Edexcel GCSE English Literature - Literary Terminology

Vocabulary retrieval cards for key literary terminology in GCSE English Literature covering prose, drama, and poetry.

Simile

A comparison using 'like' or 'as'.

Metaphor

A comparison in which one thing is described as if it is another.

Personification

Giving human qualities or actions to something non-human.

Imagery

Language that creates a picture, sensation or impression in the reader's mind.

Symbolism

When an object, place, colour or image represents a wider idea.

Motif

A recurring image, idea, word or pattern that helps develop a theme.

Semantic field

A group of words connected by a shared area of meaning.

Juxtaposition

Placing contrasting ideas, images or characters close together to highlight their differences.

Contrast

A clear difference between two things used to emphasise particular qualities or ideas.

Repetition

Deliberately repeating a word, phrase, sound or idea for emphasis or effect.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words.

Sibilance

Repetition of 's', 'sh' or similar hissing sounds.

Onomatopoeia

A word whose sound imitates or suggests the sound it describes.

Rhetorical question

A question asked for effect rather than to receive an answer.

Irony

A contrast between what is expected or stated and what is actually meant or happens.

Dramatic irony

When the audience knows something that one or more characters do not.

Foreshadowing

A hint or clue about something that will happen later.

Flashback

A shift back to an event that happened earlier in the story.

Narrative perspective

The viewpoint from which a story is told.

Structure

The way a writer organises and develops a text or poem.

Cyclical structure

A structure in which the ending returns to, echoes or mirrors the beginning.

Stanza

A grouped set of lines in a poem, similar to a paragraph in prose.

Enjambment

When a sentence or phrase continues beyond the end of a poetic line without a stopping punctuation mark.

Caesura

A deliberate pause within a line of poetry, often created by punctuation.

Rhyme

The repetition of similar sounds, usually at the ends of words or lines.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of end rhymes in a poem.

Rhythm

The pattern or flow of stressed and unstressed sounds in language.

Tone

The attitude or feeling conveyed by the writer or speaker.

Atmosphere

The mood or feeling created for the reader or audience.

Theme

A central idea or issue explored across a text.

Character arc

The way a character changes or develops across a text.

Dialogue

Spoken conversation between characters.

Stage direction

An instruction in a play that gives information about action, movement, setting, delivery or behaviour.

Monologue

An extended speech delivered by one character.

Context in Literature

Relevant social, historical or cultural information that helps explain the writer's ideas or choices.

Difference between a theme and a technique

A theme is an idea explored in a text; a technique is a method the writer uses to communicate meaning.

Action after identifying a literary technique

Explain what it shows or suggests and how it connects to the question.

Golden rule when using literary terminology

Meaning first, terminology second - name a technique only when it helps explain the writer's meaning.