In any of your English subjects, there are always so many language features that are important to learn!
Understanding how a text is constructed will unlock key points foranalysisand discussion, boosting your English marks. Even better — understanding language features can enrich your skills in other subjects too. You might find yourself分析历史上的主要和次要来源better, or delving deeper into a scientific report.
无论是什么，理解语言功能都是一项很好的技能。If you want to know more, you’re totally in the right place — keep reading for a comprehensive list!
Persuasive Devices
Language Techniques
模态
Grammatical and Story Structures
Persuasive Devices
A persuasive device is a type of language feature that expresses and supports an opinion, making it stand out. The following are some specific techniques.
Contrast
A situation or statement where two opposing things are presented, often to create favour for one or highlight their differences.
Example:在《卑鄙的我》中，格鲁的房子是黑色和棱角分明的，与邻居的更圆形和浅色的房屋形成鲜明对比。
Analogy
像对比度一样，类比并不总是有说服力的设备，但可以用作强大的设备。该设备对比了两个想法，以在它们之间建立原本未知的关系。它通常被用来证明已经建立的论点。
Example:In Luka Lesson’s poetry, he compares a sword and spoken word, implying the power of language.
Language Techniques
典故
This means a subtle reference to an event, person, text, place, you name it that readers may infer. Allusions are often made in passing, but reveal deeper meaning in the text.
Example:In Sylvia Plath’s ‘Daddy’, Plath uses allusions to Hitler to emphasise the foul character of her father.
Ambiguity
Often in texts, the ending of a story or line is left for the reader to determine. This is particularly common in postmodern texts.
Authors who use ambiguity do not explicitly state what has happened to a character or plot. They may offer some clue for the reader to decipher, or they may keep it completely open-ended.
This encourages readers to think critically and engage more deeply with the text.
Example:At the end of Inception (Christopher Nolan), we do not know whether the main character is in reality or dreaming. This is shown through a camera cut just as audiences feel they are about to find out.
辅助
A technique that you probably know, but don’t realise it!
辅助is like alliteration but emphasises vowel sounds being repeated. This is often at the start of words, but it can include repetition of vowels within words, too.
Example:“见Ya后来的滑冰者”重复“ E”和'A'元音，在这种情况下，会产生押韵序列。“'Zooper Dooper'（每个澳大利亚孩子最喜欢的冰块）重复了'O'。
Connotation
Some words or phrases evoke certain feelings for a reader. This can be because of how they sound or feel, historical context or pop culture.
Example:‘Beautiful’ and ‘cute’, while both describing how something is visually appealing, have different connotations. ‘Beautiful’ creates a sense of grace, elegance and maturity, while ‘cute’ is typically associated with youth and innocence.
Euphemism
When a mild or “polite” expression is used instead of a vulgar or blunt term, it is a euphemism.
Example:We often say “passed away” instead of referring to death directly.
Figurative Language
A little like connotation or euphemism, figurative language is a type of language feature used when certain words have meanings behind what is really being said. You can think of this like an extended metaphor. This type of language is particularly common in poetry.
Example:“A handsome manor house grew out of darkness at the end of the straight drive.”(JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
Hyperbole
The deliberate exaggeration of a topic for emphasis or humour. Often, hyperbole is used in already emotional situations to gain greater reaction.
Example:“I was so exhausted that I slept for ten days.”
图像
Language that creates a mental picture of the topic it talks about, often to enhance the mood behind a text.
Example:“The leaves created a blanket on the ground, with all kinds of red and gold hues to match my boots.”
Irony
When language is used to express somebody’s meaning or situation, that generally means the opposite. Irony is often a tip-of-the-tongue kind of humour that points out awkward or funny situations.
Example:Saying “isn’t this great weather?” right before storm hits.
Simile
Often, two things are compared to one another by describing one thing as being ‘like’ the other. This can create contrast or offer more power to a concept.
Usually similes are phrased with the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Example:“He roared like a lion.”
并置
When two things that are generally very opposite are placed next to each other, creating a stark contrast.
Example:A brand new building standing next to an old, historical one.
Metaphor
Stating that something ‘is’ another thing to draw comparison or deeper understanding to a text. Often, figurative meanings can give the reader a greater appreciation of what is written.
Some metaphors appear continually throughout a text and help to shape the narrative arc. These are known as extended metaphors.
Example:“She had once been a great fortress, keeping secrets closely hidden.
Onomatopoeia
A word that sounds exactly like what it represents, allowing the reader to ‘hear’ the text.
Example:流行，快照，慢火煮，气泡，斜坡。
Oxymoron
矛盾是一种语言特征，其中两个单词或概念与每个otehr相矛盾，以创建一个复杂的想法，同时保持某种意义。
Example:“The dinner was awfully good.”
反问
一个问题有一个非常明显的答案,the author does not expect to receive. Often rhetorical questions are used to make the audience think deeply about a topic. They can also provide humour and sarcasm.
Example:“你知道每年有成千上万的塑料袋在海滩上洗净吗？”
Sibilance
Sibilance sort of sounds like what it is! This technique is like alliteration, but when all ‘s’ sounds are used. It can add an air of mystery or danger to a character, or it can be soft and flowing.
Example:When the snake talks in The Jungle King movie, she often uses several ‘s’ words in a row to highlight her hissing and sound more dangerous.
Sound Devices
This is a blanket term for techniques often used within a text to focus on the sounds words produce and how they relate to each other. This can be important for rhyming schemes and tempo.
You’ll find many examples of this in poetry or songs.
Example:节奏，韵律，共鸣等。
模态
单词的力量或力量，低模态单词是被动的，而高模态词是有力的。
Characters giving speeches or rallying crowds would use high modality words, as they raise the intensity and strength of the language and scene.
Exclamation
This is one form of showing modality within a text. Exclamation marks generally suggest high modality, or shock, excitement and anger. This can express the tone of dialogue being written.
Example:“This is the best day of my life!” elicits a response of elation.
Tone and Mood
Like the atmosphere, tone or mood is about creating certain feelings within a text. This time, it focusses more on the emotions the author has towards very specific subjects, rather than the scene as a whole.
Example:The enemy? His sense of duty was no less that yours, I deem. You wonder what his name was, where he came from. And if he was really evil at heart. […] War will make corpses of us all.”(J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings)
This dialogue expresses a mood of distaste for war and that it only leads to death, reflecting Tolkien’s own views.
Syntax
语法全部涉及特定的句子结构以及单词构造句子如何创造意义。这是一个巨大的话题（实际上，人们在上面都有整个学位）。
In a simple sense, syntax affects the readability and tone of a certain text. Short sentences create urgency, while compound sentences can create a more passive flow.
Example:“I could hear him behind me. Just one step off. I ran. I ran.”
Grammatical and Story Structures
Allegory
This type of language feature is used when a story or narrative has two meanings that are presented. One is overt, or obvious. The other may be metaphoric and hidden. Often, this second meaning forms commentary around social or political aspects of the narrative.
Example:Narnia is often viewed as an allegory for the Bible, with Aslan as a symbol of Jesus. This creates religious understanding that runs alongside the main plot.
Antithesis
Putting two sentences, people or situations that are entirely different next to each other or in immediate succession.
This technique can increase tension, help audiences weigh up different scenarios or allow characters to balance one another out.
Example:“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
Archetype
Archetypes are incredibly important in shaping stories. These characters or objects have recognisable tropes, often progressed across different texts by various authors.
This technique can add an element of predictability or certainty to a piece, but it can also be subverted to create great plot twists.
Example:Cady in Mean Girls and Mia in The Princess Diaries fit the archetype of a nerdy girl who is transformed.
大气层
大气层, or mood, is vital in creating a compelling story. It refers to the feeling created by a scene, situation or text. It’s often driven by careful word choice. You might think of it a little like mise en scène in a movie, but in written form.
Example:“It was a cruel day, the bright orange blaze ripped through the treetops as I stood and watched it ravage homes, helpless.”
表征
Characters are first introduced in a certain light, then formed through the arc of the story, often by their own actions or the actions of those around them.
You know the characterisation of a person is strong if you can imagine how they would react in a situation they are not already in.
Example:Sybil in Downton Abbey is characterised as being forthright and rebellious. Through her relationships, her empathetic side is drawn out.
Cliché
Overused expressions that create instant meaning. Sometimes cliches can be annoying, but when used effectively, they create humour and momentum.
Example:“He ran like the wind.”
Context
写或设置文本的时间，地点和社交环境。通常，这决定了某个文本中的价值观和观点。
It’s important to understand three kinds of contexts within text. First, we haveliterary（在写作时写和创建的内容），historical（文字写时在边界世界发生了什么），personal(who the author was and what they had experienced).
最重要的是，还有internal contextof where the text is set, which may be different from the context of when it was written.
Example:Picasso’s painting ‘Guernica’ was informed by the context of pre-WW2 Europe, so Picasso used blue and red in the work to symbolise anti-war sentiment.
Linear and Non-linear Narrative
Narratives in this context are about how a text is structured to create meaning.
线性叙述遵循与我们通常的日子相同的时间顺序 - 总是按顺序前进。非线性的叙事及时跳来跳去，吸引了观众的注意力。
You will notice that it’s quite rare for a novel or movie to be purely linear, as some non-linear elements break up pacing.
Example:The Age of Adeline is a film that follows a non-linear narrative.
Frame Narrative
Sometimes, texts present a ‘story within a story’, where the main narrative is being told by someone outside of the narrative itself. This can add suspense of an extra layer of context.
Example:In Little Women, Jo tells the story through her book by the same name.
Intertextuality
当文本引用另一个文本时，它被称为互文性。这可能是非常公开的，也可以是为那些知道这两个文本拾取的人而设计的典故。
Example:Ten Things I Hate About You is based on and makes references to The Taming Of The Shrew.
Foreshadowing
When a situation is hinted at before it actually occurs. This is usually done by drawing audience attention to a particular subject or item that drops hints.
Example:在Juno中，同名的主角在实际参加测试之前开始表现出怀孕症状。
环境
叙述被放置在内部环境中的位置。这通常会影响故事的弧线。
Example:Abandoned castles and stormy moors are classic settings used in Gothic texts, while teen dramas are typically set in high schools and suburban towns.
Form
The structure of a text that comes from the text type, broader context and stylistic choices of the author. This may include the way language is structured or different sentence choices.
Example:分歧和饥饿游戏都是生存的年轻小说，但作者的选择和写作背景创造了不同的主题。
Icons
An object or subject that symbolises a much larger element of the story. Hero characters often have a symbol attached as a way to enhance meaning and importance.
Example:Superman is symbolised by his cape, Katniss by a Mockingjay, etc.
Omission
Sometimes elements are intentionally left out of a text by the author. This is called omission, and it leaves a level of ambiguity for audiences to ‘fill in the blank’. Sometimes, an ending scenario can be implied but this is not always the case.
Example:At the end of the book,了不起的盖茨比, the audience isn’t told explicitly what happens to each character, but they are given enough information to infer an ending.
Parallels
就像许多的语言特性,相似之处创建一个contrast between two characters or plot points, allowing links to be formed between them. This is often seen if two plots run next to each other, or two characters with similar features but differing stories are introduced.
Example:在电影中，福克斯先生在电影中，阿什（Ash）跟随他的父亲，并生活了他一生的年轻版本。但是，他做出不同的决定，揭示了福克斯先生的错误。
Pathetic Fallacy
When you give a non-human object feelings or senses, you are using pathetic fallacy. This is most commonly associated with weather.
Example:“The wind was angry as it ran through the trees.”
Dramatic Irony
当一个故事结构provide the audience with an ‘inside scoop’ that characters do not know about. This is often shown through different phrasing to create tension.
Example:InHamlet, revolving scenes allow the audience to see who is plotting to kill, without it being given away to characters. This creates suspense and betrayals of trust.
There you have it!
Now you have a complete guide to English features, it’s time to put them into practice! Refer back to this list as you keep progressing in your studies.
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Lucinda Garbutt-Younghopes to one day be writing for a big-shot newspaper… or maybe just for a friendly magazine in the arts sector. Right now, she is enjoying studying a Bachelor of Public Communication (Public Relations and Journalism) at UTS while she writes on the side. She also loves making coffees for people in her job as a barista, and loves nothing more than a sun shower.
