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feature
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definition
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example
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effect
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simile
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Figure of speech: one thing is said to be like another.
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He was like a tower of strength during my illness.
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Can paint a meaningful picture that is easy to remember because two usually different things are being compared.
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irony
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The speaker means the opposite of what she says.
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My lucky day! I got a speeding ticket.
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Emphasises the words because they mean the opposite of what you first expect.
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direct speech
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The words of a person quoted in a text. Speech marks show the beginning and end of direct speech.
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"My lucky day! I got a speeding ticket."
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Makes the text seem real.
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contractions
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Shortened forms of words often in combination with other words.
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I'll
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Can make the text look informal or like speech.
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passive voice
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The subject has an action done to it by an agent who may or may not be named.
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The farms were going to be flooded.
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More common in impersonal, formal writing and the writer may use passive verbs to suggest distance, objectivity or formality.
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emotive language
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Shows the feelings and attitudes of the writer.
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Cats are violent bullies.
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It is often used in persuasive writing to appeal to the reader's emotions, rather than the mind.
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metaphor
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Figure of speech: one thing is said to be another.
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He was a tower of strength during my illness.
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Can paint a meaningful picture that is easy to remember because two usually different things are said to be the same.
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technical or scientific terms
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Words used particularly in describing objects or concepts in scientific or technological reports.
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The function of the small intestine is to digest and absorb nutrients.
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Often used to give accurate factual information in scientific reports.
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factual descriptive language
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Words used to give information rather than appeal to the emotions.
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The red colour of flower petals helps to attract insects for pollination.
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Instructs the reader and gives an accurate description.
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imaginative descriptive language
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Words that appeal to the emotions rather than to just give information.
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Grief enters your bones and lives there, because it has no use for flesh, and after a while you feel that you're all bone, hard and desiccated, like a skeleton in a classroom.
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Evokes an emotional image that appeals to the senses. Stimulates the feelings of the reader.
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noun phrases
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Usually a group of words which expand a central essential element.
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Cancer of the colon affects large numbers of New Zealanders.
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Explains terms used with precise detail to give exact information.
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colloquial language
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Language that is casual rather than formal. It is likely to be used by people who know each other well.
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Give us a hand.
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It is used in spoken language but may be used in written language to create a feeling of familiarity between the writer and the reader.
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personification
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Non-living objects or abstract things are given human qualities.
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Night stares through the window.
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Enriches the text and appeals to the senses.
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