Eduqas GCSE English Literature key terms

An overall judgement about the question's focus which gives an answer a clear direction.

The close combination of apparently contradictory words, such as ‘wild, tender’.

A story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson through its characters and events.

A statement that appears contradictory but can express a meaningful truth, such as the narrator’s suggestion that another man’s insanity helped keep him sane.

A structural arrangement in which one event echoes another, allowing readers to recognise similarities, differences or development.

Two connected sequences of events involving different characters, presented as happening during the same period.

The use of matching grammatical patterns to connect or contrast ideas or people.

Intense suspicion or fear that others threaten you. Macbeth’s guilt becomes entangled with his fear of losing power.

An imitation of a person, style or institution that exposes it to ridicule.

Strong emotion or desire, such as love, anger or longing, which can motivate a person but can also overwhelm their judgement.

A literary tradition that presents rural life and nature as simple, harmonious or ideal.

An approach in which a powerful person provides care and protection for others while retaining authority over them.

The presentation of weather or surroundings as reflecting human feelings or the emotional atmosphere of a scene.

Writing that arouses pity or sorrow, often by drawing attention to vulnerability or suffering.

A social system in which men hold greater authority and power than women.

A person who provides support or an appointment. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is Mr Collins’s patroness because she secured his Church position.

Support or advancement provided by a powerful person. Lady Catherine’s patronage gives Mr Collins his position as rector at Hunsford and encourages his deference.

The titled ranks of the British aristocracy, including dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons; socially above the landed gentry.

An act undertaken to express repentance or make amends for wrongdoing.

An assumed name used by a writer when publishing their work; Mary Ann Evans published her fiction as George Eliot.

The attribution of human qualities to something non-human, such as Jane presenting Nature as a mother.

A convention of love poetry associated with the Italian poet Petrarch: a suffering lover idealises a beautiful, often unattainable woman and describes contradictory feelings.

A conventional lover who idealises the beloved as exceptionally beautiful and virtuous, often admiring her from a distance rather than knowing her closely.

A fourteen-line poem named after the Italian poet Petrarch, organised into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet, usually with a turn in thought.

The practice of judging someone’s character from their physical appearance, especially their face. Utterson’s interpretation of Hyde reflects this way of thinking.

Money provided for a married woman’s personal expenses, such as clothing.

The sequence of events in a story, including how one event causes or influences another.