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Year 8 · English · Gothic fiction · Lesson 3

Analysing language

Similes, metaphors, personification and other techniques in Gothic writing, connotations, and how to write a PEE paragraph.

Whiteboard video lesson: Analysing language

23-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

Watch free for a month

What your child will learn

  • Identify language techniques
  • Tell similes and metaphors apart
  • Explain the connotations of words
  • Write a PEE paragraph
  • Use techniques in your own writing

The method

  1. Name the technique: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition.
  2. Give a short quotation as evidence.
  3. Zoom in on one word and explain its connotations.
  4. Explain precisely how it affects the reader (PEE).

Key words: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, connotation, semantic field, PEE.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

Name the language technique: “The fog crept through the streets like a thief.”

  1. Step 1: Simile: ‘like a thief’

Answer: Simile

Question 2

Name the language technique: “The moon was a pale, staring face.”

  1. Step 1: Metaphor: the moon IS a face

Answer: Metaphor

Question 3

Name the language technique: “The wind whispered secrets through the trees.”

  1. Step 1: Personification: the wind ‘whispers’

Answer: Personification