english language terminology - advanced features
DESCRIPTION
This presentation is a development from basic word classes (http://www.slideshare.net/keepitsurreal/english-language-terminology-word-lasses) and explores the following: similes and metaphors, types of listing, idioms, collocations, oxymorons, levels of formality, prosody, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, assonance, cohesion, reference, identification, ellipsis, conjunction, repetition, and graphology / layout. The simple explanations will clarify any misunderstandings, with the help of clear bullet points, concise definitions, and examples. The presentation is perfect for English Language A Level at both AS and A2.TRANSCRIPT
Similes and metaphors• Similes are comparisons that involve the use of
like or asFor example:
bold as brass swim like a fish
• Metaphors describe the person, object, situation etc. as if it were another thing
For example:A hail of criticism rained down on their heads
• If a metaphor is sustained over a considerable portion of the text it is called an extended metaphor
Asyndetic listing• Listing which does not involve the use of
conjunctionsFor example: he dropped his pencil case and everything fell out, pens, pencils, paper, rulers
• Listing which involves the use of conjunctions
For example: she missed the bus and the next bus and the next bus after that
Syndetic listing
Idioms • An idiom is an expression whose
meaning cannot be understood from the meanings of the individual words that make up the expression
For example: face the music, put a sock in it
Collocations • Groups (usually pairs) of words that
are commonly found alongside each other
For example:Spick and spanLong dayTerraced houseA dark and stormy night
Oxymoron • An oxymoron is an expression in
which words of contradictory or opposite meaning have been collocated e.g. bitter sweet
Levels of formality• Informal language is language that is relaxed,
familiar and conversational• Formal language has a more serious, distant and
impersonal tone• The vocabulary is a key hint about the level of
formality, as well as grammar (elaborately constructed sentences suggest a more formal tone)
Questions to ask when discussing formality: Where exactly is the formality/ informality evident? Is the same level of formality present throughout the
text? Why has this level of formality been chosen and what
effect does it have?
Prosody …is non-verbal aspects of speech such as tone, intonation and stress
…occurs when the sound of a word echoes its meaning: splash, buzz, thump
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration …is when two or more words begin with the same letter/ sound: crisp, crunchy cornflakes
…occurs when words have similar endings
Rhyme
Assonance …is the repetition of vowel soundsFor example, “She sells seashells by the seashore” contains the repetition of short E and long E sounds So is the old slogan for Hoover vacuum cleaners: “It beats as it sweeps as it cleans.”
• There is no actual rhyme there, in the English sense, but there is the repetition of vowel sounds.
• If the vowel sounds clash with each other, producing a discordant effect, this is known as dissonance
Cohesion
The techniques and devices used to connect different parts of a text with each
other
Grammatical cohesion
Reference • Reference often involves the use of third
person pronouns (he, she, it, they)For example:
My grandfather was an Irishman. He was born in Dublin
He is cohesive because it refers back to grandfather
• When a word refers back to something that has already been mentioned it is called an anaphoric reference
• References forward are known as cataphoric references
Identification • This is the use of determiners such as
the, this or that to indicate that a noun has previously been mentioned
• When a noun is first used, it is often preceded by the indefinite article but later references will use the:A ship appeared on the horizon. When
Laura arrived later I pointed the ship out to her
Ellipsis • This is where words are omitted
from a sentence• This becomes a cohesive device if an
earlier part of the text enables us to supply the missing elements:
Beer cans littered the floor, the television had been kicked in and
graffiti covered the walls. A bit of a mess.
Conjunction • This refers to the use of conjunctions
and conjunctive adverbs as cohesive devices
• The words are also known as connectives and they link together parts of a text and indicate the relationship between them
Lexical cohesion
This is cohesion achieved through word meanings rather than grammatical
structure
Repetition • This has a cohesive effect because it forms
a link between different sentences• Sometimes, however, the word itself is not
repeated; a synonym is used
• This refers to the tendency for words to occur together
• This is cohesive because it involves the use of words that, because of their meaning, are already linked in the reader’s mind
Collocation
Graphology This is the text’s visual
aspects
Layout and overall presentation
• Is there a lot of dense text, or is the text broken up – if so, how? Are parts of the text separated from the rest by the use of devices such as boxed sections and speech bubbles? Is there a reason for this?
• Which part of the text immediately catches the eye? Does the design encourage you to read particular features first?
• Is there any use of juxtaposition? This means placing words, ideas and pieces of information next to each other: stories that are linked or contrast may be juxtaposed
• Does the text adopt the layout conventions of the genre? Or another genre – e.g. an advert could take the form of a recipe, letter etc.
Typeface • The size of the words and individual letters can be
important: e.g. large lettering can draw attention to something
• The use of upper and lower case letters: upper case can be used to add emphasis or reflect meaning in some way, whereas sometimes lower case letters are used to appear stylish and unconventional
• Use of bold, italic, underlining etc. to highlight parts of a text
• The actual font used and the connotations of it, for example The Daily Telegraph has a conservative, traditional look whereas The Sun looks bolder and brashier
Illustrations • Illustrations can take the form of
photographs, cartoons, drawings etc.• Study the relationship between the
illustrations and the text• Is there a contrast or do they add
impact to the points made in the text?