OCR GCSE English Literature key terms

Understanding one’s own motives, weaknesses and errors rather than merely judging other people.

Protecting oneself from danger or harm; in DNA, this motive repeatedly conflicts with responsibility towards others.

An excessive confidence in one’s own moral goodness, often accompanied by judgement of others.

A group of words connected by meaning, such as words associated with burning or death.

A work of fiction that draws partly on its author’s life while reshaping experiences and inventing material.

Writing partly based on the author’s life but shaped through invented characters, events or details.

Language that evokes physical sensations such as touch, taste, sight or warmth.

Language that appeals to the senses, such as sight, taste, touch or hearing.

Writing that appeals strongly to feelings such as affection, pity or grief.

An older term for a harem, imagined here as a group of women subject to one man’s authority.

Publication of a story in successive parts rather than all at once.

Excessively submissive behaviour towards someone regarded as powerful or superior.

The place and circumstances in which a story or dramatic scene takes place.

An arrangement securing money or property for someone. Lydia’s marriage negotiations include a settlement on her and financial support for the couple.

Unfair judgement or treatment based on a person’s sex, often supported by stereotypes about women or men.

A dramatic form often involving lovers overcoming obstacles, disguise, misunderstanding and a resolution through marriage or reconciliation.

A fourteen-line poem. A Shakespearean sonnet usually has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and is written in iambic pentameter.

A feeling of embarrassment or diminished self-worth associated with how someone sees themselves or believes others see them.

A line of verse divided between two or more speakers; the rapid exchange can suggest intimacy, urgency or conflict.

A public trial arranged to demonstrate the authorities’ power and confirm an accusation rather than establish guilt fairly.

Repetition of an ‘s’ or similar hissing sound in nearby words, as in “single sweet”.

A comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’, which helps convey a particular meaning or impression.

A false spoken accusation that damages someone’s reputation.

A feeling of superiority based on social position, wealth or manners, often accompanied by contempt for people considered inferior.

A person’s position in a social hierarchy, shaped by factors such as family background, wealth, occupation and education.

The application of ideas about biological competition and selection to human society, often used to justify domination or the exclusion of people labelled weak.

A political outlook emphasising greater economic equality and collective provision for people’s needs. Priestley’s socialist outlook informs the play’s challenge to Birling’s individualism.