OCR GCSE English Literature key terms

An anxious sense of anticipation created by uncertainty about what will happen or what an event means.

Dark or black; Douglas uses it to describe the flies moving over the dead soldier.

An object, action or image that represents a larger idea as well as having a literal role.

A stage object that also carries a wider meaning. Portia’s ring represents the marriage promise and becomes a test of Bassanio’s loyalty.

The use of a place, object, character or action to suggest meanings beyond its literal role.

A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole, such as a person’s ‘brows’ representing the person experiencing worry.

A stanza containing three lines.

A written account by someone who personally witnessed an event, offered as evidence of what happened.

A quotation or precise reference to an event or detail used to support an interpretation.

A precise reference to something in a text, such as an event, stage action, word or speech; it need not be a direct quotation.

A Scottish nobleman’s title. Macbeth begins as Thane of Glamis and receives the title Thane of Cawdor as a reward for his military service.

A poem’s central idea, explored through its details, language and development.

The central interpretation an essay argues for and develops through evidence.

A narrative perspective in which a narrator refers to characters as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’, rather than telling the main story as ‘I’.

The voice that tells a story, referring to characters as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’ rather than telling it as their own first-person account.

A narrative voice outside the story that can reveal the thoughts and feelings of different characters.

A change in the attitude or feeling conveyed by a speaker, such as a movement from affectionate recollection to stern scolding.

The attitude conveyed by a speaker or writer, such as affection, resentment, confidence or uncertainty.

A shrub or tree clipped into a deliberately shaped form.

A system of rule that seeks to control public and private life and suppress independent opposition.

A dramatic form in which a central character's downfall brings suffering and usually death, often raising questions about responsibility and human weakness.

A central character whose downfall involves their own flaws or errors, and whose suffering can provoke pity as well as condemnation.

Jekyll’s term for medicine reaching beyond the physical world into questions of spirit and identity. Its claimed powers challenge Lanyon’s understanding of science.

A punishment in which convicted people were sent overseas. Magwitch’s return to England after transportation for life exposes him to a death sentence.

Lasting psychological distress following a deeply frightening or harmful experience.

A metrical pattern of four stressed–unstressed pairs per line.

A change in a poem’s thought, tone, perspective or direction.