Essential English Writing Styles, Narrator Types, and Literary Devices

The 7 Narrator Types

First Person

• 1. The Protagonist. The narrator is the hero; they’ll narrate the same way they talk, with opinions.
• 2. The Secondary Character. Someone close to the protagonist, but not the main hero.

Third Person

• Third person omniscient. This type knows all, peeking into the lives of major and minor characters, reading everyone’s thoughts.
• Third person limited. This type knows only what the main character, or characters, know. It increases suspense and intrigue because the reader only solves the mystery at the same time the characters do.
• 3. The Detached Observer. A detached third-person narrator sticks to telling the story and never inserts their own opinions.
• 4. The Commentator. This type never physically enters the story, but freely adds in their own amusing commentary. Or maybe the narrator isn’t a strict “third person,” but is involved in the story in some way.
• 5. The Interviewer. This type has collected the details of the story after it happened, such as by interviewing the characters.
• 6. The Secret Character. The narrator is part of the story, but they are revealed at the end.
• 7. The Unreliable Narrator. Usually first person, but occasionally third, an unreliable narrator has a flawed point of view.

Grammar and Sentence Structure

Semi-colon

The semi-colon (;) allows a writer to join two or more sentences on the same subject into one sentence. It is used to:

• Link phrases that are about the same thing.
• Join two or more ideas that are of equal importance.
• Separate items in a description or a list.

Complex Sentence

A complex sentence has one main clause and one or more subordinate or dependent clauses. The main clause is the most important part of the sentence.

Archaic Language

Archaic language is no longer in everyday use. It is old-fashioned. You can use the context in which it is written to work out what it means.

Formal and Informal Register

Informal register means to speak using colloquial expressions and interrupting each other.

Formal register means speaking more politely without interrupting and disagreeing.

Embedded Clauses

Embedded clauses are called subordinate or dependent clauses because they are part of a larger sentence, but they are not the most important piece of information.

Example: Fatima lost her bag, which her mother had given her, on her way home.

Clause

A clause is a part of a sentence which requires more information to create a full and proper sentence.

Adverbial Phrases

Adverbial phrases tell us when (time), where (place), and how (manner).

Direct and Reported Speech

Direct speech uses inverted commas. Reported speech does not have inverted commas and is often introduced by ‘that’.

Combining Words and Portmanteau Words

We often put two words together to create a new meaning, for example, skate + board = skateboard. These are known as Portmanteau words.

Prepositions

Words that are prepositions can also act as adverbs, but a preposition requires an object and an adverb does not.

A Sub-plot

A subplot is a secondary story, usually introduced early in the second act and brought to a satisfactory end before the exciting climax to your main story.

Figures of Speech

• Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sounds of neighboring words.
  She sells seashells down by the seashore.
• Anaphora is a technique where several phrases or verses begin with the same word or words.
  I came, I saw, I conquered.
• Euphemism is a mild term that substitutes an offensive term.
  'Passed away' instead of 'died.'
• Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
  I've told you to stop a thousand times. / I could do this forever. / Everybody knows that.
• Metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike things or ideas.
  Heart of stone / Time is money.
• Personification gives human qualities to non-living things or ideas.
  The flowers nodded.
• Simile is a comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
  As slippery as an eel / Eats like a pig.
• Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what is meant, or between appearance and reality.
  "How nice!" she said, when I told her I had to work all weekend. (Verbal irony)
• Juxtaposition. Is when two ideas or concepts are placed next to each other to create a contrast or comparison. (Page 64 examples)
• Oxymorons. Is a specific kind of juxtaposition, being a combination of words that appear to contradict each other, but, when used together, create an image offering a different meaning.
  Bitter-sweet
  Hot ice
  Original copy
  Thunderous silence
  Loving hate
  Brawling love