Matthew's Technical Terms

Question 1

Emotive Language

Answer 1

Word choices that evoke an emotional response. It is often used to persuade the reader or listener to share the writer or speaker’s point of view, using language to stimulate an emotional reaction.

Adjectives - Appalling, Wonderful, Heavenly, Magical and Tragic.

Abstract Nouns - Freedom, Pride, Justice, Love and Terror.

Verbs - Destroyed, Vindicated, Saved, Betrayed and Adored.

Question 2

Pronoun

Answer 2

A pronoun does the job of a noun so you don’t have to keep repeating things over and over again. (I, me, my, mine, myself, he, they, their, it………)

Question 3

Alliteration

Answer 3

Alliteration is where beginning consonants are repeated to give a nice pattern.

Eg. Sally’s slipper slipped on a slimy slug.

Question 4

Facts

Answer 4

Eg. “97%” or “1930s”

Question 5

Opinion

Answer 5

Eg. “but it’s no too late”

Question 6

Rhetorical Question

Answer 6

A question that does not require an answer.

Eg. Who would have thought the train would be late.

Question 7

Adjective

Answer 7

Adjectives describe nouns and tell you more about them.

Eg. The man wore baggy pink socks.

Question 8

Noun

Answer 8

A person (or animal), place or a thing.

Question 9

Name three types of nouns.

Answer 9

Proper nouns are the names of particular people, places or things (eg. Elizabeth, Paris, Eiffel Tower)

Common nouns name kinds of things (eg. banana, dog, table)

Collective nouns name groups of things (eg. family army, herd)

Question 10

Verbs

Answer 10

doing and being words

Question 11

Adverbs

Answer 11

Adverbs describe verbs and often end in ‘-ly’. They say how something was done.
Eg. Martin strolled home slowly. (‘Slowly’ describes the verb.)

Adverbs can also describe adjectives.
Eg. He was very old. (‘Very’ describes the adjective ‘old’.)

Question 12

Modal verbs

Answer 12

These are verbs that indicate likelihood, ability, permission or obligation.

Words like: can/could, may/might, will/would, shall/should and must.

“The Sea Monster should go away”

‘Should’ is the modal verb here as it indicates the likelihood of the Sea Monster going away.

Question 13

Imperative Verbs

Answer 13

Commanding verbs. Imperative verbs tell someone to do something, or ask someone to do something.

Be careful with that!
Don’t run in the corridor!
Pass me the potatoes please.

Question 14

Triplet / Rule of 3 / Power of 3

Answer 14

Triplets are often used to heighten a piece of writing, maybe for selling something or making a phrase/idea stick in your head. The use of a triplet will add energy and enthusiasm to a speech.

Eg. “relaxing, luxurious, extravagant” and “shiny, new, affordable”.

Triplets can also be used in conjunction with
alliteration, for example “dark, damp, dusty”.

Question 15

Simile

Answer 15

A simile is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else.

Similes always use a comparing word like ‘as’ or ‘like’.

Eg. Fiona looks as miserable as a camel chewing a lemon.

Question 16

Metaphor

Answer 16

A metaphor says that one thing actually is something else although it isn’t meant literally. It’s a way of creating a vivid image by making you think of both things at the same time.

Eg. His eyes were deep black oily pools.

Question 17

Ellipsis

Answer 17

An ellipsis is a punctuation mark made up of three dots (…).

An ellipsis is used:

• To show an omission of a word or words (including whole sentences) from a text.
• To create a pause for effect.
• To show an unfinished thought.
• To show a trail off into silence.

Question 18

Onomatopoeia

Answer 18

A word that sounds like what it means.

Eg. fizz, buzz, crash, crunch

Question 19

Sibilance

Answer 19

Characterized by a hissing sound; noting sounds like those spelled with s in this, rose, pressure, pleasure, and certain similar uses of ch, sh, z, zh, etc.
Eg. The sly snake slithered around the sofa.

Question 20

Simple sentence

Answer 20

A simple sentence is built from the minimum of a subject and a main verb. It can be very short in length but doesn’t have to be.

There are several reasons for using simple sentences. For example, it can be used to create emphasis or a series of short simple sentences used together may be used to create tension, as in this extract:

‘We rounded the corner. He was there. We stood in awe at the sight.’

Question 21

Complex sentence

Answer 21

A complex sentence is built from a simple sentence which is added to a second group of words that are also built around a main verb. The second group gives more detail about the simple sentence, but it cannot stand alone.

Complex sentences add extra detail and information, for example so that a reader is able to create a vivid picture in their mind.

Eg. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, arid vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam engine worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness.

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Question 22

In media res

Answer 22

A narrative work beginning in medias res opens in the midst of the plot. Often, exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, either through dialogue, flashbacks or description of past events.

Question 23

Syndetic list

Answer 23

A syndetic list is connected by conjunctions.

Eg. Birds flock and wheel and cry.

Question 24

Asyndetic list

Answer 24

An asyndetic list uses commas instead of a conjunctions.

Eg. Birds flock, wheel, and cry.

Question 25

Oxymoron

Answer 25

Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of an adjective proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings, such as “cruel kindness,” “slow panic,” or “living death”.

Question 26

Juxtaposition

Answer 26

A literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters, and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem, for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Question 27

Colloquial Language

Answer 27

everyday language, slang

Question 28

Cyclical narrative structure

Answer 28

a text that goes around in a circle, ending on a similar point to what it started with

Question 29

Homophones

Answer 29

words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings
Eg. their, they’re, there

Question 30

Stanza

Answer 30

In poetry, a stanza is a grouped set of lines within a poem, usually set off from other stanzas by a blank line or indentation (can be called a verse).

Question 31

Penultimate

Answer 31

the second from last

Question 32

Ambiguous / Ambiguity

Answer 32

A word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning. Ambiguous words or statements lead to vagueness and confusion, and shape the basis for instances of unintentional humor.

Eg. Each of us saw her duck – It is not clear whether the word “duck” refers to an action of ducking, or a duck that is a bird.

Question 33

Caesura

Answer 33

A caesura is a rhythmical pause in a poetic line or a sentence. It often occurs in the middle of a line, or sometimes at the beginning and the end. At times, it occurs with punctuation; at other times it does not. Poets indicate such a pause with a parallel symbol thus: ||. Caesura can be medial (occurring in the middle of line), initial (occurring at the beginning of poetic line), or terminal (occurring at the end of a poetic line).

Question 34

Euphemism

Answer 34

A word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word.

Eg. “Senior citizen” is a euphemism for “old person”.

Question 35

Omniscient narrative

Answer 35

Omniscient is a literary technique of writing a narrative in third person, in which the narrator knows the feelings and thoughts of every character in the story. Through omniscient narrative, the author brings an entire world of his characters to life, and moves from character to character, allowing different voices to interpret the events, and maintaining omniscient form — that is keeping a distance.

Question 36

Personification

Answer 36

Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing – an idea or an animal – is given human attributes.

Question 37

Hyperbole

Answer 37

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Question 38

Anthropomorphism

Answer 38

The attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to an animal, object or god.