ENGLISH LITERATURE A-LEVEL TECHNIQUES

• EPISTROPHE


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


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


  phrase repeated in reverse orderE.G. "Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves.""we cannot all be masters nor all masters cannot be truly followed" (Iago to Othello)urges audience to evaluate relationship between these two repeated phrases
• CACOPHONY


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


  appearance of being true or real
• PARATAXIS


  the placing of clauses or phrases one after another, without words to indicate coordination or subordination "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered")
• HENDIADYS


  expression of one idea using two words connected by 'and' when one could be used to modify the other " weak and watery" - "watery weak"
• PROSODICS


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


  figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation. reference to an inanimate object , sometimes God or some ethereal creature
• ETHOS

  Convincing others through credibility of pursuader"If his years as a soldier taught him anything, it's that caution is the best policy in this sort of situation." - soldiers opinion more credible in violent situations, more experienced
• LOGOS

  convincing others through logic/reason
• PATHOS


  experience of a situation that evokes pity/sympathy/sorrow "groping, tripping, staggering" - The Rear-Guardmakes us feel sympathy that this soldier has to endure such hardship
• FOIL

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


  short, punchy sentence - used for emphasis
• TRICOLON


  "guttering,choking,drowning"
• BALANCED SENTENCE


  sentence is made up of two segments which are equal, not only in length, but also in grammatical structure and meaning. e.g."Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it."
• HYPERBOLE


  exaggeration used for rhetorical effect.
• CONNOTATION

  A word that conjures up other meanings or sparks thoughts of something else
• STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

  A character's interior monologue: a continuous flow of thoughts going on in the character's mind
• SEMANTIC FIELD


  group of words connected by a shared meaning.
• JARGON

  technical vocabulary associated with a particular occupation or activity
• DEIXIS


  words that are context-bound where meaning depends on who is using them, and where and when they are being used.
• OXYMORON


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


  Satire that uses caricature.
• DIATRIBE

  An impassioned rant or angry speech of denunciation
• PARODY


  The reducing of another text to ridicule by hostile imitation
• PATHETIC FALLACY


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


  A destructive reduction of an idea, image, concept or text. It can employ exaggeration, mimicry, irony or tone
• ELEGY


  A poem lamenting a dead person or persons
• EPITHALAMIUM


  A poem celebrating a wedding.
• 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
• APOCOPE

  omission of the final sound of the word 'cuppa
• SYNCOPE

  omission of sound of letters in the middle of the word 'library