OCR GCSE English Literature key terms

An invented account of a character’s life presented as though the character has written their own autobiography.

French for ‘end of the century’; in late nineteenth-century cultural discussion, it was associated with anxiety about exhaustion, decline and the future of civilisation.

Storytelling in which the narrator describes events using ‘I’. In Jane Eyre, Jane tells her own life story.

A narrative in which a character tells the story using ‘I’, giving readers access to that character’s perspective.

A narrator who tells events using ‘I’, presenting the story through their own experiences and interpretations.

A movement away from the narrative present to show earlier events. Stave Two uses Scrooge’s memories to reveal how he became the man introduced in Stave One.

The filtering of a narrative through a particular character's perceptions or understanding, even when that character is not the narrator.

A character through whose perceptions events are presented. Utterson is the main focaliser for much of the novel, although a third-person narrator tells these chapters.

A character or relationship whose contrast with another helps reveal significant qualities or weaknesses.

The compulsory grouping of individual farms into large farms under state control, carried out under Stalin with devastating consequences for many peasants.

Being compelled to adopt another religion rather than choosing it freely.

A hint of an event that will happen later in a narrative or play.

The penalty incurred when an agreement is broken; Antonio's bond specifies a pound of his flesh.

A penalty incurred when someone breaks an agreement or fails to fulfil its conditions.

The creation of a false document or imitation of someone’s writing intended to appear genuine.

A willingness to release resentment towards someone who has done wrong, without necessarily denying the harm they caused.

The type of a literary work and the ways it is presented, such as a dramatic comedy or a speech written in verse.

Chance or luck, often imagined as a power that changes people's circumstances unpredictably.

Someone who seeks marriage chiefly to gain wealth.

To make an innocent person appear guilty by creating misleading evidence or accusations against them.

Third-person narration that incorporates a character’s thoughts or distinctive expressions without directly introducing them as speech or thought.

Narration that adopts a character’s thoughts, expressions or judgements while retaining third-person grammar, without directly introducing them as speech or thought.

Poetry without a regular pattern of metre or rhyme. Its line breaks, rhythms and pauses can still be carefully organised.

The ability to choose how to act, rather than having every action determined by an outside power.

A member of a religious order who serves a community; Friar Laurence belongs to the Franciscan order and provides spiritual guidance.

A soldier belonging to a regiment of fusiliers.

The collection of Hailsham students’ artwork assembled to demonstrate their humanity to the outside world, not to assess whether couples deserve a deferral.