Terminology #4 English A Level

Mrs. Heurman's Class

Cataphoric Reference

Where a word refers to a later part of a text for its meaning

EX: “I still recognized my old friend Sarah”…old friend is the word referring to Sarah

Dialectal Structure

A three-part argument moving from thesis to antithesis (counterargument) to a synthesis (both initial + counter)

Direct Speech

The use of exact words spoken by speaker/character

Discourse

Any spoken or written language that is longer than a sentence itself

Discursive

A style in which facts and opinions are put forward and explored in order to develop an argument

Exophoric Reference

Where a word refers to something outside a text for its meaning (typically as a consequence of a writer’s or speaker’s expectations as to the knowledge already possessed by the text’s intended audience)

First Person Narrative

Where a character in a story narrates the events that they are experiencing (use of “I,” “we,” or “me”)

Foregrounding

Using grammatical or syntactic devices to draw attention to a particular idea in a text

Form

The specific type of catagorey being considered (e.g. textual ___, verb ____, grammatical ____)

Formality

The extent to which spoken or written texts either conform to standard conventions or employ more personal language strategies

Genre

A subdivision of textual form determined b the text’s content (e.g. fantasy novel, tragic play, ballad, online review, etc..)

Implicature

A meaning that is suggested by an utterance, rather than being explicitly stated or directly entailed by the words used

In medias res

Beginning a narrative in the middle of the events without any build-up or initial explanation

Inference

The act of deducing implied meanings

Intertextuality

Where a text produces additional meaning by referring in some way to another text

Irony

When the intended meaning of a text or utterance differs radically from its literal interpretation

Narrative Structure

The way in which a story is constructed

Omniscient Narrator

Where the narrator knows all the thoughts, actions and feeling of the characters

Perspective

Point of view

Prose

Ordinary language, without a rhyming pattern or rhythmic pattern

Protagonist

The main character in literary work

Purpose

A writer or speaker’s main aim when producing a text

Register

The variety of languages used in a particular situation, mostly with regards to levels of formality

Second Person Narrative

When the reader is addressed directly, typically through “you",” “your,” or “yours”

Simile

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things using “like” or “as”