Whether it is for your Internal Oral or Paper 1 and 2 exams in the IB English Language and Literature course, having a good grasp of the right terminology is essential to score well in reflection of your understanding of texts.
Here are some essential techniques you should know. Most are populated with examples, but some are unpopulated for your own research!
| Technique | Definition | Example |
| Alliteration | Repetition of the identical letter or sound at the beginning of a group of words. | She sells sea shells by the sea shore. |
| Allusion | A reference made to another object or topic inexplicitly. | “This place is like the Garden of Eden” – An allusion to the bible |
| Analogy | Compares one thing to another. | Life is like a box of chocolates… |
| Anaphora | A figure of speech consisting of a repeating group of words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses lines and sentences. | “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens. |
| Antithesis | Rhetorical device where two opposite ideas are used in a sentence to create contrast. | “It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens. |
| Asyndeton | Style of writing where use of conjunctions such as ‘and’ are omitted to focus on the meaning of successive statements. | “we shall pay anyprice, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty” – John F. Kennedy |
| Consonance | A stylistic device that repeats identical or similar consonant sounds within a sentence. | “Pitter patter” |
| Epistrophe | The opposite of Anaphora. Repetition of a group of words at the end of phrases, clauses or sentences. | “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” Abraham Lincoln |
| Ethos | A persuasive argument that appeals to audiences through author’s credibility and authority. This can be done through mentioning someone’s title, establishing moral authority, expertise. | “We have 100 years of experience in the roofing business and a large cohort of qualified technicians” Builds up credibility through mentioning skilled staff and experience. |
| Euphemism | A figure of speech where a word or phrase is used to relate to a concept that is offensive or unpleasant to say outright. | “He had one too many” |
| Half rhyme | Poetic device where ending consonant sounds of the words matches but the preceding sounds do not. Gives poets greater range of words to use and avoid a chiming effect of full rhymes to produce a slight discordant variation in tone. | If love is like a bridge or maybe like a grudge, To my wife by George Wolff |
| Hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration of a situation or claim to create a comedic or ironic effect without it being interpreted as fact. | I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse. |
| Hypophora | When a question is raised, it is immediately answered by the author. Directly brings up readers’ questions and answers. | What should young people do with their lives? Many things, obviously. |
| Idiom | An expression that means something different to its literal interpretation. Helps to convey subtleties in meaning. | The straw that broke the camel’s back. |
| Irony | Contradictory statements or situations are introduced that upset the expectation of reality. | “beautiful weather we have today” as the sky cries. |
| Juxtaposition | The use of two objects or ideas side by side to create an implicit compare and contrast effect. | Light vs darkness Beauty and the beast |
| Kinaesthetic imagery (Sensory Imagery) | Description that appeals to the senses of the human body such as touch, smell, taste, hearing.. etc. Used for immersion and greater understanding of setting. | The sound of a drum in the distance attracted him. |
| Litotes | The use of negative wording to express a positive idea through understatement. | I can’t disagree with your logic |
| Logos | Persuasive arguments that appeal to reason and logic through evidence or deduction. | The vaccine is 99% effective against COVID-19. There is no reason not to take the vaccine. |
| Metaphor | The implicit comparison of two things by stating those two things are identical. This can help explain complex ideas with common imagery. | It is the East, and Juliet, the sun! – R&J Shakespeare |
| Metonymy | ||
| Olfactory imagery | ||
| Onomatopoeia | ||
| Oxymoron | ||
| Paradox | ||
| Parallelism | ||
| Perfect rhyme | ||
| Personification | ||
| Pun | ||
| Rhetorical question | ||
| Sibilance | ||
| Sibilance | ||
| Simile | ||
| Symbolism | ||
| Synecdoche | ||
| Tricolon | ||
| Visual Imagery | ||
| Zeugma (syllepsis) |
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