ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TECHNIQUES AND THEIR
EFFECTS
IMAGERY
• Imagery is a way of using language to paint a picture for
the reader.
• Imagery can affect all five of the reader's physical
senses - not just sight.
• In other words, imagery assists a reader in imagining
the smell, taste, touch, sight and sound of the scene that
the author is describing.
SIMILE
• Similes are a kind of descriptive English language device
that compares two things to create a vivid image in the
reader’s mind. .
• Similes are commonly used as a language device in
descriptive writing and poetry.
Example:
• Cool as a cucumber.
• This language device adds extra detail to help the reader
understand behaviours, people, situations, events or
objects.
METAPHOR
• Whilst similes compare two things, metaphors create
more of a direct and literal effect.
• A metaphor is a form of figurative language that directly
compares one thing to another for rhetorical effect.
• Metaphors most commonly use the structure 'X is Y.‘
Example :
The night is a shadow cast on the Earth.
FLASHBACKS
• Flashbacks are a language device that can be used
within a plot to insert past events in order to provide
context to the current events of a narrative.
• Using flashbacks, writers allow their readers to gain
insight into a character’s motivations and provide a
background to a current predicament.
ALLITERATION
• Alliteration is when two or more words that start with the same sound
are used repeatedly in a phrase or a sentence.
• The repeated sound creates the alliteration, not the same letter.
• This is a form of repetition that creates an eye-catching or memorable
effect.
• Alliteration can make your words more engaging and entertaining.
When the writer engages the audience, they're more likely to pay
attention and remember what you say.
Example:
• The bird sang sweetly.
PERSONIFICATION
• Personification is a language device in which human
characteristics, including thoughts, feelings or actions, are
given to something non-human.
• The 'non-human' in this case encompasses everything from
inanimate objects to plants and animals.
Example
Those flowers are begging for water in this hot weather.
ASSONANCE
• Assonance is what we call it when two words that occur in a
sentence share the same vowel sounds, but the consonants are
different.
• This creates a type of alliteration and flow to the text, and it
can be strategically used to amplify the meaning.
Example
Make sure to go slowly over the road bumps.
COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE
• Colloquial language is essentially just informal language or casual forms of
communication in the written form.
• This can include shortened versions of words or specific phrases.
• This form of language is often used to show that characters in a story are familiar
with one another.
Example:
1. ‘Wanna’ is a colloquialism meaning ‘Do you want to’.
2. She needs to step up to the plate is a colloquial phrase meaning that someone
needs to rise to the challenge of something.
DIALECT
• Dialect is a great English language technique to use when
establishing different characters in a story.
• It is a type of language that is spoken by people in a particular
geographical area.
• Therefore, using it in works of fiction helps show where characters
are from.
HYPERBOLE
• Hyperbole can function as an intensifier, allowing us to put extra
emphasis on something that’s happening in a story.
• However, an exaggerated piece of hyperbole can also be used for
comedic effect.
ONOMATOPOEIA
• This English language technique is a word that sounds like the
noise it’s describing.
IRONY
• It basically means when words or ideas are used in a sarcastic
or humorous way to imply the direct opposite of what they
mean.
OXYMORON
• An oxymoron is where two words that are typically not associated with
one another are used together.
For example:
The ending of the movie was bitter-sweet.
REPETITION
• Writers will repeat specific words or phrases to put
emphasis on them
Example :
1. It is really, really cold here in Belfast.
TONE
• Tone is a way of writing that is used to create a specific mood
or feeling in a text.
• This mood can be anything from shock, happiness, anxiety,
anger and sorrow.
• Many of the techniques listed above anaphora , in addition to
structural devices like short or long sentences, can be used to
create tone
ANAPHORA
• Anaphora is the name given to the repetition of a word or
phrase at the beginning of a sentence or sentences.
• This can be used to create dramatic effect, and creates a great
sense of rhythm within a piece of writing.
Example:
I wish you didn’t have to go. I wish you wanted to stay. I wish
things didn’t have to change.
ELLIPSIS
• One of the most common ways that it is used in literature is to create
dramatic effect.
• Ellipses create a pause in a text, which writers can use to build tension
and suspense.
• Ellipses can also symbolize unspoken words in a text, which are
perhaps too difficult for a character to say.
• Moreover, ellipses are often used to portray a sense of uncertainty.
• If there are ellipses before and/or after a phrase or sentence, it
completely changes the meaning of the words.
CONSONANCE
• Consonance is simply the repetition of consonants throughout
a sentence or phrase.
• Consonant sounds are often harsh and abrupt and so can be
used to create a coarse, grating tone in a text.
• These sounds can also just be used to create a rhythm within a
piece of text, which is why it can be found in a lot of poetry.
PATHETIC FALLACY
• Pathetic fallacy can be found throughout many classic texts,
wherein nature is used as a powerful reflection or
representation of how certain characters are feeling.
