Revising Writing Techniques

What technique is used in the following description?

"His eyes sparkled like diamonds"

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Personification

• Rhetorical Question

Answer explanation

Remember, a SIMILE is when we use LIKE or AS to compare one thing to another thing.

"The dark and lonely forest stretched on for miles." What types of words are "dark and "lonely"?

• Adverbs

• Nouns

• Adjectives

• Verbs

Answer explanation

Remember, adjectives are DESCRIPTIVE words that describe a noun (a person, place or thing)

"The trees groaned in the wind. Their winding branches waited to trap any unfortunate travellers." What technique has been used here?

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Pathetic Fallacy

• Personification

Answer explanation

Personification is when we give human attributes and characteristics to things that are not human.

"The colourful balloons floated dreamily into the evening sky." What type of word is "floated"?

• Adjective

• Verb

• Noun

• Adverb

Answer explanation

Remember, verbs are any doing words which describe ACTIONS of some kind.

"His boots made a soft thud on the floor whilst his whip let out a terrifying crack." What technique is used here?

• Simile

• Pathetic Fallacy

• Rhetorical Questions

• Onomatopoeia

Answer explanation

CRACK and THUD are words which try to mimic a SOUND (we call this onomatopoeia).

"The children were monsters. Shrieking, cackling monsters." What technique has been used here?

• Alliteration

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

Answer explanation

A metaphor is a comparison where we are told one thing IS another thing. Here, we are told the children ARE monsters. This is a comparison that is not literally true.

"Father was never tired, never grumpy, never late." What technique is used in this sentence to show the personality of the father?

• Adjective

• Simile

• Repetition

• Onomatopoeia

Answer explanation

Writers often use REPETITION to emphasise a certain character trait. We often see repetition used in speech when a character is very passionate about something.

"The girl walked lazily to school on a grey, November morning." What type of word is "Lazily"?

• Adjective

• Verb

• Preposition

• Adverb

Answer explanation

Words which describe VERBS (doing words) are ADVERBS. They often end in -ly but not always.

"Just where do you think you're going, young lady?" What type of sentence is being used here?

• A rhetorical question

• An emotive sentence

• A short sentence

• A command

Answer explanation

Whenever a writer or a character poses a question that doesn't really need to be answered (it's more for dramatic effect), this is a RHETORICAL QUESTION.

"Sit down and be quiet. Don't you ever do that again." What technique is the writer using here?

• Rhetorical Questions

• Commands (Imperative Verbs)

• Simile

• Humour

Answer explanation

Imperative Verbs are words which give a command: BE quiet. SIT down. STAND up. STOP talking. Etc.