Identifying language techniques



Identifying language techniques

Composers use various language techniques or features to make their texts more interesting and engaging to the responder.

Some language techniques used by Stephen Herrick in The Simple Gift are:

• simile: comparing one thing with another using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’

• metaphor: a comparison where one thing is said to be another

• colloquial language: everyday speech characterised by informal language and shortened words (g’day, can’t)

• direct speech: quotation marks (“) are used to indicate direct speech, that is, the exact words that are spoken

• slang: words which are fashionable within a small group for a short period of time

• literary allusion: making reference to other well known books, films, etc

• first person: using the pronouns I, me, my, us, we

• comparatives and superlatives: adjectives for comparing, e.g.:

|Adjective |Comparative |Superlative |

|long |longer |longest |

|small |smaller |smallest |

|bright |brighter |brightest |

• ellipsis: three dots to provide a pause, to show that something has been left out

• modality: gives information about the degree of certainty involved in an action, e.g.:

|Low modality |Medium modality |High modality |

|possibly |probably |definitely |

|could |should |must |

|never |sometimes |always |

• juxtaposition: the close positioning of words or images to create an effect

• imagery: to create a set of strong mental images in the responder’s mind

• repetition: a word or phrase used many times to add emphasis

• rhetorical question: a question that is asked but which does not expect or need an answer.

Activity: Language techniques

Find examples of these language techniques in The Simple Gift. Give page numbers. Explain the effect of this technique on the responder.

|Language technique |Example from the text (quote) |Page |Effect of this technique |

|Simile |  ‘Men in suits, like tired penguins’ |  28 |  This creates a very descriptive |

| | | |picture of what business men look |

| | | |like waiting for the bus. |

|Metaphor |  ‘and the wind and rain hits you in the |  10 | This really describes to the |

| |face with the force of a father’s punch’ | |reader the power with which the |

| | | |wind and rain is hitting. |

|Colloquial language | ‘can’t eat all the fries’ |  31 |  This use of informal language |

| | | |helps the reader to relate to the |

| | | |novel more and captures the reading|

| | | |audience by using everyday |

| | | |language. |

|Direct speech | |  174 | The effect of using direct speech |

| |“To sit on the veranda and cry, like an | |here, is that we get a feel for the|

| |old drunk.”   | |character of Old Bill and feel or|

| | | |get a sense of what the character|

| | | |is feeling. |

|Slang | ‘Piss off son. Piss off. Leave me alone.’ |  55 |  The use of slang here emphasises |

| | | |Old Bill’s annoyance with the use |

| | | |of colloquial language. |

|Literary allusion |  ‘Welcome to the Bendarat Hilton’ |  51 | This is an effective and humorous |

| | | |play on words. ‘Hilton’ refers to |

| | | |the luxurious hotel chain but Old |

| | | |Bill’s carriage is nothing like the|

| | | |Hilton hotel but as far he is |

| | | |concerned it is his ‘Hilton’ |

| | | |accommodation and he calls it the |

| | | |‘Bendarat Hilton.’ |

|First person | ‘I find myself walking to the Cannery with |72-73  | By using the first person it helps|

| |the kid looking for work, work I don’t need,| |to tell the story and connects the |

| |or want.’ | |reader with the individual |

| | | |character. |

|Comparatives/ superlatives |  ‘To the richest house in Bendarat” |  122 |  The use of |

| | | |comparatives/superlatives stresses |

| | | |the difference between certain |

| | | |things or is used to reinforce |

| | | |greatness such as in this quote. |

| |  |  | |

|Ellipsis |‘A house seems so …so…so adult’ |176 |  The effect of this technique in |

| | | |this case is to show how unsure of |

| | | |the situation Billy was. |

| | | |Confronted with the idea of |

| | | |moving into a house was a big |

| | | |concept for someone of his age. |

|Modality |  “wished Caitlin and I could return to the |  127 |  This technique gives a timeframe |

| |hush of that special world and we could | |to concepts in the novel . In this |

| |float safe for a lifetime | |case, Billy wanted to escape to a |

| |lost and hoping never to be found.’ | |world with Caitlin and never be |

| | | |discovered so that they could be |

| | | |together forever. |

|Juxtaposition |‘beautiful phosphorescent bubbles of light’ |  127 |  The use of these descriptive |

| | | |words put close together creates a |

| | | |certain image in this case of a |

| | | |wondrous cascade of dreamlike |

| | | |bubbles. |

|Imagery |   ‘and the trees long fingers scratching at|  194 | Creates a strong mental image of |

| |the window.’ | |branches scratching against a |

| | | |window and how it would look and |

| | | |sound. |

|Repetition | ‘maybe,just maybe,I’d go back to school’ |  201 |  The effect of this is to |

| | | |emphasise the fact that Billy may |

| | | |want to go back to school and the |

| | | |repetition backs up the fact that |

| | | |this may be the case. |

|Rhetorical question |  ‘Can eyes think?’ |  38 |  This technique questions the |

| | | |unknown and leaves the character |

| | | |and indeed the reader wondering , |

| | | |which adds excitement and mystery |

| | | |to the novel. |

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