Rhetorical Devices, Punctuation Rules & Essay Writing Elements
1. Rhetorical Devices
Tricolon
How to identify: Ideas or items presented in groups of three.
Purpose: Makes the message more memorable.
Example: “She was kind, patient, and generous.”
Sentence Fragment
How to identify: An incomplete sentence or thought used intentionally.
Purpose: Highlights key words and can create humour, suspense, or impact.
Example: “I looked inside. Nothing.”
Asyndeton
How to identify: Items are listed without conjunctions such as and or or.
Purpose: Creates the impression of
Comprehensive Psycholinguistics Study Notes and Concepts
Core Psycholinguistic Concepts
Perseveration errors: A speech error where a sound, word, or linguistic element from an earlier unit is mistakenly repeated later in the utterance.
Syntactic priming: The tendency for speakers to process or produce a sentence using a syntactic structure they have recently encountered or used.
Preverbal message: The non-linguistic conceptual representation formed in the speaker’s mind (conceptualization phase) before it is mapped onto words and grammar.
Example: Deciding
Read MoreHonest Reviews: Festivals, Travel, and Modern Entertainment
Medusa Festival: Worth the Hype?
Having recently attended the Medusa Festival, I was keen to find out whether it lived up to its reputation. Although I found the size of the event overwhelming at first, it soon became clear that the festival offered an exciting and memorable experience. Overall, it is an impressive event, albeit one with a few shortcomings worth bearing in mind.
At its core, Medusa is an electronic music festival held near the beach, featuring internationally renowned DJs, enormous
Read MoreUnderstanding Grammar: Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Approaches
Understanding Grammar
Grammar is a linguistic tool that determines the rules for presenting sentences correctly. Related subfields include syntax, phonetics, morphology, and semantics.
Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Grammar
Descriptive grammar is generally preferred by linguists and language scholars. It involves scrutinizing words and sentences based on how they are used in practice. Linguists study everyday usage to identify the rules that govern language, focusing on the realities of communication
Read MoreEnglish Syntax: Verb Types and Relative Clause Variation
Verb Classifications and Structures
Intransitive verbs (H): These do not require a complement. Example: She signed.
Copulative verbs (H + PCS): These take a complement which refers to the subject. Examples: She is happy; they are angry. Note that the Predicative Complement of the Subject (PCS) can be an adjective, noun, prepositional phrase, or clause.
Transitive verbs (H + DO): Example: I am eating an apple.
Complex-transitive verbs (H + DO + PCO or H + PCO + DO): Example: You are driving my family
Read MoreEssential Sociolinguistics Glossary: Key Terms Defined
Sociolinguistic Terminology A-C
- Accent: The characteristic pronunciation patterns of a variety of speech.
- Accommodation: The phenomenon in which speakers change their manner of speaking depending on whom they interact with.
- Acquiring (language): The natural acquisition of a language variety.
- Active knowledge: Knowledge of a language that includes the ability to use and produce it.
- Age-grading: Variation in language use associated with different ages.
- Apparent time: A method of studying language change