literary techniques

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Formality or informality of the language used

Colloquial Language

Non-standard English

Personal Pronouns

Refer to a person

Complex sentences

Where one part relies on the other to make sense

Compound sentence

Two parts joined by 'And'

Simple sentence

Noun and verb

Rhetorical question

Question with no answer

Alliteration

Repetition of the consonant sound

Opinions

What the writer thinks

Facts

Something that is known to be true

Repetition

Word/phrases said more than once

Puns/Word play

Words use to create humour

Sarcasm

Exaggeration used to mock

Metaphor

Directly describing something as something else

Simile

A comparison using "like", "as" or "than"

Connotations

Ideas a word makes you think of

Irony

Contradiction/unfairness

Satire

Imitation/humour/exaggeration used to mock or point out an issue in society

Emotive language

Words that make you feel strongly

Imperative verbs

Telling the reader what to do

Humour

Making the reader laugh

Narrative voice

The speaker in the article/story

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Onomatopoeia

When the word sounds like the sound it describes

Rule of three (tricolon)

Linking three points or features for impact

Juxtaposition

Two different ideas next to each other

Genre

The kind of writing

Audience

Age-gender, interests of person reading

Purpose

Why the writer has used a technique

Personification

Giving an inhuman/inanimate object human characteristics

Anthropomorphism

Giving an animal human features

Symbolism

When a picture/phrase could be interpreted as representing something else

Jargon

Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity

Foreshadowing

the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot

Motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Adjective

A word that describes a noun

Verb

An action word

Adverb

A word that describes a verb

Rhyme

Repetition of sounds at the end of words

Tone

Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character

Oxymoron

Conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence')

Olfactory imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of smell

Gustatory imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of taste

Visual imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight

Auditory imagery

use of language to represent an experience pertaining to sound

Tactile imagery

descriptive language that appeals to the sense of touch

Ethos

Ethical appeal - credibility

Pathos

Appeal to emotion

Logos

Appeal to logic

Anaphora

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

Adage

A proverb, wise saying

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Anachronism

Something out of place in time

Anti-hero

A central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.

Antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

Protagonist

Main character in a story

Antithesis

The direct opposite, a sharp contrast

Anti-climax

A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events

Aposiopesis

stopping abruptly and leaving a statement unfinished

Aphaeresis

(linguistics) omission at the beginning of a word as in 'coon' for 'raccoon' or 'till' for 'until'

Aphorism

A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

Apocope

abbreviation of a word by omitting the final sound or sounds

Bathos

Insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity

Bildungsroman

A novel or story whose theme is the moral or psychological growth of the main character.

Cadence

Rhythmic rise and fall

Characterisation

The way a writer creates a character in order to convince the reader

Cliche

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Climax

Most exciting moment of the story; turning point

Denouement

the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

Dissonance

Harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds

Double entendre

A word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent.

Emotive language

Deliberate use of language by a writer to instill a feeling or visual.

Enjambment

A run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next.

Farce

(n.) a play filled with ridiculous or absurd happenings; broad or far-fetched humor; a ridiculous sham

Figurative language

Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.

Foil

A character who acts as a contrast to another character

Hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

Innuendo

(n.) a hint, indirect suggestion, or reference (often in a derogatory sense)

Juxaposition

placement of two things side by side for emphasis

Literary criticism

The art or practice of judging and commenting on the qualities and character of literary works.

Malapropism

the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

Melodrama

A literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response.

Metanarrative

a single, overarching interpretation, or grand story, of reality

Microcosm

a miniature world or universe; a group or system viewed as the model of a larger group or system

Mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Obfuscation

the action of making something obscure, unclear, or unintelligible

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Parallelism

Phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other

Satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Sophistry

(n.) reasoning that seems plausible but is actually unsound; a fallacy

Stream of consciousness

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Tautology

needless repetition of an idea by using different but equivalent words; a redundancy

Tragic hero

A literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy

Tragic irony

a form of dramatic irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus searches for the person responsible for the plague that ravishes his city and ironically ends up hunting himself.

Verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Wit

intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights

Epigraph

the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme