Question 2: Language Flashcards
All 34 cards in this deck
What is a connotation?
The ideas and feelings a word suggests beyond its literal meaning. A lair and a home are both places to live, but lair suggests a hidden, dangerous animal.
What effect can a precise verb have?
It shows how an action is done, revealing mood or character: 'She crept downstairs' suggests secrecy or fear.
What does an adjective typically do in description?
It shapes our impression of a noun and builds mood. 'A brittle laugh' suggests nervousness, as if the laugh might snap.
What does an adverb typically add?
It changes how we read a verb, often showing attitude. 'He smiled thinly' suggests the smile is forced or insincere.
What is an abstract noun?
A noun for an idea or feeling, such as dread, hope or silence. It can make a feeling seem to fill a scene.
What is the effect of repetition?
It draws attention to a word and can suggest emphasis or obsession: 'Cold hands, cold tea, cold bed'.
What is an oxymoron, and what is its effect?
Two contradictory words placed together, such as 'a cheerful funeral'. It surprises the reader and suggests mixed or uneasy feelings.
What is a simile?
A comparison using like or as, which makes something vivid: 'Fog lay on the town like a wet blanket' makes the fog seem smothering.
What is a metaphor?
Saying one thing is another, with no like or as; often more forceful than a simile: 'The exam hall was a pressure cooker'.
What is an extended metaphor?
A metaphor developed over several phrases or sentences, so the reader keeps seeing the subject through that comparison.
What is personification, and what is its typical effect?
Giving human qualities to something non-human. It can make a setting seem alive, threatening or sympathetic. 'The house watched them leave' makes the house seem aware and unsettling.
What is pathetic fallacy?
When weather or setting reflects a character's mood or the atmosphere of a scene, e.g. a grudging drizzle mirroring a low mood.
What is a semantic field?
A group of words from the same area of meaning, e.g. 'ambush', 'retreat', 'ceasefire' presenting a family dinner as a battle.
What is symbolism?
When an object, colour or setting stands for a bigger idea, e.g. a stopped clock symbolising a life frozen in the past.
What is alliteration?
Repeating the same consonant sound at the start of nearby words, drawing attention to a phrase: 'the bitter, biting breeze'.
What is sibilance, and what effects can it create?
Repeated s and sh sounds. They can sound soft and hushed ('the sea sighed in its sleep') or sinister and hissing, depending on the words around them.
What is onomatopoeia, and what does it do?
A word that sounds like the noise it describes, such as crackle, thud or hiss. It makes a scene audible and immediate for the reader.
What is assonance?
Repeated vowel sounds in nearby words; long vowels can slow the pace: 'the low moan of the old road'.
What are plosive sounds, and what effect do they have?
The sounds p, b, t, d, k and g, made with a burst of air. Clustered together they can feel abrupt, aggressive or explosive.
What is sensory language?
Description that appeals to sight, sound, smell, taste or touch, immersing the reader in the scene.
What is a simple sentence, and what effect can it have?
One main clause with one main verb: 'The door opened.' It can create clarity, emphasis or shock, especially after longer sentences.
What is a compound sentence, and what can it do?
Two main clauses joined by and, but, or or so. It can show a sequence of events, balance two ideas, or set up a contrast with but.
What is a complex sentence, and what can it do?
A main clause with at least one subordinate clause. It adds detail, reasons or conditions, and can delay the key information to build suspense: 'Although the lights were off, someone was in the kitchen.'
What is a minor sentence, and what effect does it have?
A sentence without a main verb, such as 'Silence.' or 'Not again.' It isolates a moment or feeling, gives emphasis, or imitates a character's thoughts.
What are polysyndeton and asyndeton in a list?
Polysyndeton: many ands, which can feel breathless or endless. Asyndeton: commas only, which can feel rushed.
What is a fronted adverbial?
A word or phrase at the start of a sentence saying how, when or where: 'Slowly, the door opened.' It can delay the action for suspense.
What is atmosphere (or mood)?
The feeling a scene creates for the reader, such as tense, eerie, peaceful or oppressive. It is usually built by many choices working together.
What is an ominous atmosphere?
A feeling that something bad is about to happen, often built from silence, darkness and unexplained details.
What is a wistful or nostalgic tone?
A gentle sadness or longing for the past. Look for memories, the past tense, soft words and details that are fondly remembered.
What makes an atmosphere claustrophobic?
Language of confinement and pressure: small spaces, heat, crowding, and verbs such as pressed and trapped. The reader feels hemmed in alongside the character.
What is imagery?
Language that creates a picture in the reader's mind, often through simile, metaphor or personification: 'the moon was a cold coin'.
What is an exclamatory sentence, and what effect can it have?
A sentence that ends with an exclamation mark, such as 'It was gone!' It shows strong emotion, such as shock, joy or anger.
What is an interrogative sentence, and what effect can it have?
A question, such as 'Who had left the gate open?' It can show a character's confusion or doubt, or make the reader wonder too.
What are comparative and superlative adjectives?
Comparative compares two things (colder, more frightening). Superlative shows the extreme (coldest, most frightening).