Tamil Nadu HSE First Year Communicative English cheat sheet

Literary and Non-literary Text Appreciation

• Poetry devices: simile (like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, hyperbole.

• Rhyme scheme is labelled by end letters: abab (alternate), aabb (couplet), abba (enclosed); free verse has no fixed scheme.

• Stanza forms: couplet (2 lines), tercet (3), quatrain (4), sestet (6), octave (8).

• Theme is the central idea stated as a full sentence; moral is the lesson; both differ from the plot summary.

• Characterisation is direct (stated by narrator) or indirect (revealed through speech, action, and others' views).

• Non-literary texts (news reports, speeches, advertisements) are analysed for purpose, audience, tone, and persuasive technique.

• Irony: verbal (saying the opposite), situational (outcome reverses expectation), dramatic (audience knows more than the character).

• Setting contributes to mood; imagery is the appeal to senses, and symbol is an object carrying abstract meaning.