Literature
Literature
Literature
You should be able to write about key language features used in novels, short stories, plays
and poems. Here's a reminder of what they are and how they work:
Alliteration
This is where the first letter of a word is repeated in words that follow. For example, the cold,
crisp, crust of clean, clear ice.
Assonance
This is where the same vowel sound is repeated but the consonants are different. For
example, he passed her a sharp, dark glance, she shot a cool, foolish look across the room.
Colloquial language
This is language used in speech with an informal meaning. For example, chill, out of this
world, take a rain check
Dialect
This is a version of a language spoken by people in a particular geographical area.
Dialogue
This is a conversation between two or more people - sometimes an imagined conversation
between the narrator and the reader. Dialogue is important in drama and can show conflict
through a series of statements and challenges, or intimacy where characters mirror the
content and style of each other's speech. It can also be found in the conversational style of a
poem.
Dissonance
This is discordant combinations of sounds. For example, the clash, spew and slow pang of
grinding waves against the quay.
Enjambment
This is device used in poetry where a sentence continues beyond the end of the line or verse.
This technique is often used to maintain a sense of continuation from one stanza to another.
Hyperbole
This is exaggerating for a purpose – it is not meant to be taken literally. For example, we
gorged on the banquet of beans on toast.
Imagery
This is where strong pictures or ideas are created in the mind of the reader. Similes,
metaphors and personification can all be used to achieve this - they all compare something
'real' with something 'imagined'.
Irony
This is where words or ideas are used humorously or sarcastically, to imply the opposite of
what they mean.
Metaphor
This is where a word or phrase is used to imply figurative resemblance, not a literal or 'actual'
one. For example, he flew into the room.
Monologue
An uninterrupted monologue can show a character's importance or state of mind. Monologue
can be in speech form, delivered in front of other characters and having great thematic
importance, or as a soliloquy where we see the character laying bare their soul and thinking
aloud.
Onomatopoeia
Turning points are moments that have an important effect on the characters and/or the
unfolding of the plot.
Final resolution depends on what the writer has decided will happen to the characters at
the end. What questions are answered or raised?
Texts have a 'shape'. Think of the structure of a poem, play or novel as being like an
architect's plan. The words are the bricks, but underlying them is an overall shape or
design.
Structure refers to how a text is divided up. Acts, scenes and chapters usually
indicate structure and are deliberately used to divide up the text in a meaningful way.
Characterisation
appearance
behaviour/actions
Themes
Narrative
Most narratives are written in either the first or the third person.
First person narrative is where the 'voice' telling the story uses the word 'I'. This can have an
intimate, believable confessional feel.
Third person narrative is where the author uses 'he', 'she', 'they' or 'it'. A voice refers to
actions, events and circumstances dissociated from both the narrator and the reader. The
narrator can be either omniscient (all-knowing) or can merely function to report events as they
take place.
Writers will often alternate between these modes. It is not uncommon for the narrative to shift
from third to first person. This can help us to understand the characters from different
perspectives - first a detached and objective view, then more personal and intimate.
It is important to note that third person narrators are not always totally detached. Sometimes
they favour the opinions and point of view of one particular character. Although the narrative
may be in the third person it gives a special insight into the consciousness of one or more
characters.
Second person narratives, where the author tells the story using 'you' are more unusual. In this
kind of narrative the reader is addressed directly and is involved as part of the story. There is
often a sense of discovery or reveal with this kind of narrative voice.
The narrative point of view is, then, crucial in revealing and telling us about characters - and
also in helping the story to be told in an exciting, structured and significant way.
Structure of a critical essay
indicate the topics/aspects that the rest of the essay will discuss in depth
In a sense, the introduction should be a summary of the whole essay – later
paragraphs should not change the direction of the argument or introduce new
and unexpected topics.
Here is an example of an opening paragraph for an essay question.
Question
Write an essay on Macbeth, focusing on conflict.
Show answer
Peer approach
Ensure you make frequent links back to the key phrases from the question, not only in
the introduction, but also in topic sentences at the start of paragraphs.
For example:
The importance of Macbeth’s inner conflict to the development of his character becomes clear
in his soliloquy in Act One Scene Seven.
The main body of the essay should be developed with both statements and evidence.
Many people recommend the PEZWI structure:
Point (topic sentence)
(E) After wildly picking every berry in sight, the persona and his friends
return to the byre the next day, only to find the glossy purple berries
have been transformed by a rat-grey fungus. It becomes apparent in that
moment the berries are rotting and in the children’s lust for picking they
have failed to consider what might happen to the fruit.
(Z) By his use of the word lust, Heaney is suggesting the children pick
the berries with a wild sense of abandon and their desire to collect them
in as vast a quantity as possible is almost uncontrollable. The berries
have been transformed from glossy purple - indicating life, vitality and
freshness, to - rat-grey – a colour associated ultimately with decay and
death. In the context of the poem, this experience highlights the human
condition itself, which can be summed up as the passage from innocence
to experience.
(WI) It is only when the children have seen what has happened as a result
of their efforts that they accept life isn’t always fair. Heaney leaves the
reader pondering the fact that change – whether in terms of the berries or
life in general - is inevitable, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the
time.this makes us feel upset and sympathetic towards them.