A Level English Literature and Language terminology OCR

stolen from quizlet

Third person omniscient narrator

A narrator who is assumed to know everything connected with the story narrated. Refers to the characters as 'he' or 'she'. Often popularly assumed to be the author.

Free indirect style

In a third person narrative, the character from whose perspective the action is seen

Intra- diegetic narrator (participant narrator)

A narrator who plays a role in the story and is part of the narrative

Unreliable narrator

A narrator who is perhaps self- deceiving, or who cannot be trusted to give a version of events that is to be believed

Self-conscious narrator

A narrator who, telling the story in the third person, interviews in the narrative, with a comment in the first person

Intrusive narrator

A narrator who speaks as 'I', often a character who plays a role in the story, although it may not be his or her own story

Multiple voice

More than one narrative voice is used in a single text. Can be first or third perosn or a mixture of the two

First person narrative

First person, as thoughts the narrator is verbalising their thoughts as it occurs

Focalise

A narrative style that imitates the qualities of thoughts and feelings, making the reader feel as if they're inside someone's head. The grammar and structure suggests the random and fragmentary nature of thought. In the third person it's an extreme version of free indirect style. In the first person it's an extreme version of interior monologue.

Stream of consciousness

Reminds the reader that what they are reading is fiction, dispelling any illusion that the characters are real person etc.

Second person address

A narrative voice that directly addresses the reader as 'you'. It is rare for a whole text to do this, as its very hard to maintain.

Interior monologue

Third person narration in which a character's thoughts and feelings seem to be directly expressed, freely taking on the views and often the language of that character. Narratives often slide between conventional third person narration and this style, moving from a more detached voice to one that is more intimately connected to one character or another.

Analepsis and Proelpsis

"flashing back" to an earlier point in the story (analepsis) or "flashing forward" to a moment later in the chronological sequence of events (prolepsis).

Protagonist

A leading character- one of the major characters

Pathos

A quality that evokes pity or sadness

Antagonist

Someone against the protagonist

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements

Form

The structure and shape of a text

Oxymoron

The use of apparently contradictory words in a phrase e.g. peaceful war, hot ice

Ambiguity

Where there can be more than one possible meaning or outcome in a story, creating a sense of intrigue

Clipping

colloquial omission of parts of words to create a more casual alternative e.g. cause, bra, pram

Taboo language

Words that are considered are socially unacceptable to say in polite, civilized society e.g. swear words

Inverted Syntax

when the ordering of the word is rearranged to create an alternative weighting to a sentence- think of Yoda on star wars- "good with the force, he is".

Tag question

A question tagged onto the end of a statement e.g. "it's cold, isn't it?

Vocative

A direct reference to another speaker in discourse e.g. "Ayana, can you..."

Satire

the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Verbal Irony

This occurs when a speaker or narrator (written) says one thing but means another e.g. My uncle told me that it is easy to quit something; he does it all the time

Oxymoron

A form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite terms into one unusual expression

Hyperbole

A deliberate and often outrageous over exaggeration. This can be used for comedic effect.

Epistolary novel

A novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents can be used.