English Literature - Key Terms

prose fiction

a novel or short story about imaginary characters and event

cliff-hanger

the ending of an episode in a serial that leaves you in suspense

third-person narrator

Often referred to as an omniscient (or all knowing) narrator. This type of narrator is able to comment on everything that all characters say, think and do.

characterisation

The ways in which writers present their characters. Good essays about characters consider carefully the role of the writer. The characters do not, after all, live independent lives. It is the writer who creates and develops characters in novels, stories and plays.

short story

A type of story that is shorter than a novel. It generally concentrates on a single event and has a small number of main characters.

novella

a long short story or a short novel

dialogue

the words spoken by the characters in prose or in drama

direct speech

the words actually spoken by the character, usually indicated by the presence of inverted commas or speech marks around the words

narrative

the way in which a story is told

plot

the storyline

mood

atmosphere created by writers through their use of description and dialogue

setting

Where the action takes place and the characters’ thoughts, words and actions are situated. There may be more than one in the novel or short story and it may change as the story progresses.

tense

the form of a verb, which shows the time when an action happened

senses

These enable us to experience the world around us. Writers often use language which appeals to our sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste to make their writing come alive.

stream of consciousness

A technique that prose fiction writers can use to convey a person’s mind as it moves from thought to thought. The effect is like being able to listen to a character’s thoughts in real time.

rhetorical question

A type of question that does not need an answer - which may be obvious. The purpose is for the questioner to emphasise a point.

register

The level of formality in writing. Avoid informal English in critical essays unless you are quoting from a text.

skim

to ‘read rapidly’

alliteration

the repetition of CONSONANT sounds in words that are close together

rhythm

Something you detect as you read a poem. It is created by the sound and the length of words or lines, e.g. you might feel a particular line should be read fast or slowly.

aesthetic

Concerned with appreciation of beauty.

analysis

Your ability to explore closely the words writers use and the effects these words create for the reader.

stanza

A group of lines within a poem.

metaphor

Says that one thing is actually another, rather than using words such as ‘like’ to compare things.

sonnet

A poem of 14 lines, each having ten syllables.

personification

When something inanimate is given human (or animal) characteristics.

archaic

Applies to words that are no longer in use. Sometimes, they are words that are still being used but their meaning has changed. E.g., ‘awful’ used to mean ‘full of awe’ (inspiring wonder) but nowadays we use it to describe something that is extremely bad.

strategies

The approaches you use when studying texts effectively.

theme

A main idea of a poem (or any text).

universal theme

An idea that affects everyone regardless of where they live or what their beliefs are.

rhyme

the use of similar sounds for words or endings of words.

imagery

Plays a central role in poetry. On a straightforward level, you can picture in your head the literal images created by the words in the poem. Other examples that poets use are not so literal, and writers use them to communicate their ideas even more strikingly.

simile

where one thing is compared to another. It is easy to spot by the use of words ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘as if’.

onomatopoeia

a word which sounds like the thing it describes.

assonance

the repetition of VOWEL sounds which are placed close together.

rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhymes at the end of lines of poetry.

quatrain

a stanza of four lines, usually containing a separate focus. They often have an alternating rhyme scheme.

turning-point

A twist that signals a change in direction or a change in tone in a poem. These will often provide a useful starting-point for your close exploration of a poem’s meaning and effects.

metre

The rhythm of the poem.

iambic pentameter

A line in poetry (or verse in plays such a written by Shakespeare) with ten syllables arranged in five ‘feet’, each containing a short and then a long syllable. It has a traditional and rigid metre.

narrator

The person who tells the story. What happens is communicated in their words.

tone

Conveyed in a poem by the poet’s deliberate choice of words. Think of it as being the tone of voice in which a particular word or line might be spoken. It can, of course, change during a poem. In your essays you should be able to discuss where, and why such changes occurs.

enjambment

Occurs where lines run on without punctuation and without a break in the meaning.

hyperbole

The use of exaggeration for a deliberate effect.

Script:

The written text of the play, film or broadcast. The broadcast might be on tv or on the radio.

Didactic:

Texts tending to preach and instruct audience about how they should live moral lives.

Dramatists:

writers of plays. Another way of calling them is ‘playwright‘.

Interpretation:

How directors and actors offer a particular ‘reading‘ of the way the characters’ lines might be spoken or actions performed on the stage.

Performance

Of a play, bringing it to life on the words on the page for an audience in theatre.

Props (properties’)

Items used in plays, such as the daggers used to kill Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's play of that name.

Stage Direction;

Given between brackets in italics. This sets them clearly apart from the words to be spoken by the actors. They are one of the distinctive features of drama texts. Reading stage directions will help you to visualize how the play might appear on the stage as you read on your own in class.

Conflict:

Can often be found between characters and is at the heart of the plays. Such conflict helps to create dramatic tension and make a scene particularly dramatic. The enhances the attention of the audience.

Emphasize:

To understand and share the feelings of another person.

Soliloquy:

A speech spoken by character on stage revealing their deepest thoughts to the audience.

Exeunt:

Characters leave the stage.

Monologue

A long speech delivered by one character or a short