english glossary

Accent

distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class

Aestheticism

The aesthetic movement was a late nineteenth century movement that championed pure beauty and 'art for art's sake' emphasising the visual and sensual qualities of art and design over practical, moral or narrative considerations. No political, didactic or other purpose. - Wilde

Allegory

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

Allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

Ambiguity

the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.

Antitheses

person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

Assonance

resemblance of sound between syllables of nearby words, arising particularly from the rhyming of two or more stressed vowels, but not consonants (e.g. sonnet, porridge), but also from the use of identical consonants with different vowels (e.g. killed, cold, culled).

AXIOM

statement accepted as true as the basis for argument or inference: postulate sense one of the axioms of the theory of evolution. An established rule or principle or a self-evident truth.

Bias

inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.

Caricature

a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.

Catharsis

A purging of emotions

Cliché

A phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought

Comic hyperbole

Funny exaggeration

Connotation

An idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition its literal meaning

Cadence

A modulation of inflection of voice

Declarative

Of the nature of making a declaration

Didactic

Intended to teach - moral instruction as an ulterior motive

Discourse markers

Words and phrases that manage and organise the structures of discourse “well, because, however’

Ellipsis

The omission from writing of words that can be understood from context clues

Enjambment

Line flows into the other without a pause

Euphemism

Mild or indirect expression substituted for one considered too harsh

Framing devices

Provides structure or context

Graphology

Writing systems

Homophone

Words having multiple meanings or spellings with the same pronunciation

Hyperbole

Imperatives

Essential or urgent thing

Irony

Saying one thing meaning another

Monologue

Extended speech by one person

Neologisms

New coined word or expression

Oxymoron

Figure of speech combining words of different meanings

Pathos

Evokes sadness or pity

Sardonic

Grimly mocking or cynical

Satire

Use of humour to expose or critique peoples stupidity or vices

Stichomythia

Dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of verse

Semantics

The meaning of a road phrase of text

Sturm and Drang

Literar movement 1760-1780

Superlative

Exaggerated

Synecdoche

Literary device where a part of something is substituted for the whole (hired hand = worker)

Syntax

Structure of sentences

Wry

Dry mocking humour

Volta

Rhetorical shift or dramatic change

Elision

Omission or slurring of one or more sounds or syllables ‘gonna’

False start

Speaker begins an utterance then repeats/reformulates it

Hedges

Vague words or phrases that soften (perhaps, maybe, sort of, just)

Phatic talk

Personal relationships