Diction, imagery and the patterns of figurative language

What this note covers

1. Analyse lexical choices in their local context
2. Distinguish sensory imagery from decorative description
3. Explain the mapping in a metaphor or simile
4. Trace motifs and semantic fields across a passage
5. Evaluate personification, abstraction and agency
6. Write a precise stylistic argument
7. Diction workshop: a renovated cinema and a contested claim
8. Figurative pattern clinic: containment, movement and a lunch tin

8 sections · 10 key terms & formulas · 6 common mistakes