English & EAL

Part 1 - Metalanguage Word Bank for Books

Lisa Tran

June 16, 2012

Want insider tips? Sign up here!

SUBSCRIBE

Go ahead and tilt your mobile the right way (portrait). The kool kids don't use landscape...

If you need a refresher (or introduction) to what metalanguage is, check out or blog What Is Metalanguage?

---

Metalanguage is language that describes language. The simplest way to explain this is to focus on Language Analysis (a.k.a. Argument Analysis or Analysing Argument). In Language Analysis, you look at the author’s writing and label particular phrases with persuasive techniques such as symbolism, imagery or personification. Through your description of the way an author writes (via the words ‘symbolism’, ‘imagery’ or ‘personification’), you have effectively used ‘language that describes language’.

Here's list of metalanguage terms, organised by category, that may come in handy in your essay writing.

Character

  • Antagonist
  • False protagonist
  • Major character
  • Minor character
  • Protagonist
  • Secondary character
  • Supporting character

Genre

  • Adventure
  • Comic
  • Crime
  • Epistolary
  • Fantasy
  • Historical
  • Horror
  • Mystery
  • Philosophical
  • Political
  • Romance
  • Satire
  • Thriller

Form

  • Non-fiction
  • Novel
  • Novella
  • Play
  • Poetry
  • Short story

Language Form

  • Blank verse
  • Free verse
  • ProseIambic pentameter

Narrative Mode

  • Alternating narrative view
  • First person view
  • Second person view
  • Third person
  • Third person limited
  • This person objective
  • Third person omnipresent
  • Third person view
  • Linear narrative
  • Nonlinear narrative
  • Stream-of-consciousness

Narrative Tense

  • Future
  • Past
  • Present

Plot

  • Anti-climax
  • Climax
  • Conflict
  • Denouement
  • Dialogue
  • Exposition
  • Subplot
  • Trope-cliché
  • Turning point

Setting

  • Culture
  • Dystopia
  • Historical
  • Geographical
  • Social
  • Utopia

Other Literary Techniques

  • Active voice
  • Allegory
  • Alliteration
  • Allusion
  • Ambivalence
  • Ambiguity
  • Antithesis
  • Antonyms
  • Bildungsroman
  • Characterisation
  • Cliffhanger
  • Colloquialism
  • Complex sentence
  • Compound sentence
  • Connotation
  • Context
  • Denouement
  • Diachronic
  • Dialect
  • Dialogue
  • Elision
  • English (American)
  • English (Australian)
  • Enjambment
  • Epilogue
  • Epiphany
  • Euphemism
  • Flashback
  • Flash forward
  • Foreshadowing
  • Formal
  • Hyperbole
  • Idiom
  • Imagery
  • Informal
  • Irony
  • Juxtaposition
  • Lamb
  • Metaphor
  • Meter
  • Mood
  • Morphemes
  • Motif
  • Neologism
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Oxymoron
  • Paradox
  • Parody
  • Passive voice
  • Pathos
  • Periphrasis
  • Personification
  • Positioning
  • Prefix
  • Prologue
  • Rhetoric
  • Rhythm
  • Simile
  • Simple sentence
  • Slang
  • Soliloquy
  • Stereotype
  • Symbols
  • Synonyms
  • Tautology
  • Tone
  • Tragedy
  • Vernacular

Be sure to check out Part 2 - Metalanguage Work Bank for Films.

Get our FREE VCE English Text Response mini-guide

Now quite sure how to nail your text response essays? Then download our free mini-guide, where we break down the art of writing the perfect text-response essay into three comprehensive steps.

Click below to get your own copy today!

Yes, I'd love a free mini-guide!

You're not alone. We're here with you.

We're here to support you. To learn more about Lisa's Study Guides' Private Tutoring, click on the button below!

I'm interested!

Get exclusive weekly advice from Lisa, only available via email.

Power-up your learning with free essay topics, downloadable word banks, and updates on the latest VCE strategies.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

latest articles

Check out our latest thought leadership on enterprise innovation.

Keep in touch

Have questions? Get in touch with us here - we usually reply in 24 business hours.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to answer any emails here requesting personal help with your study or homework here!

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Follow Us

contact‍
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?‍
Leave your details and we'll be in touch to better understand your needs