English Literature Eduqas A Level Terminology

Allegory

A continuous parallel between two or more levels of distinct meaning (e.g. Animal Farm)

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sounds (e.g. Lord of language)

Allusion

Indirect or passing reference to an event, person, place or work not explained by the author (e.g. The Waste Land)

Ambiguity

Openness to different interpretations

Archaism

Use of words that have passed out of langauge at the time of writing

Assonance

Repetition of sake or similar vowel sounds

Ballad

Orally transmitted poem told simply and impersonally in direct and dramatic manner

Blank Verse

Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

Caesura

Pause in a line of verse

Characterisation

Representation of persons in a narrative or dramatic work

Cliche

Expression overused so much it has lost its meaning; event that is predictable

Colloquial

Informal expressions

Conceit

Far - fetched or elaborate metaphor finding similarities between apparently dissimilar things

Contexts

Parts of a text preceding and following a passage; circumstances in which a text was written

Devices

Any literary technique employed to achieve a specific effect

Dialogue

Spoken exchanges between characters

Diction

Choice of words in a literary work

Didactic

Instructive; doctrine of morality or philosophy

Dramatic Irony

Audience knows more than characters

Dramatic Monologue

Single character speaks to silent audience

Dramatic Tension

Anticipation regarding outcome of text

Ellipsis

Omission of words from a sentence

Enjambment

Running on from one line to next without syntactical break

First Person/Third Person

Told with I/they

Hyperbole

Unreal exaggeration to emphasise real situation

Imagery

Figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas

Irony

Words are used such that their intended meaning is different from their actual meaning

Metaphor

Comparison between two unrelated objects with similar characteristics

Mock-heroic

Satires or parodies mocking classic stereotype of heroes

Monosyllabic

Single syllable

Motif

Object or idea repeated through work

Multiple Narrators

More than one narrator

Narrative Stance

Narrative perspective

Octave

8 lines

Omniscient Narrator

All knowing narrator

Oxymoron

Two opposing ideas combined

Pace

How quickly the story develops

Paradox

Contradictory statement revealing truth

Parody

Comic imitation of a writer or genre

Pathetic Fallacy

Attributing human qualities to nature

Pathos

Producing emotions of sympathy

Persona

Voice or role of a character

Personification

Giving human qualities to an inanimate object

Perspective

Lens through which reader views events

Protagonist

Main character

Pun

Play on words with multiple meanings

Quatrain

Verse with 4 lines

Repetition

Something mentioned more than once

Rhetoric

Using language persuasively

Rhyming Couplets

2 lines rhyming

Rhythm

Stressed and unstressed syllables

Satire

Criticising foolishness or corruption using humour or exaggeration

Setting

Environment

Simile

Comparison to unrelated thing

Soliloquy

Character speaks to himself without other characters present

Sonnet

14 line poem in iambic pentameter

Staging

Set

Stanza

Division of 4 or more lines in poetry

Stream of Consciousness

Narration involving flow of thoughts in character's mind

Suspense

Feeling of anticipation

Symbolism

Symbols signifying ideas

Syntax

Set of rules in language

Theme

Recurring idea

Tone

Attitude of writer towards a subject

Tragic Hero

Charter facing adversity

Unreliable Narrator

Narrator lacking credibility