ENGLISH LITERATURE A-LEVEL TECHNIQUES

• Alliteration is when two or more words that start with the same sound are used repeatedly in a phrase or a sentence. 
• metaphor A comparison made without using 'like' or 'as',
• Hyperbole is the name given to an exaggerated phrase.
• Personification is a language device where objects are given human characteristics
• Onomatopoeia: when words sound like the sound they are making.
• Colloquial language is essentially just informal language or casual forms of communication in the written form.
• An oxymoron is where two words that are typically not associated with one another are used together
• Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are next to each other.
• A simile is a figure of speech involving a comparison between two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
• Irony. The humorous or sarcastic use of words or ideas, implying the opposite of what they mean.
• Allusion · Figure of speech that makes reference to a place, event, literary work, myth, art, etc. but it must be recognised by the intended audience. 
• Euphemism. The use of a pleasing or inoffensive term to represent something that is considered unpleasant, distasteful, or distressing
• paradox - A statement which may seem to contradict itself but actually holds some truth. Writer’s may use this technique to make a controversial comment.
• consonance refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the ends of words to convey a particular mood, atmosphere or emotion,
• EPISTROPHE


  repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses/sentences
• ANAPHORA

  repetition of a word at the beginning of successive clauses
• CACOPHONY

  mixture of harsh and inharmonious soundsE.G. I detest war because cause of war is always trivial
• PROSODICS

  tone, pauses, italics, emphasis, pitch"I'm so frightened", so is italicised thus is the intensifier
• FOIL

  A character with qualities that contrast the qualities of another character to highlight these traits.
• DECLARATIVE SENTENCE

  short, punchy sentence - used for emphasis
• HYPERBOLE


  exaggeration used for rhetorical effect.
• CONNOTATION

  A word that conjures up other meanings or sparks thoughts of something else
• SEMANTIC FIELD


  group of words connected by a shared meaning.
• OXYMORON

  Language device where two opposite words or meanings are used side by side e.g. deafening silence
• DIATRIBE

  An impassioned rant or angry speech of denunciation
• PATHETIC FALLACY


  The use of setting, scenery or weather to mirror the mood of a human activity
• ASSONANCE


  The repeating of vowel sounds for aesthetic effect: 'low, close, clouds'.
• ENJAMBEMENT


  The flowing on of a line of poetry so there is no pause at the end of the line
• SIBILANCE

  The aesthetic use of the hissing 's' sound; 'So many slights, so many sighs, so many sneers
• REPETEND

  A recurring word of phrase, not necessarily as formally arranged as a refrain
• CATHARSIS

  an emotional release engendered by an intense experience.
• HAMARTIA

  a fatal moral flaw in a protagonist of a tragedy.
• FRICATIVE


  alliteration of 'f' sounds
• PLOSIVE


  alliteration of 'p' 'b' 'd' sounds
• ISOCOLON


  sentences in succession of equal length
• REFRAIN

  a verse or line that repeats in different stanzas
• indefinite article - introduces a general version of a noun
• DEFINITE ARTICLE - introduces a specific version of a noun