Language

Emotive & Figurative Effect

Figurative LanguageWhich is which?

• Simile

• Metaphor

• PersonificationJoin them correctly

• The daffodils nodded

• Her eyes were emerald jewels

• My father charged at him like a lion

Choose the phrases represent fear or darkness

• ‘Little tongue of light• ‘Fashions born in dead brains’• ‘‘…wrapped about me in a stifling embrace’• ‘…sealed my vision’• ‘…crushed…reason from my brain’• ‘Ocean of mystery’• ‘…Closed upon me like the shutting of an eye’• ‘Like a ragged storm cloud sweeping out of the

stars’

Draw two columns with the headings ‘fear’ and ‘darkness’.

Fear Darkness • ‘Fashions born in

dead brains’• ‘Little tongue of light’• ‘Ocean of mystery’• ‘…crushed reason

from my brain’

• ‘…Closed upon me like the shutting of an eye’

• ‘…wrapped about me in a stifling embrace’

• ‘…sealed my vision’ • ‘Like a ragged storm

cloud sweeping out of the stars’

Now label each phrase simile, metaphor or personification.

Choose two of the figurative phrases and explain what

effects they have on the reader

• E.g. ‘little tongue of light’ is a metaphor used to emphasise the darkness of the Red Room. The phrase gives an image of a small flame which is surrounded by heavy darkness. The writer compares the light to the shape of the tip of a persons tongue, this reinforces the glimmer of light in comparison the thick darkness.

Language & Style

Vocabulary, Speech, and Sentence Structure

Words and phrases typically used during the Victorian age

• ‘Eight and twenty years’ said I

• ‘For I come to the business with an open mind’

Read these phrases, look at the word order, what is revealed about the character and time?

Language & Social Class

• In England during the Victorian era there was a predominant class system, a huge divide between the poor and rich. The middle class distanced themselves from the working class, and took great pride in their status.

• In ‘The Red room’ there is a distinct use of elaborate language which links to social class.

Victorian Middle Class Values

• Ownership & wealth – inheritance, industry and commerce.

• Reputation - honour or disgrace

• Education – professional occupation, & sophisticated use of language.

• Marriage to improve class status – inheritance for future offspring.

The Protagonist(The Red Room)

• The narrators precise diction, and eloquent use of speech emphasise power and wealth.

Find your own words to describe the main character, and find quotations to give evidence of social class?

Bold

Over confident

A Final Reminder! How do these key words link to the language

features

figurative language

EducationPersonification

Simile

Metaphor

Social Class

Physiological state

Victorian code of respectability