AQA GCSE English Literature key terms

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

Cruelly indifferent to another person’s suffering.

A Protestant Christian tradition based on John Calvin’s teachings, forming part of Stevenson’s Scottish religious upbringing and its concern with sin, salvation and moral responsibility.

In Austen’s usage, an attractive openness and generosity in judging others, rather than simply frankness in speaking.

Money available to invest in a business or other money-making activity.

An economic system in which businesses and productive resources are mainly privately owned and operated for profit. In An Inspector Calls, Birling represents a self-interested version of capitalism.

An unpredictable change of mood or behaviour, often following a passing whim.

A representation that exaggerates recognisable characteristics to expose or ridicule them.

A small chest or box. In The Merchant of Venice, suitors choose between three caskets to try to win Portia’s hand in marriage.

A rigid social rank or group. Jane uses this word to describe the class boundaries she fears crossing.

A character or event that brings about or accelerates an important change in the action.

The emotional release or clarification experienced by an audience through a tragedy, especially through pity and fear.

A character’s development across a text, including changes in behaviour, understanding or values.

The methods a writer uses to present a character, including description, speech, actions and relationships.

A school partly supported by donations to educate children whose families cannot afford the full cost of their education and upkeep.

Authorised or regulated by a legal charter. In Blake’s poem, the word suggests that public space and even nature are subject to ownership and control.

Abstaining from sexual activity; in Prospero’s instructions to Ferdinand, it means not having sex before marriage.

A reversal of words or ideas in successive phrases, as in Leonato’s contrast between weeping at joy and finding joy in weeping.

The order in which events happen in time, which may differ from the order in which an audience learns about them.

An arrangement in which an ending returns to important features of the beginning, often revealing what has changed or failed to change.

Evidence from surrounding circumstances rather than direct observation of the alleged crime.

A struggle between armies belonging to the same country or political community. At Philippi, Romans fight other Romans.

A social grouping distinguished by its access to wealth, power and status. Animal Farm develops a division between privileged rulers and animals whose labour supports them.

An unfair judgement of a person based on their social class rather than their individual qualities or behaviour.

An ending that leaves an important situation unresolved, making the audience want to discover what happens next.

The point of greatest tension or decisive action in a narrative. The Thames pursuit is the action climax of these chapters.

Pressure or threats used to force someone to act. Reducing the rations of animals who refuse Sunday work makes their supposedly voluntary labour coercive.

Responsibility shared by people whose actions and lives affect one another.