Simple Gift Esssay

Identifying language techniques
Composers use various language techniques or features to make their texts more interesting and engaging to the responder.
Some language techniques used by Stephen Herrick in The Simple Gift are: • simile: comparing one thing with another using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ • metaphor: a comparison where one thing is said to be another • colloquial language: everyday speech characterised by informal language and shortened words (g’day, can’t) • direct speech: quotation marks (“) are used to indicate direct speech, that is, the exact words that are spoken • slang: words which are fashionable within a small group for a short period of time • literary allusion: makingreference to other well known books, films, etc • first person: using the pronouns I, me, my, us, we • comparatives and superlatives: adjectives for comparing, e.g.:
|Adjective |Comparative |Superlative |
|long |longer |longest |
|small |smaller |smallest |
|bright |brighter |brightest |

• ellipsis: three dots to provide a pause, to show that something has been left out • modality: gives information about the degree of certainty involved in an action, e.g.:
|Low modality |Medium modality |High modality |
|possibly |probably |definitely |
|could |should |must |