' sound in a series of words for effect.

Simile

A comparison between two objects using 'like,' 'as,' or 'than.'

Slang

Informal language inconsistent with formal standards, often used in specific cultural contexts.

Soliloquy

A character's monologue when alone on stage, revealing inner thoughts.

Stream of Consciousness

Writing presenting thoughts in a random, unstructured form.

Style

The author's unique way of using language to achieve effects.

Subplot

A secondary plot that runs alongside the main story, often reflecting or commenting on it.

Symbol

An object or character representing a deeper idea beyond its literal meaning.

Symbolism

Frequent use of symbols to convey deeper meanings in a work.

Tense

The grammatical time in which events are described (past, present, future).

Tension

Heightened involvement and uncertainty experienced by the audience as the story progresses.

Theme

The central idea that unifies and controls a literary work.

Thesis

A thesis is an argument, either overt or implicit, that a writer develops and supports.

Tone

The attitude or mood conveyed by the author through stylistic choices and diction.

Truncated Sentences

Incomplete sentences used for tension, urgency, or natural conversation flow.

Unreliable Narrator

A storyteller who accurately describes events but misinterprets them due to bias or limited understanding.

Verb

A word describing an action, condition, or experience.

Word Choice

The selection of words for specific effects in a sentence.

Zoomorphism

Giving humans animal qualities or imagery for symbolic purposes.

Verbal Irony

(also called sarcasm) is when a speaker makes a statement in which its actual meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the words express.

Dramatic irony

(the most important type for literature) involves a situation in a narrative in which the reader knows something about present or future circumstances that the character does not know.

Situational Irony

is when accidental events occur that seem oddly appropriate, such as the poetic justice of a pickpocket getting his own pocket picked.

Oxymoron

Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level