Dictionary.

There are a lot of big, complicated words in English, so I'll try to explain them simply. I will be continuously adding to this post and updating it, so if there are any words you need explaining email me at loveartinwriting@gmail.com !

A
Act/Scene-the major structural divisions of a play are acts, their sub-divisions are scenes.
Adjacency Pairs-a pair of utterances from different speakers where the second speaker is controlled by the first speaker's utterance eg. speaker 1: that dog is scruffy, speaker 2: yes it is. 'yes it is' does not make sense on its own
Adjectives-describing words eg. the scruffy dog
Adverbs-modify the meaning of verbs or adjectives, eg. she ran quickly
Adverbials-easy to spot, they have a way of affecting everything that follows. Common adverbials: well, so, now then, right, actually, really, quite, rather, only, just 
Agenda-Setting-refers to the person who chooses the topic that will be talked about
Alliteration-the repetition of consonants, particularly as first letters of the words eg. big blue bunnies bouncing
Allusion-an indirect reference to a person, place, event, literary work or work of art
Ambiguity-a sentence or word can have more than one meaning eg. 'Mary had a little lamb' could mean that her lamb was small or that she only had a little bit of it such as its leg. This is used to make the audience consider different interpretations
Anthropomorphism-attributing human characteristics to animals eg. the dog played on the grass
Antithesis-placing two words or ideas in opposition to bring out a contrast eg. Elizabeth was a Queen, Wayne was a slave
Archaisms-old-fashioned words such as ye, the, thou, yonder etc. remember: look at the date of the text, they probably would not have been old-fashioned at the time of writing
Assonance-when a vowel is repeated in the middle of a word eg. I lie by the side of my bride
Asyndetic Listing-a list that does not use conjunctions such as the word 'and'. Basically a list just using commas eg. hats, belts, scarves, gloves. (the opposite of syndetic listing)
Audience- those who view the play/ who the play is written for
B
Backtracking-interrupting what you were saying in order to introduce information that should have been said earlier in the chronological sequence
Bathos-sudden change of register from the sublime to the ridiculous that is often used for comic effect, or to change the mood of a text
C
Caesura-a mid-line pause in a poem, eg. a line with a comma in the middle
Cliche-an idea or expression that has becomes tired from overuse eg. what goes around comes around. Think: why has the author written it like that?
Colloquial-basically everyday (or 'vernacular') form of language eg. it includes slang words
Connotations-the associations attached to a word, phrase or image eg. the colour red could make the reader think of love
Consonance-the repetition of a consonance in the middle or final position  eg. 'Beanz Meanz Heinz'
Context of Production-the environment and the era when the text was written, this will have influenced the text greatly and may help you to draw connotations from the text
Co-operative Signals-joining in and co-operating with the conversation eg. 'yes', 'okay', 'I see', 'carry on', 'mmm', 'I'm listening', or even shorter things like: 'Fancy that!' or 'Well, I never!'
Couplet-2 lines together in a poem (one after the other)
D
Disagreement-the word 'yes' is no.12 in the list of the 25 most frequently used words in the English language, but 'no' doesn't appear at all. Do we just agree with everything? No, we just find nicer ways of disagreeing eg. 'yes, but...'
Discourse marker-a word or phrase that marks the difference between the parts of a communication eg. 'actually' or 'I mean' or 'anyway'
Demotic-everyday ordinary languag. Also known as 'prosaic'
Dramatic Irony-the audience knows something that at least one character isn't aware of
Dynamic verbs-express a wide range of actions, usually physical eg. jump, stare, run
E
Elision-running a word into others eg. fish 'n' chips
Ellipses-the omission of part of a sentence that can be understood from the context (...)
Emotive/sensational Language-writers use language to be dramatic or create a particular emotion
End-Stopped Lines-the grammatical unit (clause, sentence etc.) ends at the end of the line of a poem. Basically there's a full-stop at the end of the line
Enjambment/Run-on Lines-the sentence doesn't end at the end of the line in a poem
Epistolary-posh word for 'letter' (letters of the alphabet)
Euphemism-a word that replaces a word that is considered unpleasant or taboo eg. 'she passed away' instead of 'she died' or 'you have a face for radio' instead of 'you are ugly'
F
First Person-talking from the viewpoint of 'I' eg. 'I threw the ball'
Flashback-an interruption of the chronological sequence of a narrative or event to go back to something that happened in the past
Foregrounding-a change in the structure of a sentence to put emphasis on an opening sentence element, so that the reader's attention is drawn to the opening word/phrase
Foreshadowing-the author is dropping clues to the reader about something that will happen later on
Fricatives-words with an 'f' sound, made by forcing air through a narrow channel
G
Gatekeeper-a person with the power to control the discourse, governing the turn-taking
Genre- (taken from French) literary type or kind eg. comedy or tragedy
H
Hedge-using a softening phrase to weaken the impact of an utterance eg. 'As far as I know, no one has failed the course yet' it avoids being proved wrong later as it doesn't give a definite answer
Hyperbole-a gross exaggeration
I
Iamb-an 'iamb' is two beats, also known as one 'foot'
Iambic pentameter-10 syllables to a line, heartbeat-like rhythm eg. Shakespearean sonnets
Idiolect-an individual's particular way of speaking
Idioms-sayings or a figure of speech
Infinitives-the infinitive if a verb is the 'root' eg. to walk or to love
Interactional Features-features commonly seen when people interact eg. someone being dominant in a conversation
Irony-the difference between what we expect to happen and what actually happens
J
Juxtaposition-if an oxymoron is two opposite words next to each other, juxtaposition is two opposite ideas next to each other in a text
K
L
Length of turn-the length of a participant's speech
Lexis-posh word for 'words'
Lexical Field-a group of words throughout a text with associated meanings eg. a lexical field of computers might include: keyboard, disk, modem, cursor, mouse etc.
Litotes-a way of understating something eg. 'he's not bad' or 'he's no oil painting'
M
Metaphor-comparisons stating that something is something else eg. 'the man was a God' or 'a sea of troubles'
Modal Verbs (auxiliaries)-used to help the main word: can, will, shall, may, could, would, should, might, must, ought to. They show doubt, obligation, possibility or politeness
Mode of Address-what one character calls another, it is very important in understanding the story eg. 'mum', 'dad', 'sir', 'mate', 'good woman', 'your majesty' or even how Blanche refers to Stanley in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' as 'Polak' because of his heritage
Modifiers-posh word for 'adjectives'
Monitoring Talk-checking how well you are communicating what you are saying, eg 'Do you see what I'm saying?'
Multiple Narration-a story is told by more than one narrator
N
Narrative-the story of a text
Narrator-the person telling the story
Naturalistic Theatre-emphasises the naturalism of everyday speech, DO NOT confuse with Naturalism (see 'Realism and Naturalism')
Non-Fluency Features-include: voiced pauses eg. 'um', fillers eg. 'you know' and false starts eg. 'do you know...do you know who she is?'
Nouns (concrete and abstract)-person/place/thing. A concrete noun is something you can physically touch eg. chair and an abstract noun is something you can't eg. love
O
Octave-a group of 8 lines in a poem (one after the other)
Omniscient Narrator-a narrator has an 'all-knowing' stance, they can see into the minds of characters
Onomatopoeia-the words imitate the sounds they describe eg. BANG, fizz, pop etc.
Overlap-two or more speakers talk at the same time
Oxymoron-two contradictory words put together for effect eg. cruel kindness, lead feather
P
Paradox-a contradictory statement eg. 'no news is good news'
Parallelism-when phrases or sentences have a similar pattern or structure eg. 'Autoglass repair, Autoglass replace'
Parody-imitation and exaggeration of style for comic effect
Passive Voice-the emphasis shifts to the object of the verb eg. in 'an apology was issued by the minister', 'apology' becomes the subject. It avoids emphasis on the minister
Pathetic Fallacy-when the environment/setting of a text echoes the emotions of the character(s)
Persona-a created voice or self in a poem, novel or short story. Personas give works unity by showing the reader that everything in the work is the expression of a particular viewpoint
Personification-giving an object human qualities eg. the sky is crying
Plot-the pattern of events that constitutes the main business of a narrative
Plosives-words that give a 'p', 'd' or 'b' sound. A sound made by the lips
Post-modifiers-posh name for 'adjectives' or 'describing words', these come after the noun that they describe eg. the dog was scruffy
Pragmatics-how we interpret the intentions of the speaker, also known as the study of 'speaker meaning'
Pre-modifiers-posh name for 'adjectives' or 'describing words', these come before the noun that they describe eg. the scruffy dog
Pronouns-replace nouns eg. rather than 'Laura gave him' it would be 'she gave him'
Proper noun-refer to specific people or places, begin with a capital letter eg. England
Pun-(aka play on words) replacing a word with one that sounds the same but has a different meaning for comic effect eg. 'the thief is court out' (instead of caught out)
Q
Quatrain-a group of 4 lines together in a poem (one after the other)
R
Realism and Naturalism-realism is any fiction that presents everyday characters in their usual settings, naturalism is more philosophical fiction, it shows characters as a product of their biological inheritance and social circumstances
Realistic Theatre-a movement that intended to make theatre more useful to society in opposition to the mainstream theatre in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century
Regional accents-part of spoken word, these show location, class or level of education. eg. Joseph in 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte has a very Yorkshire accent, shown by the way that Bronte spells his speech phonetically
Resolution-endings, the ways that plots are sorted out in the end, how the equilibrium is restored
Retrospective Narration-somebody looking back
Repetition-the repeating of a word of phrase for emphasis
Rhetoric-the art of persuasion, often in adverts or political speeches
Rhetorical Question-a question that requires no answer eg. in dating adverts 'are you lonely?'
Rhyming couplet-2 lines (one after the other) often at the end of a poem or verse that rhyme. eg. the end of a Shakespearean sonnet
S
Satire-exposing folly or wickedness by exposing it, eg. political satire. It is funny and exposing Examples: Blackadder/Monty Python (both hilarious)
Schema-a set of expectations in any situation eg. in buying and selling, there is an expected 'schema' which governs behaviour
Sentence Moods-

• Exclamatory-a sentence that ends with an exclamation mark
• Declarative-statements
• Imperative-commands
• Interrogative-questions

Sentence Types-

• Minor-lacks one part, not grammatically correct eg. Thanks, great party!
• Simple-contains only one clause
• Short-simple sentences, used to simplify or build tension and drama
• Compound-consists of two or more simple sentences joined by a co-ordinating conjunction
• Complex-consists of one main clause and one or more other clauses which are of lesser importance. The lesser clauses are called subordinate clauses

Semantic Field-a group of words throughout a text that convey the same emotions eg. a semantic field of love might include: warm, fuzzy, happy, fulfilled, strong etc.
Sestet-a group of 6 lines together in a poem (one after the other)
Sibilants-alliteration using 's' or 'z' sound eg. the silent Sahara sands
Simile-comparing one thing to something else using the words, 'like' or 'as'
Soliloquy-a speech delivered when a character is alone or isolated on a stage. Think Shakespeare
Stative Verbs-express states of being or processes in which there is no obvious action eg. to know, to believe, to remember
Sub-plot-a minor plot that usually echoes the concerns of the major plot
Superlatives-express extremes of something eg. best, happiest, highest, least, worst
Symbolism-the use of an object to represent something else eg. scales symbolise justice
Syndetic listing-a list that involves a conjunction such as the word 'and'. eg. hats, belts, scarves and gloves. (the opposite of asyndetic listing)
Synonyms-words with similar meanings eg. vomit, sick, hurl, blow-chunks, vom, barf etc.
Syntactic Inversion-deliberate alteration in the structure of words in a sentence
Syntax-the word order is important in creating dramatic impact
T
Taboo Language-language that is avoided because it is offensive, embarrassing, obscene or unpleasant, generally known by an entire society so that it becomes the norm to avoid these words
Tag Questions-familiar questions, sometimes rhetorical, that occur at the end of statements eg. '...isn't it?' or, '...aren't they?'
Tense-past, present and future eg. I went, I am going, I will go
Textual Context-the context of an individual scene eg. is it public or intimate?
Third Person-'he' 'she' 'they'
Topic Management-how the topic being discussed is handled, who changes the topic
Trajectory-the direction of a plot
Transitive Verb-a verb that must take an object eg. Liz makes...coffee (the listener needs to know what Liz makes, or it won't make sense)
Tripling/Rule of three-emphasising a point by using three words or phrases eg. 'this clean, safe, helpful device' (also known as 'Tripling Structure')
Turn-Taking-in spontanious conversation, when people take turns to speak. There can be overlaps and interruptions
U
Uncompleted Sentences-basically, when a character only says half a sentence. This is not because they are interrupted, but because they know the person they are talking to so well that the person already knows what the character is going to say, the sentence doesn't need completing for them to understand
Utterances-posh word for 'sentences' or 'statements' but ONLY called this in spoken language, not written. You can only 'utter' something when you say it, not when you write it
V
View/viewpoint-how the author regards the events of a narrative.
Volta-usually in the middle of a poem or sonnet, this is a change in the tone or ideas of the poem
W
X
Y
Z