Techniques 1
What is the repetition of consonants at the beginning of successive words or within sentences/phrases?
Alliteration
A common or overused expression.
Cliche
The purposeful over-exaggeration of a statement in order to create a more intense or over-the-top effect.
Hyperbole
The strength or force of a word.
Modality
A question that is asked without the intent of receiving an answer.
Rhetorical question
A subtle or passing reference to an event, person, place, other text, etc.
Allusion
The time, place and social setting within which a text was created.
Context
The act of hinting at or setting up a situation, event or action that will later be extremely important in the narrative but doesn’t seem important at the time.
Foreshadowing
An idea, symbol, object, concept or theme that is present throughout the text, playing a significant and/or symbolic role in the narrative.
Motif
A "dot-dot-dot" can indicate an unfinished thought, a leading statement, a slight pause, an echoing voice, or a nervous or awkward silence.
Ellipsis
When something is not stated explicitly, leaving it for the reader's imagination.
Ambiguity
Any situation wherein the audience is privy to some sort of information that the characters do not know,.
Dramatic irony
The construction and structure of a text based on the text type.
Form
Two contradictory words or concepts used together to create a strange or complex thing/idea that still makes sense.
Oxymoron
To compose or respond to a text in ways that are different from the widely accepted reading or different from the conventional genre.
Subvert
A short personal story.
Anecdote
A work intended to ridicule or mock through imitating the ideas, tone, vocabulary and stylistic features of another work.
Parody
This occurs when one text makes reference to another text, either obviously or in a more subtle way (e.g. allusions) in order to make a point or draw links between the two.
Intertextuality
A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.
Synecdoche
Informal expression of language, characteristic of speech and often used in informal writing.
Colloquialism
A story or narrative with two meanings; the obvious or literal meaning that is immediately clear, and a second, usually hidden meaning.
Allegory
A mild or ‘proper’ expression used to replace one that is harsh, blunt or otherwise offensive in order to not cause trouble or appear vulgar.
Euphemism
Placing one character, idea, theme, object, setting, etc. parallel to another in order to compare and contrast the two.
Juxtaposition
The act of referring to something not by its actual name but by a figurative name or the name of something associated with it (e.g. 'Lend me your ears')
Metonymy
Language (which can include technical terms, concepts, ideas or codes) used to describe and discuss a language. The language of grammar and the language of literary criticism are two examples.
Metalanguage