English meta language

Analepsis

A flashback or retrospective insertion of past events.

Prolepsis

A flashforward or anticipation of future events (also used rhetorically to anticipate and answer objections

Metatextuality

A text’s awareness of itself as a text eg This self-awareness of their fictional nature

Diegesis

The telling of events through narration. eg First-Person Narrators

Mimesis

The showing of events directly (e.g., through dialogue or action)

Parataxis

Short, simple, juxtaposed clauses with little or no subordination (e.g., “I came, I saw, I conquered”)

hypotaxis

Use of subordinating conjunctions to show complex relationships and dependency between ideas.

Polysemy

Words or phrases with multiple meanings operating simultaneously to create layered interpretation.

Chiasmus

mirrored structure in clauses or ideas (e.g., “She has all my love; my heart belongs to her”). Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."  "We shape our buildings, and afterward our buildings shape us." 

Aposiopesis

A deliberate breaking off of speech, leaving a statement incomplete—suggests emotion or unspeakable thoughts

Modality

• The degree of certainty, obligation, or possibility in a speaker's language—often analysed through modal verbs or adverbs (e.g., “must,” “could,” “perhaps”).

Simple sentence

• One independent clause.

• "The sky darkened."

Compound sentence

• Two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

• "The storm raged, and the trees bent in the wind."

Complex sentence

• One independent clause + one or more dependent clauses.

• "Although the storm raged, the villagers remained calm."

Compound-complex sentence

• Two independent clauses + at least one dependent clause.

• "Although the storm raged, the villagers stayed inside, and they waited for it to pass."

Declarative sentence

• Makes a statement.

• "The government has failed to act."

Interrogative sentence

• Asks a question.

• "How long will we allow this injustice?"

Imperative sentence

• Gives a command.

• "Stand up for your rights."

hypophora.

is when a writer or speaker poses a question and then immediately answers it. Preempts objections or counterarguments

Makes the speaker appear knowledgeable and in control