English terms

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Absurdist
Writing which presents the reader with the idea that life has no intrinsic meaning and that it is pointless.
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Agenda Setting
Who sets the topic of conversation.
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Alliteration
The repetition of consonants, usually at the start of the words.
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Antithesis
Words that are opposed or contrasted, yet still balanced. e.g. 'to live a sinner, or to die a saint.'
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Argot
Vocabulary used by a specific group of people that is often not understtod by outsiders.
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Assonance
The repetition of vowels.
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Bathetic
Change from a serious to a more trivial mood. (Bathos is the noun).
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Blank verse
Unrhymed verse, normally ten syllables long with alternative stressed/unstressed beats.
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Caesure
Pause or break in a line of verse.
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Clauses
Used when describing sentences or sentence types, must have a very and subject.
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Colloquial
Refers to every-day language, occasionally including slang.
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Complex sentence
Will contain more than one clause, linked by subordinating conjunctions (these join clauses so that one clause is dependant on the other).
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Converge
This is changing your speech depending on the other speaker. One can downwardly or upwardly converge and may also diverge from the other speaker, so as to isolate themselves.
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Demotic/prosaic
Another term for ordinary speech.
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Dystopias
Pictures of an unpleasant/harsh world.
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Ellipses
Omission of part of a sentence. For example 'Need any help?' rather than 'Do you need any help?'
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Field specific
Specific semantic field, e.g. medical etc.
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Free indirect speech
Reported words that reflect the tone of voice of the speaker.
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Hedges
Softening phrase in order to weaken the impact of an utterance by avoiding directness.
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Homophones
Words that are spelt different, but sound the same.
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Hyperbole
The use of exaggeration for emphasis.
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Iambic pentameter
Blank verse of 5 stressed/ 5 unstressed syllables. Often what Shakespeare would write it.
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Interactional features
Features of spoken discourse.
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Litotes
Understatement. Opposite of 'Hyperbole'.
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Malapropism
The use of the wrong word, but one which sounds similar.
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Metaphor
Two things that are compared by saying one thing is the other. E.g. 'Denmark is a prison'.
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Miscegenation
The mixing of different racial groups by marriage or extramarital sexual relations; having a child with someone outside of one's racially or ethnically defined group.
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Modal auxiliary verb
'Can', 'might', 'shall, 'would' etc..
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Monoglot
Something writte in one language early.
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Motif
A recurring image, that gains significance throughout the duration of the play due to the constant reference to it.
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Nominates
Allocates the next speaker, for example 'What do you think?'
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Paralinguistics
This refers to non-lexical aspects of talk that still convey meaning. E.g. 'Hmmm' or grunts.
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Phonological features
Refers to the speed, pitch, stress and volume of the speech.
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Plosives
b, k, p, or t etc. (Harsh sounding letters).
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Pragmatics
How we interpret the speakers words and intentions.
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Proleptic irony
Something that may be briefly mentioned or suggested that happens later on in the play or book etc.
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Protagonist
The main character.
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Repertoire
An individuals vocabulary range.
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Satire
This type or writing aims to bring about reform or change by using humour.
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Schema
Set of expectations of a given circumstance/situation.
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Simile
An explicit comparison of two objects, using 'like' or 'as'.
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Stichomythia
Dialogue where the characters speak alternate lines and tend to bounce of the others words. Lots of examples from Vladimir and Estragon in 'Waiting for Godot'.
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Syntax
The order of words in a sentence (generally subject, verb, object).
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Topic management
How the subject or topic is changed. For example, who changed it and why etc..
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Tropes
Words or expressions used in a non-literal or figurative sense.
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Interrogatives
Questions.
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Declaratives
Statements.
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Imperatives
Commands.
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Exclamatives
Exclamations.
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Unreliable narrator
1st person narrator, who, as the reader eventually discovers, hides or changes parts of the story.
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Verse
Language in metrical form or poetry.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Who sets the topic of conversation.

Back

Agenda Setting

Card 3

Front

The repetition of consonants, usually at the start of the words.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Words that are opposed or contrasted, yet still balanced. e.g. 'to live a sinner, or to die a saint.'

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Vocabulary used by a specific group of people that is often not understtod by outsiders.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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