Eduqas GCSE English Literature key terms

A story that communicates a lesson about right and wrong through its characters and events.

Drama in which characters can represent moral qualities and the action teaches a lesson about choosing between good and evil.

Blame arising from harmful choices, whether or not those choices lead to prosecution or punishment.

Serious moral wickedness or corruption. Lanyon uses this expression to condemn the wrongdoing Jekyll reveals to him.

A recurring detail, image or pattern that develops an idea across a literary work.

A character through whom a writer expresses an argument or viewpoint.

The speed at which a narrative moves, shaped by how much space the writer gives to events, description and reflection.

The viewpoint through which events and people are presented. Austen increasingly uses Elizabeth’s perspective to reveal the serious consequences of her parents’ behaviour.

A poem that tells a story through events, characters and a narrative voice.

The order and arrangement of events, information and sections within a literary work.

The perspective through which events are presented, shaping what readers know and how they interpret a character.

The voice telling a story. In a novel, the narrator is distinct from the author, even when commenting on characters and events.

The process in which organisms with inherited characteristics better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.

The intensified expansion of overseas empires in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, driven by rivalry, resources, markets and claims of a civilising mission.

The 1834 reform of poor relief in England and Wales, which established a centrally directed system intended to make workhouse relief a deterrent to claiming support.

The belief that life has no meaning or purpose.

An affectionate, often idealised longing for a past time or familiar place.

A short prose narrative, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

A novel concerned with social behaviour, customs and expectations, often showing how these influence relationships and marriage.

Treating a person as an object to be possessed, displayed or used, rather than recognising their feelings and independent will.

Excessively eager submission or flattery towards someone regarded as powerful or important.

An eight-line section of a poem, particularly the opening eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.

Proof obtained through sight. Othello demands this in Act 3 Scene 3, but accepts Iago's reports instead.

An event or sign interpreted as a warning of something that will happen.

Complete knowledge. The Inspector’s apparent knowledge of hidden events can suggest an almost all-knowing presence.

A narrator who can reveal the thoughts and feelings of different characters and comment on their behaviour.

A story explaining someone’s beginnings; in superhero comics, it often explains how a hero acquired their powers.