OCR GCSE English Literature key terms

The process through which a person acquires citizenship of a country.

Writing or performance that creates the impression of ordinary life, including the rhythms and irregularities of everyday speech.

The process through which inherited characteristics that help organisms survive and reproduce become more common over generations.

The 1834 reform of poor relief, intended to reduce its cost and standardise provision. It made workhouse admission the usual condition of receiving help, with exceptions.

A narrative that does not present all events in the order in which they happened.

An arrangement of events that does not follow the order in which they happened.

A longing for the past, often involving affection for remembered experiences and sadness that they cannot return.

Observing, noticing or listening attentively; in Much Ado About Nothing, characters' interpretations of what they note drive the action.

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

A prose narrative concerned with social behaviour and conventions, such as courtship, politeness, wealth and class.

A range of spiritual and healing traditions practised in the Caribbean. In Leave Taking, Mai’s practice also involves listening and helping people understand their difficulties.

Treating a person as an object rather than recognising their humanity and independent feelings.

A duty owed to someone, arising from a promise, relationship or debt.

Excessively eager obedience or flattery towards someone powerful, usually to gain or retain their favour.

A persistent preoccupation that dominates a person’s thoughts and can override judgement or damage other relationships.

The appearance of knowing everything. The Inspector’s apparent knowledge encourages supernatural interpretations of him.

A narrator outside the story who uses third-person pronouns and can reveal the thoughts and feelings of more than one character.

A narrator outside the story who refers to characters as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’ and can reveal the thoughts and feelings of different characters.

A word whose sound suggests the noise it describes, such as ‘rattled’.

The telling of memories, histories or beliefs through speech, allowing experiences to be passed between people and generations.

The passing on of memories, histories and beliefs through spoken stories rather than written records.

A person whose parents have died. Jane’s orphanhood leaves her dependent on relatives for shelter and protection.

Treating people as outsiders who are fundamentally different from an assumed normal or accepted group.

A Rastafarian term for understanding beyond the surface: seeing the bigger picture with strength, positivity and respect.

A phrase that combines apparently contradictory meanings, such as Juliet’s description of Romeo as a “Beautiful tyrant!” in Act 3 Scene 2.

A poetic form made of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines return as the first and third lines of the next stanza, sometimes with small changes. Its ending often returns to its opening.

An apparently contradictory expression that reveals a meaningful idea, such as the Friar’s instruction to Hero to ‘die to live’.