IB English A Lang & Lit Everything You Need to Know About Analysis Key Definitions

Abstract diction creates tone through ideas, not images.

When the subject of the sentence performs the action.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in a series of words.

Analysis means breaking something down to explain how it works.

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.

When two opposing ideas in parallel structure are used to highlight a contrast or conflict.

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words.

The overall emotional feeling of a scene.

The way that emphasis interacts with surrounding content to create a sense of harmony or cohesion.

A pause within a line, often marked by punctuation like a comma, dash, or ellipsis.

Characterization is the way a writer reveals a character’s personality, thoughts, and relationships.

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device where the structure of one clause is reversed in the next.

The use of color to influence emotion or signal meaning

A narrative told through a series of panels combining images and words.

Concrete diction makes writing feel vivid and emotionally charged.

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds at the end or middle of words.

A written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people in a literary or theatrical form.

The specific words an author chooses to use.

The kind of words the writer chooses.

The narrator or another character directly tells the reader what someone is like, describing their looks, personality, background, or motivations.

When the audience knows something the characters do not.

When a line ends with punctuation (., ;, !, etc.)

A line that continues onto the next without punctuation.

When writers use comparisons, exaggerations, or contradictions to suggest meaning indirectly.