LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES

DEFINITION/WHAT TO LOOK FOR

concrete nouns

words for things you can see/touch e.g. table/church/book etc.

abstract nouns

words for things you can imagine/feel e.g. love/pain/idea/thought

adjectives

words that describe nouns e.g. large/impressive/private

verbs

doing words e.g. pray/kiss/stab

adverbs

words that describe verbs e.g. slowly/bravely/foolishly

personal pronouns

e.g. me/you/him/her

possessive pronouns

e.g. mine/yours/his/hers

exclusive pronouns

e.g. me vs you / us vs them

inclusive pronouns

e.g. we/us/our

prepositions

words that tell you where something is e.g. on/above/opposite

imagery

groups of words related to a particular topic e.g. animal imagery, imagery to do

with light, religious imagery, natural imagery etc.

visual imagery

when there are lots of words to do with things that you can see

tactile imagery

when there are lots of words to do with different textures

olfactory imagery

when there are lots of words to do with smells/tastes

aural imagery

when there are lots of words to do with sounds

simile

comparing two things using as/like

metaphor

describing one thing as if it was something else without using as/like/than e.g.

She is the ship on which I must travel

personification

describing an object as if it were a person e.g. The walls fell to their knees

emotive language

words that are linked to emotion, or provoke strong emotions in the audience

e.g. hate, love, children

hyperbole

exaggerations

superlatives

words that show extremity e.g. tallest, shortest, cleverest, biggest

exclamations

sentences ending with an exclamation mark

rhetorical questions

questions with an obvious answer

imperative verbs

commands

declarative statements

statements of fact e.g. I felt sad, she came home, we gave up

pun

a play on words, sometimes sexual

innuendo

use of sexual puns

foreshadowing

words that hint at what will happen later on

pathetic fallacy

when you suggest the weather has emotions e.g. the heavens wept

or when the weather echoes a character’s emotions e.g. rain > sad

alliteration

repetition of a letter sound at the start of several words

repetition of ‘s’ sounds is called sibilance

repetition of ‘f’/‘ph’ sounds is called fricative alliteration

repetition of ‘h’ sounds is called aspirant alliteration

repetition of ‘m’ sounds is called bilabial alliteration

repetition of ‘l’ sounds is called liquid alliteration

repetition of ‘p’/’b’ sounds is called plosive alliteration

repetition of ‘d’/’t’ sounds is called dental alliteration

the main purpose of alliteration is to emphasise other techniques

consonant

any letter other than a, e, i, o, u

can be hard like 'b'/'d'/'p'/'t'/'c'/'k'/'ck'

or can be soft like 'l'/'f'/'ph'/'s'

consonance

repetition of a particular consonant within a sentence

can be hard like 'b'/'d'/'p'/'t'/'c'/'k'/'ck'

or can be soft like 'l'/'f'/'ph'/'s'

vowel

a, e, i, o, u

can be long like 'ah', 'ee', or 'oo'

or can be short like 'a' or 'e', 'i', 'o', or 'u'

assonance

repetition of a vowel sound within a sentence

can be long vowels like 'ah' or 'ee' or 'oo'

or can be short vowels like 'a' or 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'

Partial preview of the text

Download language techniques and more Exercises Poetry in PDF only on Docsity!

LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES DEFINITION/WHAT TO LOOK FOR

concrete nouns words for things you can see/touch e.g. table/church/book etc. abstract nouns words for things you can imagine/feel e.g. love/pain/idea/thought adjectives words that describe nouns e.g. large/impressive/private verbs doing words e.g. pray/kiss/stab adverbs words that describe verbs e.g. slowly/bravely/foolishly personal pronouns e.g. me/you/him/her possessive pronouns e.g. mine/yours/his/hers exclusive pronouns e.g. me vs you / us vs them inclusive pronouns e.g. we/us/our prepositions words that tell you where something is e.g. on/above/opposite imagery groups of words related to a particular topic e.g. animal imagery, imagery to do with light, religious imagery, natural imagery etc. visual imagery when there are lots of words to do with things that you can see tactile imagery when there are lots of words to do with different textures olfactory imagery when there are lots of words to do with smells/tastes aural imagery when there are lots of words to do with sounds simile comparing two things using as/like metaphor describing one thing as if it was something else without using as/like/than e.g. She is the ship on which I must travel personification describing an object as if it were a person e.g. The walls fell to their knees emotive language words that are linked to emotion, or provoke strong emotions in the audience e.g. hate, love, children hyperbole exaggerations superlatives words that show extremity e.g. tallest, shortest, cleverest, biggest exclamations sentences ending with an exclamation mark rhetorical questions questions with an obvious answer imperative verbs commands declarative statements statements of fact e.g. I felt sad, she came home, we gave up pun a play on words, sometimes sexual innuendo use of sexual puns foreshadowing words that hint at what will happen later on pathetic fallacy when you suggest the weather has emotions e.g. the heavens wept or when the weather echoes a character’s emotions e.g. rain > sad alliteration repetition of a letter sound at the start of several words repetition of ‘s’ sounds is called sibilance repetition of ‘f’/‘ph’ sounds is called fricative alliteration repetition of ‘h’ sounds is called aspirant alliteration repetition of ‘m’ sounds is called bilabial alliteration repetition of ‘l’ sounds is called liquid alliteration repetition of ‘p’/’b’ sounds is called plosive alliteration repetition of ‘d’/’t’ sounds is called dental alliteration the main purpose of alliteration is to emphasise other techniques consonant any letter other than a, e, i, o, u can be hard like 'b'/'d'/'p'/'t'/'c'/'k'/'ck' or can be soft like 'l'/'f'/'ph'/'s' consonance repetition of a particular consonant within a sentence can be hard like 'b'/'d'/'p'/'t'/'c'/'k'/'ck' or can be soft like 'l'/'f'/'ph'/'s' vowel a, e, i, o, u can be long like 'ah', 'ee', or 'oo' or can be short like 'a' or 'e', 'i', 'o', or 'u' assonance repetition of a vowel sound within a sentence can be long vowels like 'ah' or 'ee' or 'oo' or can be short vowels like 'a' or 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'

FORMAL TECHNIQUES DEFINITION/WHAT TO LOOK FOR

stanza what poems are divided into (like paragraphs, but in poetry) free verse where there’s no clear pattern in terms of how many lines per stanza block-form where the whole poem’s just one stanza couplets where each stanza’s two lines long tercets where each stanza’s three lines long quatrains where each stanza’s four lines long pentains where each stanza’s five lines long sestet where you have a stanza of six lines octet where you have a stanza of eight lines sonnet A poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter with a regular rhyme scheme Elizabethan sonnet A type of sonnet featuring alternating rhyme in the first three quatrains, followed by a rhyming couplet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG Petrarchan sonnet A type of sonnet featuring arch rhyme for the first two quatrains, followed by various rhyming patterns in the remaining six lines: e.g. ABBA CDDC EFG EFG blank verse A type of verse, but without any rhyming lines rhymed verse A type of verse with one/more rhymed lines irregular rhyme Where there’s no obvious rhyming pattern regular rhyme Where there is an obvious pattern to the rhyme rhyming couplet Two lines of verse, often rhymed to suggest harmony or a sense of completion alternating rhyme When the first and third lines rhyme, and the second and fourth lines rhyme: e.g. ABAB arch-rhyme When the first and fourth lines rhyme and the second and third lines rhyme: e.g. ABBA half-rhyme When the rhyme words sort of rhyme, but not perfectly e.g. love/prove ballad rhyme When a poem is written in quatrains, and the first and third line don’t rhyme but the second and fourth lines do e.g. ABCB iambic pentameter A line of 10 syllables with five stressed beats e.g. di-DUM-di-DUM-di-DUM-di- DUM-di-DUM iambic tetrameter A line of 8 syllables with four stressed beats e.g. di-DUM-di-DUM-di-DUM-di- DUM hypermetric lines when most of the lines have the same number of syllables, but one or two lines have more those lines are hypermetric catalectic lines when most of the lines have the same number of syllables, but one or two lines have fewer those lines are catalectic enjambment when a sentence starts on one line and runs onto the next line with no punctuation at the end of the line to stop it end-stopping when there is punctuation at the end of the line caesura when there’s punctuation somewhere in the middle of a line STRUCTURAL TECHNIQUES DEFINITION/WHAT TO LOOK FOR juxtaposition placing two things together for effect antithesis placing two opposite/contrasting things or ideas together for effect oxymoron/paradox placing two impossible things together for effect complex sentences sentences with more than one clause; clauses are often separated by commas, hyphens, or brackets compound sentences longer sentences featuring connectives such as and/but/so/for/or/nor/yet/so/ because/although etc. simple sentences sentences with a subject, a verb, and sometimes an object; tend to be short fragments grammatically incomplete sentences; they might be missing a verb or might only contain a verb e.g. My only love! / e.g. Come! / e.g. Now! repetition repetition of the same word/phrase asyndetic listing listing without connectives e.g. bread, milk, cheese, rice, eggs syndetic listing listing with connectives e.g. bread and milk and chees and rice and eggs parallel sentences Sentences that have a similar structure but slightly different words e.g. I have a vision, I have a purpose, I have a dream.

language techniques, Exercises of Poetry

Related documents

Partial preview of the text

Download language techniques and more Exercises Poetry in PDF only on Docsity!

LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES DEFINITION/WHAT TO LOOK FOR

FORMAL TECHNIQUES DEFINITION/WHAT TO LOOK FOR