English GCSE AQA: Comprehensive Analysis of the Power and Conflict Poems

Glossary Of Devices

Enjambment – A sentence or on-going piece of text carried over verses or stanzas to continue the spoken effect without pause.

Extended Metaphor – A that the writer elaborates beyond a single line or phrase.

Euphemism – Where something distasteful is said in a more acceptable way 'she is at peace' – she is dead.  

Fixed Forms – Some examples include Sonnets (3 quatrains and a couplet), Ballads (large poems in quatrains often telling a story). 

Foreshadowing – Content in the poem which gives an indication of the direction the poem will take, allows people to guess what will happen or the poet to prepare the reader. 

Form – Open (no real pattern or rhyme or length), closed (follows a specific form or pattern), couplets (pairs of rhyming lines), quatrains (stanza of 4 lines, often rhyming), blank verse (iambic pentameter with not consistent rhyme).

Fricative – Fricatives are often occurrences of the letter "f" in the formation of a sentence. 

Gothicism –  A style is characterized by supernatural, mysterious and an exciting sort of fear and wonder.

Half-Rhyme – A rhyme in which the vowel sounds do not match but the final consonant sounds do.

Hendiadys – A figure of speech which gives two items, where we might normally expect one.

Hyperbole – An over the top exaggeration for effect.

Imagery – Similes, metaphors, and personification; they all compare something 'real' with something 'imagined'.

In Media Res – A story that begins in the middle of the action as opposed to including a conventional exposition.

Irony– Deliberate use of a false or misleading statement in such a way that the truth is apparent. "Wow dead flowers, what I always wanted..."

Liquid – A consonant produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue (typically l and r).

Metaphor – Direct comparison of two things. States one thing is or acts as another without using words 'like' or 'as'.

Monologue –  An uninterrupted monologue can show a character's importance or state of mind. Monologue can be in speech form, delivered in front of other characters and having great thematic importance, or as a soliloquy where we see the character laying bare their soul and thinking aloud.

Narrative – A spoken or written account of connected events. In writing there are three types:

    1. First Person Narratives - This is where the 'voice' telling the story uses the word 'I'. This can have an intimate, believable and confessional feel.

    2. Second Person Narratives - This is where the narrator refers to 'you', and talks to the reader directly. This is often a challenging or conspiratorial mode, inviting our involvement, agreement or even complicity (disagreement) in their actions.

    3. Third Person Narratives - This is where the author uses 'he', 'she', 'they' or 'it'. A voice refers to actions, events, and circumstances dissociated from both the narrator and the reader. The narrator can be either omniscient (all-knowing) or can merely function to report events as they take place.

Onomatopoeia – Words that sound like the effect they describe "splash, slap, crack".  

Oxymoron – Two words placed together with differing meanings to create a new meaning 'bitter sweet'.

Paradox – A situation or statement which contradicts itself. 'the taller I get the shorter I become'.

Pathos – Language that evokes feelings of pity or sorrow.  

Pathetic Fallacy – Using weather or environment to reflect the themes and contexts of the poem, e.g. a horror genre may involve a dark stormy night, joyful poems may use a sunny meadow.

Personification – Describing an inanimate object or animal with human qualities.

Plosive – Denoting a consonant that is produced by stopping the airflow using the lips, teeth, or palate, followed by a sudden release of air. The basic plosives in English are "t", "k", and "p" (voiceless) and "d", "g", and "b" (voiced). 

Pun – Using words with multiple meanings while intending both, often used for comic effect.

Register – The common thread in an author's choice of language. Authors may use words commonly associated with religion, words describing sensory experiences such as touch, smell or colour or 'mood' words that reflect a character's state of mind.     

Repetition – Repeating words over a verse, stanza or poem to draw focus and add emphasis.

Rhetorical Question – A question intended to provoke thought without expecting an answer.  

Rhyme – Words with similar ending sounds creating a music like effect or flow "theme/stream/dream".

Rhyme Scheme – Regular or irregular (does it follow a pattern or not) popular examples are alternate rhymes abab, cross rhyme abba, or couplets aabb.   

Rhythm – Organisation of words to create a noticeable sound or pace, not necessarily musical but with a clear 'beat'. Can include the structure of the work and is often measured in syllables.

Semantic Field – Relating to Register, it is a set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.

Sensory Imagery – Where the language is used to evoke the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, sound), can often include tactile (touch-based) or musical (sound-based) language.

Sibilance – A more specific type of alliteration that relies on the repetition of soft consonant sounds in words to create a whooshing or hissing sound in the writing.  

Simile – Comparing two or more objects with words 'like' or 'as'.

Stanza – A collection of verses similar to a paragraph, separated from other stanzas.

Symbolism – Often objects, colours, sounds, and places work as symbols. They can sometimes give us a good insight into the themes. So, snakes are often symbols of temptation as in the story of Adam and Eve, white usually symbolises innocence and a ringing bell can be a symbol of impending doom.

Symploce – A technique which combines anaphora (repeating words at the start of a sentence) and epistrophe (repeating words at the end of the sentence).

Synaesthesia – The overlapping and blending of senses 'he had a soft smile' or 'she had a fiery voice'.

Tone/Mood – The way a poem or speaker is intended to sound, often suggested by the topic, content and structure. This can be very subjective and is often determined by looking at the poem in its entirety.

Verse – A line or poem, need not be a complete sentence.  

Volta – The turn of thought or argument: in Petrarchan or Italian sonnets it occurs between the octave and the sestet, and in Shakespearean or English before the final couplet. 

Zoomorphism – Applying animal characteristics to humans or gods.