OCR GCSE English Literature key terms

Money or property received after someone’s death.

Discrimination embedded in the practices or structures of institutions, rather than only in an individual’s openly prejudiced behaviour.

The quality of acting honestly and consistently according to moral principles.

An additional charge paid by a borrower for the use of someone else’s money.

Conflict between people from different generations, often arising from different experiences, expectations or values.

A person who acts between two parties, helping them communicate or conduct business.

A struggle within a character between competing feelings, beliefs or loyalties.

Absorbing prejudiced ideas about your own group and applying them to yourself.

Rhyming words within a line, rather than only at line endings.

A reading of a text’s meaning, supported by evidence and reasoning.

The relationship between texts created when one text quotes, echoes, adapts or responds to another.

A comparison that moves between texts throughout an argument, explaining how their meanings and methods relate.

The use of threats or fear to make someone submit, even without physically attacking them.

A story imagining an invasion of a country, often exposing fears about military preparedness and national security.

A shimmering appearance in which colours seem to change with the light or viewing angle.

A warship protected by iron armour. In the novel, the Thunder Child is an ironclad torpedo ram which charges the Martian fighting-machines.

A warship protected by iron armour and designed to attack by driving its reinforced bow into an enemy vessel.

A difference between the apparent meaning of words and the meaning suggested by their context, often exposing a contradiction.

Separation from other people, which may be physical, emotional or social.

Relating to the reign of James I of England, from 1603 to 1625.

A language spoken in Jamaica, with its own grammatical patterns and vocabulary. Bennett uses it as a literary language and a means of expressing Jamaican cultural identity.

Fear or resentment that another person may take away affection, attention or a valued relationship.

An arrangement providing property or income for a wife, especially after her husband's death.

Fair treatment and the giving of what is due; in the play, enforcing a legal right does not necessarily produce a morally fair outcome.

An arrangement of scenes or events that creates a meaningful contrast between situations or characters.

Scrofula, a disease traditionally believed to be curable by a monarch’s touch. In Macbeth, Edward’s reported healing power represents holy, beneficial kingship.

A dealer who takes worn-out or injured animals for slaughter and processes their bodies into products such as glue.

An expression of grief or sorrow, often for someone who has died or something that has been lost.