GENERAL

the audience
the purpose

•  to inform
•  to explain
•  to persuade (the reader) that …
•  to argue that ...
•  to entertain
•  to express (sorrow, joy, anger etc)

the reader
the theme
the topic
the subject

The text

• is aimed at …
• is directed at …
• targets …

The author

• describes / depicts / portrays / illustrates …
• argues that …
• suggests that …
• demonstrates that …
• recalls …
• compares …

 
 

TONE

jubilant, joyful, exuberant, excited, enthusiastic, dramatic
dark, sombre, melancholy, gloomy, bleak, solemn, earnest, serious
light, playful, flippant, tongue-in-cheek, good-humoured, whimsical
satirical, mocking, sarcastic, ironic, cynical, irreverent
angry, bitter, harsh, assertive, dogmatic
impersonal, detached, dispassionate, clinical, cold
personal, intimate, emotional, lyrical, poignant, sentimental, warm
calm, philosophical, reflective, gentle, mellow, tranquil, tender
conversational, matter-of-fact
self-mocking
formal, stately
 
 
 

POINT OF VIEW

The text is written in the first / second / third person (I-you-he/she).

The author is omniscient.
The author adopts a “persona”.

The author presents
• a panoramic view of …
• a close-up view of ...
 
The author is
•  objective / detached / unemotional
•  biased / prejudiced / emotionally involved
•  optimistic / pessimistic
•  sceptical / cynical
 
 
 

STRUCTURE

linear
circular
logical
coherent
has an argument, counter-argument and resolution
moves from thesis to antithesis and finally to a synthesis
moves from general to particular
has a question – answer structure
has a rhetorical structure
 

Sentences

parallel
formal
elegant
rhythmical
short, concise
long, complex
forceful, emphatic
inverted (does not follow the normal SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT pattern)
jerky
loose, rambling
ungrammatical
 
 

Poetry

regular / irregular (structure, rhythm)
fluent (rhythm)
jerky, staccato, interrupted
A-B-A-B (etc.) rhyming scheme
stanzas (= verses)
 
 

IMAGERY

imagery
figurative language
symbolism
analogy
allegory
simile
metaphor
personification                                                       …
onomatopoeia
alliteration

 This image

• suggests that …
• implies that …
• conveys … (an emotion, idea etc.)
• captures (an idea etc.)
• symbolizes …
• represents …
• alludes to …
• has connotations of …
• compares *** to ...
• likens *** to ...

 
 The image is
 
• vivid
• memorable
• very effective (WHY?)
• sensuous
• witty
• humorous
• startling
• shocking
• harsh
• complex
• natural
• resonant
• unusual
• cliched
• hackneyed
 
 
 

DICTION

simple, plain, colloquial, informal
elevated, literary, poetic, formal
concrete, precise, sensuous
figurative, idiomatic
obscure, technical, pedantic
vulgar, earthy, homely
spoken / written

Standard English
Non-Standard English, a regional dialect, slang

words associated with …
 

 Frankie Meehan