Word classes
- Nouns name things; verbs are actions or states; adjectives describe nouns; adverbs describe verbs (often ending in -ly); pronouns replace nouns; prepositions show position or time; conjunctions join clauses.
Figurative language
- Simile, metaphor and extended metaphor (a metaphor developed over several lines); personification; pathetic fallacy; hyperbole; oxymoron (contradictory words together, such as 'deafening silence'); and symbolism (an object standing for a bigger idea).
Sound devices
- Alliteration (repeated consonant sounds at the start of nearby words), assonance (repeated vowel sounds), sibilance (repeated 's' sounds), onomatopoeia, and plosives (harsh 'b', 'p', 't', 'd' and 'k' sounds).
Sentences and narrative voice
- Simple sentences have one main clause; compound sentences join main clauses with 'and', 'but' or 'or'; complex sentences have a main clause and a subordinate clause; minor sentences have no main verb, such as 'Silence.'
- Sentence functions: statements, questions, commands (imperatives) and exclamations.
- Narrative voice: first person ('I'), second person ('you') or third person ('he', 'she', 'they').
Key terms
- Oxymoron
- Two contradictory words placed together, such as 'bittersweet'.
- Extended metaphor
- A metaphor developed over several lines or a whole text.
- Symbolism
- Using an object to represent a bigger idea.
- Assonance
- Repeated vowel sounds in nearby words.
- Plosive
- A harsh consonant sound, such as 'b', 'p', 't' or 'd'.
- Imperative
- A command, such as 'Stop now.'
- Complex sentence
- A sentence with a main clause and a subordinate clause.
- Minor sentence
- A sentence without a main verb, used for effect.