Over the past five decades, Arrendell Secondary Education Centre has supported thousands of Newcastle students, helping them to achieve their academic goals as well as developing confidence and greater insight and empathy in their social interactions.
Because so many of our students have achieved high HSC results, we receive referrals from their families and friends and consequently we work with many academically gifted students with high aspirations. This is reflected in our student’s high achievement levels.
We do not ‘select’ our students on the basis of academic ability and we offer the best possible support for each of the students in our care.
These two factors are reflected in our Year 12 HSC results year after year.
Our student’s HSC results in 2023 for example, included several students in the Premier’s High Achievers List. One of our students was also the highest HSC achiever in the Hunter. 30% of our Year 12 students achieved a band six in the subject they were studying with us. Each of our Year 12 students, with the exception of one student, who was significantly affected by a health crisis achieved entry into their selected University course and a number of them were offered scholarships.
These outcomes reflect the quality and experience of our teachers reflecting both their skill and the care, concern and support they bring to their students. It also reflects the quality of student who have applied to work with us at Arrendell Secondary Education Centre.
We are delighted to see the success of each of our students whatever their academic potential might be.
Our aim as teachers is to help each of our students to achieve their own best results and to help them to develop into successful, positive human beings who contribute to our community in the best possible way.
Alliteration: A literary device that repeats the same letter or sound at the beginning of words, these words are closely connected. Alliteration is used to create rhythm and mood. e.g. “Torn turned and tattered/Bowed burned and battered.”
Allusion: An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. This can be historical, literary, religious, mythological, and so on. Allusion is used to add associated context to the imagery e.g. from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, “Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—” is a mythological allusion
Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line or sentence throughout a work or the section of a work
Apostrophe: Speaker in a poem addresses a person not present or an animal, inanimate object, or concept as though it is a person. Example: Wordsworth–“Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour / England has need of
Thee.”
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or sentence
Asyndeton: the intentional removal of successive conjunctions (and, but, or, etc) between words or clauses while maintaining proper grammar. It is used to emphasise what is being said, underline themes or speeding up rhythm
Ballad: A narrative poem composed of quatrains (iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter) rhyming x-a-x-a. Ballads may use refrains. Examples:
“Jackaroe,” “The Long Black Veil.”
Blank verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Example: Shakespeare’s plays
Caesura: A short but definite pause used for effect within a line of poetry
Cacophony: Occurs when the poet uses harsh, staccato sounds repeatedly. Ks, Qus, Ls, and hard Gs can all generate cacophony, like they do in this line from “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, agape they heard me call.”
Carpe diem poetry: “Seize the day.” Poetry concerned with the shortness of life and the need to act in or enjoy the present. Example: Herrick’s “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time.”
Caligram: Refers to a concrete ‘shape’ poem, that uses repetition of words or lines to form the shape
Chiasmus (Antimetabole): Chiasmus is a “crossing” or reversal of two elements; antimetabole, a form of chiasmus, is the reversal of the same words in a grammatical structure. Example: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Example: You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man
Common meter or hymn measure: (Emily Dickinson): iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter. Other example: “Amazing Grace” by John Newton
Conceit: Refers to an extended metaphor, which builds on a metaphorical comparison between two things and explores its different facets throughout the poem or a section of the poem
Confessional Poetry: The poetry of the “I”. According to the Academy of American poets in their blog, Poets.org, “This style of writing emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s and is associated with poets such as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and W. D. Snodgrass… Private experiences with and feelings about death, trauma, depression and relationships were addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner.”
Connotation: Connotation is when a word prompts additional associations beyond its simple dictionary definition
Consonance: The counterpart of assonance; the partial or total identity of consonants in words whose main vowels differ. Example: shadow meadow; pressed, passed; sipped, supped. Owen uses this “impure rhyme” to convey the anguish of war and death
Couplet: Couplet refers is a successive pair of lines in a poem. The pair of lines that comprise a couplet generally rhyme with each other and contain the same
meter. Couplets end the pattern of a Shakespearean sonnet
Diction: Diction is usually used to describe the level of formality that a speaker uses
● Diction (formal or high): Proper, elevated, elaborate, and often polysyllabic language. This type of language used to be thought the only type suitable for poetry
● Neutral or middle diction: Correct language characterised by directness and simplicity
● Diction (informal or low): Relaxed, conversational and familiar language
Double Couplet: The repetition of sounds to create a rhyming pattern- AABB. Double couplets within a quatrain may be used to create a strong positive rhythm. In poetry, a couplet is a pair of lines in a verse. Typically, they rhyme and have the same meter, or rhythm. They make up a unit or complete thought
Dramatic monologue: a poem spoken by one person to another person; the listener is implied. These poems deploy voice: the use of first person, “I” and
second person, “you” in this poem
Emotive Language: Emotive Language is a way of writing were the author deliberately choices his/her words carefully to create and evoke emotion within the reader. It is about word choice which can evoke different reactions, such as sadness or joy. Upon reading, the reader begins to feel or have their senses
awaken as the words impact on their emotional levels
End-stopped line: A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon
Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. Used to quicken pace for the reader/listening or create a sense of urgency
Envoi. A brief ending (usually to a ballade or sestina) no more than 4 lines long; summary
Epigraph: Epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a text, intended to suggest its theme
Epistrophe: Repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of a line or sentence throughout a work or the section of a work
Euphony: from the Greek for “pleasant sounding,” refers to words or sentences which flow pleasantly and sound sweetly, generally using soft versions of
consonant sounds
Explication: A complete and detailed analysis of a work of literature, often word-by-word and line-by-line
First Person Point of View: First Person Point of View is where the story is narrated by one character at a time. This character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or she is experiencing
Foot (prosody): A measured combination of heavy and light stresses. The numbers of feet are given below. monometer (1 foot) dimeter (2 feet) trimeter (3 feet) tetrameter (4 feet) pentameter (5 feet) hexameter (6 feet) heptameter or septenary (7 feet)
Free verse: Free verse is a style of poetry that does not have a regular rhyme scheme or rhythm
Heroic couplet: two successive rhyming lines of iambic pentameter; the second line is usually end-stopped
Hymn meter or common measure: quatrains of iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter rhyming a b a b
Hyperbole: Hyperbole refers to exaggerated claims or statements not meant to be taken literally, often utilised for dramatic or poetic effect
Iamb: Foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stress
Imagery: Images are references that trigger the mind to fuse together memories of sight (visual), sounds (auditory), tastes (gustatory), smells (olfactory), and sensations of touch (tactile). Imagery refers to images throughout a work or throughout the works of a writer or group of writers
Imagism: Imagism is a style of poetry which uses precise language and painting clear pictures with words
Internal rhyme: An exact rhyme (rather than rhyming vowel sounds, as with assonance) within a line of poetry: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.”
Intertextuality: Intertextuality is an interpretation of the way in which one text influences another text. This can be a direct borrowing such as a quotation or plagiarism, or slightly more indirect such as parody, pastiche, allusion, or translation
Metaphysical conceit: An elaborate and extended metaphor or simile that links two apparently unrelated fields or subjects in an unusual and surprising conjunction of ideas. The term is commonly applied to the metaphorical language of a number of early seventeenth-century poets, particularly John Donne. Example: stiff twin compasses//the joining together of lovers like legs of a compass. See “To His Coy Mistress.”
Meter: Meter is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse, or within the lines of a poem. Stressed syllables tend to be longer, and unstressed shorter. In simple language, meter is a poetic device that serves as a linguistic sound pattern for the verses, as it gives poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound
Metonymy: A metonymy is when the writer replaces “a part for a part,” choosing one noun to describe a different noun. For example, in the phrase “the pen is mightier than the sword,” the pen is a metonymy for writing and the sword is a metonymy for fighting
Mood: Mood refers to inducing of or suggesting of a particular feeling or state of mind
Octave: The first eight lines of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, unified by rhythm, rhyme, and topic
Onomatopoeia: Onomatopoeia is where the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle)
Pantoum: Pantoum refers to a poem which features repeating, interwoven lines with a specific line structure. See illustrated example: https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/types-pantoum
Paradox: A rhetorical figure embodying a seeming contradiction that is nonetheless true
Personification: Personification is a literary device often used in poetry where human characteristics are applied to make inanimate things, objects or even animals enlivened
Petrarchan sonnet: A sonnet (14 lines of rhyming iambic pentameter) that divides into an octave (8) and sestet (6). There is a “volta,” or “turning” of the subject matter between the octave and sestet
Polysyndeton: Polysyndeton is a literary device that uses the repetition of conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or) in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed. It’s used to change the rhythm of the text, to make it either faster or slower, and it can convey a sense of gravity or excitement. It can also be used to intentionally overwhelm the reader, giving them very little room for mentally or visually breathing with the lack of commas
Punctuation: Punctuation is the marks, such as full stop, comma, and brackets, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning
Pyrrhic foot (prosody): two unstressed feet (an “empty” foot) Quatrain: a four-line stanza or poetic unit. In an English or Shakespearean sonnet, a group of four lines united by rhyme
Quatrain: Quatrain is a literary device that contributes to the structure of a poem. It is a four-line stanza employing a very tight rhyme scheme
Refrain: Refrain is a repeated line or lines used as a cohesive device in music and poetry. In this case, single words have been carried over from one line to another to tie ideas together. Underline the repeated words and note their effect of the reading
Repetition: Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same sounds, words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. Repetition is used to emphasise a feeling or idea, create rhythm and familiarity, and/or develop a sense of urgency
Rhyme: Rhyme occurs when words are placed in a way that emphasises the repetition of sounds (particularly vowel sounds). End rhyme occurs when the last words in two or more lines of poetry rhyme. Internal rhyme occurs when two or more words in a single line rhyme
Rhyme scheme: Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. Conventionally, each rhyming sound is given a successive letter of the alphabet, so that a rhyme scheme could be abab cdcd, or, if in rhyming couplets, aa bb cc…Double rhyme or trochaic rhyme: rhyming words of two syllables in which the first syllable is accented (flower, shower)
● Triple rhyme or dactylic rhyme: Rhyming words of three or more syllables in which any syllable but the last is accented. Example: Macavity/gravity/depravity
● Eye rhyme: Words that seem to rhyme because they are spelled Identically but pronounced differently. Example: bear/fear, dough/cough/through/bough
● Slant rhyme: A near rhyme in which the concluding consonant sounds are identical but not the vowels. Example: sun/noon, should/food, slim/ham.
● Rhyme scheme: The pattern of rhyme, usually indicated by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each rhyme at the end of a line of poetry.
Rhyme royal: Stanza form used by Chaucer, usually in iambic pentameter, with the rhyme scheme ababbcc. Example: Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence”
Scan (scansion): the process of marking beats in a poem to establish the prevailing metrical pattern. Prosody, the pronunciation of a song or poem, is necessary for scansion. (Go to the “Introduction to Prosody” page or try the scansion quiz.). Stressed syllables are in caps
● Anapest: unstressed unstressed stressed. Also called “galloping meter.” Example: ‘Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas, and ALL through the HOUSE/ Not a CREAture was STIRring, not EVen a MOUSE.”
● Dactyl (dactylic): stressed unstressed unstressed. This pattern is more common (as dactylic hexameter) in Latin poetry than in English poetry. (Emphasized syllables are in caps. Some of the three-syllable words below are natural dactyls: firmaments, practical, tactical Example: GRAND go the YEARS in the CREScent aBOVE them/WORLDS scoop their ARCS/ and FIRMaments ROW (Emily Dickinson, “Safe in their Alabaster Chambers”) Example: No one has more resilience / Or matches my PRAC-ti-cal TAC-ti-cal brilliance (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton)
● Spondee: stressed stressed. A two-syllable foot with two stressed accents. The opposite of a pyrrhic foot, this foot is used for effect.
● Trochee (trochaic): stressed unstressed. Example: “Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright”
Semiotics: Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols – and these are culturally created and interpreted. Signs can connote meanings beyond themselves and can also be read at a literal level
Sensory imagery: Sensory imagery is any description that involves one or more of the five senses — touch, sight, taste, smell and hearing. Poetry that is rich in sensory detail helps the reader perfectly envision or experience the scene the poet is describing
Sestet: A six-line stanza or unit of poetry Shakespearean sonnet: A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, composed of three quatrains and a couplet rhyming abab cdcd efef gg
Simile: Simile is a literary device that compares one thing with another using like or as. Similes are used to create to help create an image and enable you to better visualise the image
Sonnet: A closed form consisting of fourteen lines of rhyming iambic pentameter
● Shakespearean or English sonnet: 3 quatrains and a couplet, often with three arguments or images in the quatrains being resolved in the couplet. Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
● Petrarchan or Italian sonnet: 8 lines (the “octave”) and 6 lines (the “sestet”) of rhyming iambic pentameter, with a turning or “volta” at about the 8th line. Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd (or cde cde)
Stanza: A group of poetic lines corresponding to paragraphs in prose; the meters and rhymes are usually repeated or systematic
Symbolism: Symbolism is used when the poet invites the reader to see something standing for something else, e.g. an object or word to represent and abstract idea
Synaesthesia: A rhetorical figure that describes one sensory impression in terms of a different sense, or one perception in terms of a totally different or even opposite feeling. Example: “darkness visible” “green thought.”
Synecdoche: Synecdoche is a form of metonymy, but instead of “a part for a part,” the writer substitutes “a part for a whole.” In other words, they represent an object with only a distinct part of the object. Example: “The endless tramp of work-bound feet,” feet represents the workers themselves as they march to work
Syntax: Word order and sentence structure
Tone: Tone is the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc
Volta: The “turning” point of a Petrarchan sonnet, usually occurring between the octave and the sestet
Zeugma: A zeugma occurs when one verb is used to mean two different things for two different objects. For example, “You are resolved, Aeneas, to weigh your anchor and your vows,” where the verb “weigh” means to lift the heavy anchor and assess one’s promises
Logos
From Ancient Greek meaning “thought.” In rhetorical language Logos applies to any appeal to logical or rational thought. This includes the use of statistical information, appeals to logical deduction or the reliance of factual evidence or simply the asking of questions. The user is encouraging the responder to think about the issues being discussed or argued.
Ethos
From the Ancient Greek root word meaning “character.” Ethos appeals to the
speaker’s own character, their own moral and ethical perspectives as well as the established value systems of groups or societies. This includes establishment of authority or corresponding credentials, the appeal to codes of behaviour, social expectations, laws and religious doctrine, and arguments involving the concepts of “right” and “wrong.” The responder is being encouraged to assess what is being said in reference to their own moral or ethical framework.
Pathos
From the Ancient Greek meaning “suffering” or “experience.” In rhetorical language, Pathos is the appeal to emotions or feelings. This includes the use of emotionally charged language, reference to polarising concepts, the encouragement of sympathy or empathy with a position, and appealing to emotional desires. The responder is being encouraged to “feel” or emotionally connect with the information being presented.
Abstract
Not related to the concrete properties of an object; pertaining to ideas, concepts, or qualities, as opposed to physical attributes
Aesthetic
Pertaining to the value of art for its own sake or for form
Allegory
Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves; characters are usually personifications of abstract qualities
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds or any vowel sounds within a formal grouping, such as a poetic line or stanza, or in close proximity in prose
Allusion
A figure of speech which makes brief, even casual reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object to create a resonance in the reader or to apply a symbolic meaning to the character or object of which the allusion consists. For example, in John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” the surname of the protagonist, George Milton, is an allusion to John Milton, author of “Paradise Lost,” since by the end of the novel, George has lost the dream of having a little ranch of his own to share with his friend Lennie
Ambiguity
Use of language in which multiple meanings are possible. Ambiguity can be unintentional through insufficient focus on the part of the writer; in good writing, ambiguity is frequently intentional in the form of multiple connotative meanings, or situations in which either the connotative or the denotative meaning can be valid in a reading
Anacoluthon
Syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence especially: a shift in an unfinished sentence from one syntactic construction to another. e.g. “you really should have—well, what do you expect?”
Anadiplosis
Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause. For example, “The crime was common, common be the pain.” (Alexander Pope)
Analepsis
A literary technique that involves interruption of the chronological sequence of events by interjection of events or scenes of earlier occurrence: flashback
Analogy
Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects. Metaphors and similes are both types of analogy
Anaphora
Regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses. For example, “We shall fight in the trenches. We shall fight on the oceans. We shall fight in the sky.”
Anecdote
A brief story or tale told by a character in a piece of literature
Antanaclasis
The repetition of a word within a phrase or sentence in which the second occurrence utilises a different and sometimes contrary meaning from the first. e.g. “we must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Antiphrasis
The usually ironic or humorous use of words in senses opposite to the generally accepted meanings. e.g. “this giant of 3 feet 4 inches.”
Antithesis
The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words or phrases
Antonomasia
The use of a proper name to designate a member of a class (such as a Solomon for a wise ruler) OR the use of an epithet or title in place of a proper name (such as the Bard for Shakespeare)
Aphorism
A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief. The writings of Benjamin Franklin contain many aphorisms, such as “Early to bed and early to rise/Make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
Apophasis
The raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it. e.g. “we won’t discuss his past crimes.”
Aporia
An expression of real or pretended doubt or uncertainty especially for rhetorical effect. e.g., “to be, or not to be: that is the question.”
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which a person, thing, or abstract quality is addressed as if present; for example, the invocation to the muses usually found in epic poetry
Appeals to: authority, emotion, logic Rhetorical arguments in which the speaker: either claims to be an expert or relies on information provided by experts (appeal to authority), attempts to affect the listener’s personal feelings (appeal to emotion), or attempts to persuade the listener through use of deductive reasoning (appeal to logic)
Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words
Asyndeton
The practice of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. In a list, it gives a more extemporaneous effect and suggests the list may be incomplete. For example, “He was brave, fearless, afraid of nothing.”
Begging the question
To sidestep or evade the real problem
Catharsis
Purification or cleansing of the spirit through the emotions of pity and terror as a witness to a tragedy
Chiasmus
Figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of parallel clauses is
reversed in the second. “Has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?” – T.S. Eliot
Colloquial
Ordinary language; the vernacular. For example, depending on where in the United States you live, a sandwich is called a sub, a grinder, or a hero
Connotation
What is implied by a word. For example, the words sweet, gay, and awesome have connotations that are quite different from their actual definitions
Consonance
The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels, such as pitter-patter, splish-splash, and click-clack
Contradiction
A direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency
Deductive
The reasoning process by which a conclusion is drawn from set of premises and contains no more facts than these premises
Delayed sentence
A sentence that withholds its main idea until the end. For example: Just as he bent to tie his shoe, a car hit him
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word; the direct and specific meaning
Deus ex machina
As in Greek theatre, use of an artificial device or contrived solution to solve a difficult situation, usually introduced suddenly and unexpectedly
Devices
A particular word pattern or combination of words used in a literary work to evoke a desired effect or arouse a desired reaction in the reader
Dialogism
A disjunctive conclusion inferred from a single premise. e.g., “gravitation may act without contact; therefore, either some force may act without contact or gravitation is not a force.”
Diction
An author’s choice of words to convey a tone or effect
Didactic
Intended for teaching or to teach a moral lesson
Dysphemism
The substitution of a disagreeable, offensive, or disparaging expression for an
agreeable or inoffensive one. e.g. “greasy spoon” is a dysphemism for the word
diner
Epigraph
Quote set at the beginning of a literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a theme
Epiphany
A sudden or intuitive insight or perception into the reality or essential meaning of something usually brought on by a simple or common occurrence or experience
Epistolary
A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters
Epistrophe
Regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive phrases or clauses. For example, “Of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Epitaph
A piece of writing in praise of a deceased person
Epizeuxis
The immediate repetition of a word or phrase for rhetorical or poetic effect (as in “the children squealed with glee, with glee”)
Eulogy
A speech or writing in praise of a person or thing; an oration in honour of a deceased person
Euphemism
Substitution of a milder or less direct expression for one that is harsh or blunt. For example, using “passed away” for “dead.”
Expletive
A single word or short phrase intended to emphasise surrounding words. Commonly, expletives are set off by commas. Examples: in fact, of course, after all, certainly
Foil
A person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast
Formal Language
Language that is lofty, dignified or impersonal
Hypallage
An interchange of two elements in a phrase or sentence from a more logical to a less logical relationship. e.g. “you are lost to joy for joy is lost to you.”
Hyperbaton
A transposition or inversion of idiomatic word order. e.g. “judge me by my size, do you?”
Hyperbole
An overstatement characterised by exaggerated language
Hypophora
The act of asking a question to engage the responder, then immediately answering the question
Imagery
Sensory details in a work; the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe an object. Imagery involves any or all of the five senses
Inductive
Conclusion or type of reasoning whereby observation or information about a part of a class is applied to the class as a whole. Contrast with deductive
Invective
The use of angry and insulting language in satirical writing
Irony
A situation or statement characterised by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant. Irony is frequently humorous, and can be sarcastic when using words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean
Isocolon
Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length. For example, “An envious heart makes a treacherous ear” (“Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora Neale Hurston)
Juxtaposition
Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose
Litotes
Form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve Emphasis and intensity. For example, “She is not a bad cook.” Or “No man ever followed his genius until it misled him.”
Meiosis
The presentation of a thing with underemphasis especially in order to achieve a greater effect: UNDERSTATEMENT
Metonymy
A figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated. e.g. “crown” as used in lands belonging to the crown
Mood
The feeling or ambience resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator’s attitude and point of view. The effect is created through descriptions of feelings or objects that establish a particular feeling such as gloom, fear, or hope
Motif
Recurrent device, formula, or situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event
Nostalgia
Desire to return in thought or fact to a former time
Onomatopoeia
A word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes, such as buzz or hiss
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements, as in “jumbo shrimp” or “deafening silence.”
Paradox
A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true
Parallelism
Recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences equal in importance. It also adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence. For example, “I have always searched for, but never found the perfect painting for that wall.”
Parody
A satirical imitation of a work of art for the purpose of ridiculing its style or subject
Persona
The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may or share the values of the actual author
Perspective
A character’s view of the situation or events in the story
Pleonasm
The use of more words than those necessary to denote mere sense: REDUNDANCY. e.g. “I saw it with my own eyes.”
Propaganda
Information or rumour deliberately spread to help or harm a person, group, or institution. Usually designed to bypass the intellect and appeal to emotion in order to get a reaction
Realism
The literary practice of attempting to describe life and nature without idealisation and with attention to detail
Rhetorical Question
A question where the answer is implicit in the wording of the question, i.e. it does not require an actual answer as the answer is clear to the responder
Sarcasm
A sharp caustic remark. A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually bitterly or harshly critical. For example, a coach saying to a player who misses the ball, “Nice catch.”
Satire
A literary style used to make fun of or ridicule an idea or human vice or weakness
Syllepsis
The use of a word in the same grammatical relation to two adjacent words in the context with one literal and the other metaphorical in sense. e.g. “she blew my nose and then she blew my mind.”
Syllogism
A form of deduction. An extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument
Synecdoche
A figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole (such as fifty sail for fifty ships), the whole for a part (such as society for high society), the species for the
genus (such as cutthroat for assassin), the genus for the species (such as a creature for a man), or the name of the material for the thing made (such as boards for stage)
Syntax
The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. It is sentence structure and how it influences the way a reader perceives a piece of writing
Theme
The central or dominant idea or concern of a work; the main idea or meaning
Thesis Focus
Statement of an essay; premise statement upon which the point of view or discussion in the essay is based
Tone
The attitude a literary work takes towards its subject and theme. It reflects the narrator’s attitude
Transition words
Words and devices that bring unity and coherence to a piece of writing. Examples: however, in addition, and on the other hand
Voice
The acknowledged or unacknowledged source of words of the story; the speaker, a “person” telling the story or poem
Zeugma
Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs or a verb with two or more direct objects. The linking shows a relationship between ideas more clearly