Eduqas GCSE English Literature key terms

An implied meaning beneath what a character explicitly says.

The passing of a title or position, such as the crown, from one holder to the next.

Suffering or patient endurance of mistreatment.

The right to vote in political elections.

A person who seeks to marry someone, usually by courting them.

A law restricting expenditure or display, including the clothing people could wear according to their rank or income.

An event or power understood as going beyond ordinary natural laws, such as a ghost appearing or a voice travelling mysteriously across a great distance.

A belief that events or abilities have supernatural causes without sufficient evidence, such as Raveloe’s belief that Silas knows charms.

A person who guarantees another person’s obligation, accepting responsibility if that person fails to fulfil it.

The idea that some people are excess to society’s resources; Scrooge uses this phrase to dismiss poor people’s deaths, and Dickens challenges its dehumanising implications.

An anxious state of uncertainty about what will happen or what an unexplained event means.

An object, place or image that carries a meaning beyond its literal role in the story.

An object, colour or other detail that carries meanings beyond its literal role in a story.

Understanding and responding to another person’s feelings or suffering. In the novel, sympathy connects individuals through practical care and affection.

Language that combines different senses, such as describing the sound of music through the taste-related word “delicious”.

A scene in which Iago gradually persuades Othello to suspect Desdemona of adultery; in Othello, this is Act 3 Scene 3.

A stanza containing three lines.

A reference to words or events in a literary work, used to support an interpretation; it may be a quotation, paraphrase or precise reference to a moment.

A central idea explored in a literary work, such as belonging, love or loss.

Beliefs and ideas about God and religion. Dolly’s theology centres on divine kindness, trust and practical duty.

The central interpretation that an essay develops and supports with evidence.

A narrative told using names and pronouns such as ‘he’ and ‘she’, rather than by an ‘I’ who participates in the events.

A narrator who describes characters as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’ rather than telling the story as a participant using ‘I’.

Careful management of money and resources, avoiding unnecessary waste.

A break in a narrative that moves the story forward over a period of time, leaving some intervening events to be explained later.

A play that explores how past, present and future relate, often challenging the ordinary experience of time as a straightforward sequence.

The attitude or feeling conveyed by a speaker's words, such as uncertainty, bitterness or affection.