IGCSE English - Language features

Negative descriptors

Give a negative effect on the reader.

Rhetorical devices

Literary techniques used to improve the effectiveness of expression.

Expert evidence

Statements of fact given by an independent expert about an area within his or her expertise.

Coordinate clause

These clauses are an equal pair, where neither clause is dependent on the other.

Subordinate clause

These do not make sense on their own. They are dependent on the main clause.

Dialogue to show the narrator is brave and impulsive.

e.g. "We must try it that way - we may save him yet if we can burst open the inner door".

Simile

e.g. 'It shot in like a white-hot arrow.'

Colloquial language

e.g. (Reference to children ) ...To shut the little toads up.

Hyperbole

e.g. (Referring to space travel) 'We will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.'

Connotation

e.g. A fresh-faced servant opened it.

Negative adjectives

e.g. A raw yard, with cracked stone pavement and some rusted iron railings half uprooted.

List

e.g. Are teenagers breathtakingly insolent, noisy, crabby, offensive, skulking, smoking and whingeing?

Pattern of three.

e.g. Are they polite, quiet and cooperative?

Alliteration

e.g. Bolt your breakfast.

Rhetorical question

e.g. But why shocking?

Explicit ideas

e.g. Everything was so still.

Implicit

e.g. He feels trapped.

Explicit

e.g. His room was cold.

Implicit ideas

e.g. I had been reared in the workhouse and picked up chance waifs and strays of education.

Multi-clause sentence (subordinate)

e.g. I took some long, deep breaths until I felt ready to face the class.

Contrast

e.g. It was a large room with a small fire.

Multi-clause sentence (coordinate)

e.g. My blood ran cold and my heart stopped.

Metaphor

e.g. One by one I had risen the rounds in this troublesome ladder, which for me could only be begun from the very bottom.

Emotive language

e.g. The captive men were faded and haggard.

Negative descriptions

e.g. The iron was rusty, the stone was slimy, the wood was rotten, the air was faint, the light was dim.

Personification

e.g. The rather wild but very low whistle of the wind round the chimneys.

Simile

e.g. The spiky points of the fir trees behind the house rose into the sky like the turrets and pinnacles of an abbey.

Simile

e.g. There was a great bay window in the room which the rain had marked in the night as if with the tears of houseless people.

Single clause sentence

eg. Teaching is not easy.

Ellipsis

in a sentence, the omission of a word or words replaced by '...'

(Sentence type) Subordinate clauses

(Sentence type) e.g. Although I was tired, I finished painting the walls.

(Sentence type) Single-clause sentence

(Sentence type) e.g. She gives me two pounds.

(Sentence type) Coordinate clauses

(Sentence type) e.g. The boys were laughing and the women were unkind.

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Metaphor

A direct comparison suggesting a resemblance between one thing and another. (Not using 'as' or 'like'.

First person narrative voice

A narrative told by a character involved in the story, using first-person pronouns such as I and we.

Opinion

A personal view or attitude that the person believes to be true.

Pun

A play on words.

Rhetorical question

A question used to engage the reader but not necessarily expecting an answer.

Single clause sentence

A sentence which contains just one clause and provides one piece of information about an event or action. It contains a subject and one verb.

Lists

A series of names or other items often used to highlight quantity or variety.

Fact

A statement that can be proved.

Pattern of three

A trio of words or phrases used to highlight or exaggerate a point for emphasis.

Foreshadowing

A warning or indication of a future event.

Adjective

A word that describes a noun.

Contrast

Comparing two opposing or different ideas to emphasise the difference between them.

Dialogue

Conversation between characters

Adverbs

Describe actions (verbs); often end in '-ly'

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Superlatives

Exaggerations e.g. fastest, longest, weakest

Personification

Giving human qualities to an animal, object, or idea.

Colloquial language

Informal or conversational language

Implicit ideas

Information which needs you to read between the lines and think about what the writer is suggesting or implying.

Nouns

Person, place, thing or idea.

Paraphrase

Put into your own words.

Repitition

Repeating a word, phrase, or idea for emphasis.

Single clause sentence

Sentence which contains just one clause and provide one piece of information about an event or action. They contain a subject and one verb.

Minor sentences

Sentences that are short and incomplete because they do not contain a verb.

Colloquial language

Slang or common language that is informal

Explicit ideas

Something stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.

Connotation

The implied meaning of a word. (Words can have different meanings depending on their context)

Third person narrative voice

The narrator uses "he" and "she" and is an outside observer of the story.

Ellipsis

The omission of a word or words in a sentence replaced by '...'

Tone

The overall feeling, or effect, created by a writer's use of words.

Alliteration

Two or more words close to each other that begin with the same sound; used for emphasis.

Emotive language

Words intended to create an extreme response or play on the reader's emotions.

Comparatives

Words that compare two things. e.g. slower, heavier.

Verbs

Words that show action or a state of being. One of these is required in a sentence.

Figurative language

Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally