GCSE English Language - Descriptive Terms

Question	Answer
Simile	A comparison to show how two objects or ideas are similar. For example, "Her hair is as yellow as sunlight; her eyes shone like glass."
Metaphor	a comparison where one idea or object is figuratively shown as being something else. For example, "He groaned and jerked his way out of bed: a zombie fresh from the grave."
Hyperbole	Obvious exaggeration. For example, "I've told you a million times."
Personification	Giving human or animal characteristics or feelings to an inanimate object.
Pathetic Fallacy	a type of personification where emotions are reflected in the weather or other objects. For example, "a furious wind carried angry clouds overhead"
Onomatopoeia	sound-words, eg. bang, pow, swoosh.
Oxymoron	a combination of two words with opposing meanings, eg. bittersweet, deafening silence
Atmosphere	the overall mood created, which can be positive or negative depending on word choice.
The five senses	touch, taste, smell, sound, sight; use these to make your description stimulate different senses.
Descriptive verbs	eg. ‘bellowed’, ‘screamed’, or ‘hollered’ rather than ‘shouted’
Big picture and zoom	Moving between an overview of a scene and specific details in the scene.

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	Created by Henry Petrie over 8 years ago

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