A-Level English Literature Techniques Exam
Questions with Certified Solutions
EPISTROPHE - Answer repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses/sentences
ANAPHORA - Answer repetition of a word at the beginning of successive clauses
CHIASMUS - Answer phrase repeated in reverse order
E.G.
"Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves."
"we cannot all be masters nor all masters cannot be truly followed" (Iago to Othello)
urges audience to evaluate relationship between these two repeated phrases
CACOPHONY - Answer mixture of harsh and inharmonious sounds
E.G. I detest war because cause of war is always trivial
VERISIMILITUDE - Answer appearance of being true or real
PARATAXIS - Answer the placing of clauses or phrases one after another, without words to indicate
coordination or subordination "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered")
HENDIADYS - Answer expression of one idea using two words connected by 'and' when one could be
used to modify the other
" weak and watery" - "watery weak"
PROSODICS - Answer tone, pauses, italics, emphasis, pitch
"I'm so frightened", so is italicised thus is the intensifier
APOSTROPHE - Answer figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation. reference to an
inanimate object , sometimes God or some ethereal creature
, ETHOS - Answer Convincing others through credibility of pursuader
"If his years as a soldier taught him anything, it's that caution is the best policy in this sort of situation." -
soldiers opinion more credible in violent situations, more experienced
LOGOS - Answer convincing others through logic/reason
PATHOS - Answer experience of a situation that evokes pity/sympathy/sorrow
"groping, tripping, staggering" - The Rear-Guard
makes us feel sympathy that this soldier has to endure such hardship
FOIL - Answer A character with qualities that contrast the qualities of another character to highlight
these traits.
DECLARATIVE SENTENCE - Answer short, punchy sentence - used for emphasis
TRICOLON - Answer "guttering,choking,drowning"
BALANCED SENTENCE - Answer sentence is made up of two segments which are equal, not only in
length, but also in grammatical structure and meaning. e.g."Every man has a right to utter what he
thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it."
HYPERBOLE - Answer exaggeration used for rhetorical effect.
CONNOTATION - Answer A word that conjures up other meanings or sparks thoughts of something else
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS - Answer A character's interior monologue: a continuous flow of thoughts
going on in the character's mind
SEMANTIC FIELD - Answer group of words connected by a shared meaning.
Questions with Certified Solutions
EPISTROPHE - Answer repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses/sentences
ANAPHORA - Answer repetition of a word at the beginning of successive clauses
CHIASMUS - Answer phrase repeated in reverse order
E.G.
"Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves."
"we cannot all be masters nor all masters cannot be truly followed" (Iago to Othello)
urges audience to evaluate relationship between these two repeated phrases
CACOPHONY - Answer mixture of harsh and inharmonious sounds
E.G. I detest war because cause of war is always trivial
VERISIMILITUDE - Answer appearance of being true or real
PARATAXIS - Answer the placing of clauses or phrases one after another, without words to indicate
coordination or subordination "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered")
HENDIADYS - Answer expression of one idea using two words connected by 'and' when one could be
used to modify the other
" weak and watery" - "watery weak"
PROSODICS - Answer tone, pauses, italics, emphasis, pitch
"I'm so frightened", so is italicised thus is the intensifier
APOSTROPHE - Answer figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation. reference to an
inanimate object , sometimes God or some ethereal creature
, ETHOS - Answer Convincing others through credibility of pursuader
"If his years as a soldier taught him anything, it's that caution is the best policy in this sort of situation." -
soldiers opinion more credible in violent situations, more experienced
LOGOS - Answer convincing others through logic/reason
PATHOS - Answer experience of a situation that evokes pity/sympathy/sorrow
"groping, tripping, staggering" - The Rear-Guard
makes us feel sympathy that this soldier has to endure such hardship
FOIL - Answer A character with qualities that contrast the qualities of another character to highlight
these traits.
DECLARATIVE SENTENCE - Answer short, punchy sentence - used for emphasis
TRICOLON - Answer "guttering,choking,drowning"
BALANCED SENTENCE - Answer sentence is made up of two segments which are equal, not only in
length, but also in grammatical structure and meaning. e.g."Every man has a right to utter what he
thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it."
HYPERBOLE - Answer exaggeration used for rhetorical effect.
CONNOTATION - Answer A word that conjures up other meanings or sparks thoughts of something else
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS - Answer A character's interior monologue: a continuous flow of thoughts
going on in the character's mind
SEMANTIC FIELD - Answer group of words connected by a shared meaning.
