Technique Explanation Example

Stream of This is the flow of thoughts in a character. I waited in silence. I did not wish to contradict
consciousness him.
Simile A descriptive technique that compares two things They fought like cats and dogs.
indirectly using as, as if, as though and like. He ran as fast as a leopard.
Metaphor A direct comparison using is, are, were, was. She was over the moon.
Sharon is like a rocket in the marathon.
Personification Giving human qualities to inanimate objects. The wind howled.
The chair cried under the pressure of the man.
Zoomorphism Animal qualities are given to people. He ate hungrily like a pig.
Anthromorphism Human qualities are given to animals. The dog waved at me.
Comparison Compare people, places, things that are unfamiliar Her smile was as bright as the sun.
to something familiar.
Superlative The highest degree of a quality. Rich- richest, bad- worst
Oxymoron Having two opposites next to each other. Wise fool, love hate
Adjectives Words that describe nouns. She was kind and generous.
Vivid verbs Verbs that present actions clearly. I admired at the endeavour of my friend.
Adverb Word mostly end with ly and further describe the Flash ran very fast.
verbs. She finished her chores rapidly.
Hyperbole Use of exaggeration for effect. I’ve told you to clean your room a million times.
Pathethic fallacy Giving human qualities to inanimate objects of Sombre clouds darkening over the beach ruined
nature in order to reflect mood. our day.
Onomatopoeia Words with sound. Crash, crush, thunder.
Emotive language Words that either arise positive or negative An innocent bystander was injured in the fight of
feelings. the two friends.
Listing Syndetic listing- a list connected by conjunctions. Apples and oranges and pears.
Asyndetic listing- a list connected by commas. Apples, oranges, pears and lemons.
Cyclical effect Start the narrative with the same idea and end Of mice and men
with the same idea bring the story to a full circle. To kill a mocking bird
Foreshadowing Gives indication of what will come later. It is often e.g.: - blood, certain colours, birds and cats.
unnoticed by the readers until the very end.
Foreboding A feeling that something bad is going to happen e.g.: - gloomy weather and storms show
due to changes in the environment. impending doom.
⭐In foreshadowing the author drops subtle hints about the plot development while foreboding is a sense of evil to come.
Imperative A soft command. Sit down.
Assertive A very strong command. You ought to go to school, young lady!
Ellipsis Creates a pause to make the readers think about I am frantic and I cry out.
the events that have occurred.
Short sentences A sentence with a maximum of 5 words. I listened hard but nothing.
Alliteration When the same consonant sound is repeated in Tina tripped right on the floor.
close by words.
Sibilance Repetition of the s sound. Sally sells seashells on the sea shore.
Fricative Repetition of the f sound The friendly fox slept on the forests ferny floor.
Plosive Repetition of b, t, p, d sounds. Doom drops down.
Assonance Repetition of a vowel sound in close by words. Howls and hollows.
Intensifier Increases the meaning. He is so smart.
Language of Units of measurement. e.g.: - 50ft.
measurement
Quantifier Words that emphasize on an amount. There are few people left.
Cliché A saying that is over used. A woman’s place is in the kitchen.
Technique Explanation Example
Paradox Contrasting ideas are presented confusing readers No one goes to that restaurant; it is always full.
but after reflecting, it makes more sense.
Helping verbs Sometimes these verbs are needed to complete a It might rain.
sentence structurally.
Conditional Clause It suggest possibility based on a condition. If it snows, they will close school.
Generalization It generalizes an idea and attributes to a group. Everyone in year 10 know their techniques.
Parallel structure When a phrase is repeated. They will be going tomorrow. He too will be
going tomorrow.
Absolute A negative is used to show a certainty. He will never succeed.
Negation No or a negative word is repeated for emphasis. We have no food, no water, no nothing.
Juxtaposition When opposite ideas are referred to in a sentence We may have failed this time but next time we
or in consecutive sentences. will succeed no matter what.
Allusion Reference to something popular. The new greenhouse has been named garden of
Eden.
Sensory images There are 5 types of sensory images. Auditory, gustatory, olfactory, visual and tactile
imagery.
Auditory imagery Describes things that can be heard. A high pitch shrieking of a woman awoke me.
Gustatory imagery An image that focuses on taste. The salty taste of the sea made me choke.
Olfactory imagery An image that focuses on scent and smell. The smell of pancakes wafting into my room
awoke me.
Visual imagery What can be seen through words. The golden yellow sun glimmered in the peacock
blue sky.
Tactile imagery Based on touch. The soft fur of a cat.

Structural techniques

Structure Explanation
Narrative structure Does the conflict/problem gets resolved.
Narrative voice First person, second person, third person
Tone Friendly tone, formal tone, etc.
Punctuation More punctuation, more formal and educated the person is.
Sentence structure Simple, compound and complex sentence structures.
Paragraphing Long and short paragraphs.
Retrospect/flashback Used to prove that things are still the same in the future.
Pacing Whether the story moves fast or slow.
Dialogue More dialogues means more friendly tone?
Colloquial language Informal language.
Statistics A number gathered from research.
Parallel structure
Facts Information that can be proved to be true.
Opinions A view or judgement that is biased and not factual.
Inclusive pronoun A pronoun that includes all genders.
Contrast Positioning two or more objects who have different characterstics.
Paranthesis Extra information is provided in brackets.
Syntax The arrangement of words in a sentence.
Syntax break Extra details are provided between each syntax break.
Hyperphora Answering your own rhetorical question.
Triple/ Tricolon A series of three parallel words, phrases or sentences.
Evidence Information taken from established and trusted sources.
Rule of three
Counter argument An idea that opposes the previous statement.
Quote A saying by a famous person.
Ellipsis It is used to omit some parts of a sentence or a event. (…)
Short sentences A sentence with 5 words.
Long sentences A sentence with more than 5 words.
Imagery A metaphor, similie or personification.
Dialogue Conversation between characters.
Caesura
Pronouns I, we, me, you, we, us, our, they, them, he, she, him, her.
Direct address Directly speaking to the audience; you.
Anecdote A short story that involves a message.
Humour/ Pun A play on words for humourus effect.
Antithesis Contrasting opposites to weight their values,
Reframing Changing the terms of an argument by refocusing it.
Anaphora Repeating words/ phrases at the start of sentences.
Epistrophe Repeating words/ phrases at the end of sentences.
Isocolon Creating a parallel structure across sentences/ phrases.
Chiasmus Repeating word in the reverse order.
Understatement Presenting information as less important than it is.
Oxymoron Two contradictory words are written.
Paradox A statement that contradicts itself.

First person- I, we, me, us.

Second person- you.

Third person- he, she, it, they, him, her, them.