SOS

Point of view

The perspective from which a story is told.

First person

A narrative perspective where a story is told from the perspective of a character in the story, using pronouns like 'I,' 'me,' 'my,' 'we,' 'us,' and 'our'.

Innocent eye

A hypothetical viewpoint that is unburdened by prior knowledge or experience, allowing for a fresh, unbiased perception of the world or a piece of art.

Stream of consciousness

A narrative technique that captures a character's thoughts and feelings as they naturally flow, mimicking the unfiltered, often chaotic, and associative nature of real-life thinking.

Questionable/unreliable narrator

A storyteller whose credibility is compromised, either deliberately or unintentionally, leading the reader to question their account of events.

Second person

The pronoun 'you' to directly address the reader, making them feel like they are part of the story or the main character.

Third person limited

The story is told by a narrator who focuses on the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of one specific character, using pronouns like 'he,' 'she,' or 'they,' while remaining outside the story itself.

Third person omniscient

A narrative perspective where the narrator knows everything about all characters, including their thoughts, feelings, and motivations, acting as a god-like observer outside the story.

Figurative language

Language that uses figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful.

Cliche

A phrase or expression that has become overused and therefore loses its original impact and becomes trite or unoriginal.

Idiom

A phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the literal meanings of the individual words, but rather has a figurative or idiomatic meaning.

Apostrophe

A rhetorical device where a speaker directly addresses an absent person, a deceased person, an abstract concept, or an inanimate object as if it were present and capable of understanding.

Personification

Attributing human qualities, emotions, or actions to inanimate objects, abstract ideas, or animals, making them seem more relatable or alive.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things by stating that one is the other, without using 'like' or 'as,' creating a vivid or symbolic representation.

Simile

A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as' to create a vivid image or emphasize a specific quality.

Analogy

A comparison that explains something unfamiliar by relating it to something familiar, often to clarify or illustrate a concept.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory or absurd but, upon closer examination, reveals a deeper truth or a valid point.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines contradictory or incongruous words to create a surprising or dramatic effect, such as 'jumbo shrimp' or 'deafening silence.'

Juxtaposition

The act of placing contrasting elements, ideas, or characters side-by-side to highlight their differences and create a specific effect, such as emphasis, irony, or thematic impact.

Antithesis

A rhetorical device that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, often within parallel grammatical structures, to highlight a stark difference and create emphasis.

Litotes

A form of understatement, where a statement is made by negating its opposite, often with a double negative, to emphasize a point.

Metonymy

A figure of speech where a word or phrase is used to represent something else that is closely associated with it, rather than by its literal name.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part of something is used to represent the whole, or, less commonly, the whole is used to represent a part.

Meiosis

A rhetorical device where something is deliberately downplayed or understated, essentially making something seem less significant than it actually is.

Understatement

a literary device by which a particular quality of a person, object, emotion, or situation is downplayed or presented as being less than what is true to the situation.

Hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses extreme exaggeration for emphasis or effect, often to create humor, rather than being taken literally.

Telegraphic

a style of language characterized by short, concise sentences that omit unnecessary words, similar to telegrams, focusing on content words and leaving out function words.

Short

a sentence or phrase that is concise and uses minimal words to convey a simple idea, often used for emphasis or to create a faster reading pace.

Medium

the means or channel through which a message or information is conveyed.

Long and involved

sentences that are 30 words or more in length, exhibiting complex structures and potentially multiple clauses or phrases.

Main/ independent clause

a group of words containing a subject and a verb that can stand alone as a complete sentence, expressing a complete thought.

Dependent/ subordinate clause

a group of words containing a subject and verb that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence, but instead relies on an independent clause for meaning.

Loose sentence

a sentence structure where the main clause comes first, followed by one or more subordinate or coordinate phrases and clauses.

Periodic sentence

a complex sentence where the main clause (the independent clause) is placed at the end, after one or more subordinate clauses, creating a sense of suspense or emphasis.

Balanced sentence

features two or more clauses or phrases of roughly equal length, importance, and grammatical structure, creating a sense of parallelism and emphasis.

Split order sentence

one where the subject is placed in the middle of the predicate, which is split into two parts, rather than the typical subject-verb-object order.

Natural order sentence

the common and straightforward sentence structure where the subject comes before the verb.

Inverted order sentence

deviates from the typical subject-verb-object structure by placing the verb, object, or both before the subject, often used for emphasis, formality, or to create a specific effect.

Interrupted sentence

occurs when a word, phrase, or clause is inserted within a sentence, temporarily breaking the flow of the main clause.

Repetition

the purposeful and strategic reuse of words, phrases, or grammatical structures to emphasize a point, create rhythm, or enhance the overall impact of a text or speech.

Anaphora

the repetition of words or phrases in a group of sentences, clauses, or poetic lines.

Anastrophe

the inversion of the usual order of words or clauses.

Antithesis

a rhetorical device that juxtaposes contrasting or opposing ideas within a balanced grammatical structure, often using parallel phrasing to emphasize the contrast.

Asyndeton

the omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses to create a fast-paced or dramatic effect.

Chiasmus

a rhetorical device in which words, grammatical structures, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

Epiphora

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

Juxtaposition

placing two contrasting ideas, images, or concepts next to each other to highlight their differences.

Parataxis

the use of short, simple sentences or independent clauses without conjunctions to create a straightforward or abrupt tone.

Litotes

a form of understatement that uses negation to express a positive statement.

Parallelism

the repetition of grammatical structures to create rhythm and balance.

Polysyndeton

the use of multiple conjunctions in close succession to create emphasis or a sense of overwhelming detail.

Syllepsis

a figure of speech in which a single word is applied to two others in different senses.

Zeugma

a literary device in which one word, usually a verb or adjective, applies to multiple nouns in different ways.