WEEKLY GLOSSARY

Persuasive language: Persuasive language is the language being used when convincing others for something. It can be seen and heard around you every day. You'll see it in TV commercials, social media, magazines, billboards, and any other medium where advertisement campaigns are placed.

Emotive Language: Emotive language is the use of descriptive words, often adjectives, that can show the reader how an author or character feels about something, evoke an emotional response from the reader, and persuade the reader of something.

Repetition: Repetition is a literary device that involves using the same word or phrase over and over again in a piece of writing or speech.

Rule of Three: The rule of three is a writing principle which suggests that a trio of entities such as events or characters is more humorous, satisfying, or effective than other numbers.

Free Indirect Discourse: Free indirect discourse is a method of conveying a character's internal thoughts by embedding them within the narration, rather than expressing them directly.

Perspectives: Perspective is how a story is presented to readers. A character's background shapes the lens through which they see the world, which influences how they view and recount events in a story. Point of view is simply the rhetorical strategy used to convey that perspective. There are several types of point of view.

Mixed Narration:  Fiction which employs multiple narrators, often in opposition to each-other or to illuminate different elements of a plot, creating what is sometimes called a multiple narrative, or multi-narrative.

Tone: The mood implied by an author's language and word choice, or to the way that the text can make a reader feel. The tone of a piece can run the gamut of emotions.

Show and Not Tell: Show, don't tell is a narrative technique used in various kinds of texts to allow the reader to experience the story through actions, words, subtext, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the author's exposition, summarization, and description.

Synopsis: A brief summary of a completed screenplay's core concept, major plot points, and main character arcs. 

Storyboard: A storyboard is a graphic representation of how your film will unfold, shot by shot. It's made up of a number of squares with illustrations or pictures representing each shot, with notes about what's going on in the scene and what's being said in the script during that shot.

Themes: A theme is the film's central, unifying concept. A theme evokes a universal human experience and can be stated in one word or short phrase (for example, “love,” “death,” or “coming of age”).

Dialogue: Dialogue can refer to spoken lines in a dramatic performance such as a play, a film, or a television show. It is also any conversation between two or more people. On the written page, dialogue between characters is usually enclosed by quotation marks.

Internal Conflict: The psychological struggle within the mind of a literary or dramatic character, the resolution of which creates the plot's suspense.

External Conflict: An external conflict is a problem, antagonism, or struggle that takes place between a character and an outside force. External conflict drives the action of a plot forward.

Subtext: In any communication, in any medium or format, "subtext" is the underlying or implicit meaning that, while not explicitly stated, is understood by an audience.

Monologue: A speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience.

Documentary: Either television, film, video, or radio programme dealing with factual material rather than fictional material, usually with some defined goal to create new insight or exposure to facts.

Action: Action films are built around a core set of characteristics: spectacular physical action; a narrative emphasis on fights, chases, and explosions; and a combination of state-of-the-art special effects and stunt-work.

Visuals: Visuals are an integral part of movies as they play a key role in creating a visual representation of the story, characters, and settings. They can evoke emotions, establish mood, and provide an immersive experience for the audience. Good visuals can also enhance the believability of a story and make it more memorable.

Narrative Commentary:  Narration is the sound-track commentary that sometimes accompanies a visual image in a documentary. It’s also often called a ‘voice-over’ and it can be spoken by one or more off-screen commentators.