Key terms & definitions

A mounted infantry soldier who uses a horse to reach a position but normally dismounts to fight.

Mounted soldiers who could dismount to fight with firearms.

The movement of water away from an area or through its soil and rock.

The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.

The total length of river channels per unit area of a drainage basin. High drainage density means a closely spaced network of streams and rivers.

The arrangement of rivers and their tributaries across an area.

A performance in which actors use speech, movement and actions to represent characters and events. Christian drama communicates biblical stories and religious beliefs.

The shortening or combining of events and time intervals to create a more concentrated dramatic action.

The circumstances surrounding a speech or event, including who is present, what has happened and what the speaker wants.

A character whose contrasting qualities help reveal those of another character.

The purpose a character, action or prop serves in developing a play’s ideas and dramatic effects.

A contrast between what characters believe and what the reader knows. Readers remember Snowball’s bravery while the animals accept claims that he was a traitor.

A contrast between what a character believes and what readers understand, often making the character’s confidence seem mistaken.

An effect created when the audience knows something important that a character does not.

A situation in which the audience knows something important that a character does not.

A poem presented as the speech of a particular character, whose words reveal their personality and attitudes.

A change that turns a character's situation towards its opposite, such as Shylock's movement from demanding punishment to facing it.

Suspense or anxious anticipation created by conflict, uncertainty or an approaching revelation in a play.

Prayer that uses actions and movement alongside words to express religious meaning.

The way a fabric hangs and falls into folds.

Positioning and pinning fabric on a dress form to develop a garment’s three-dimensional shape and pattern.

The depth of a ship below the waterline. A shallow draught allows a ship to travel through relatively shallow water.

A chance-based method of choosing or deciding something. In Lantern Yard, the congregation believes that drawing lots will reveal God’s judgement.

A type of heavily armed battleship pioneered by HMS Dreadnought in 1906, combining powerful large-calibre guns with greater speed than older battleships.

In Freud’s theory, the process that disguises the hidden meaning of a dream through symbols, making its content less disturbing.

The removal of accumulated sediment or other material from a river bed, sometimes including bed and bank material to enlarge the channel.

Repeated practice of military movements, formations and weapons handling so that soldiers can act together on command.

The boring of holes into the ground or seabed to obtain resources such as oil and gas.

Repeated practice of set movements and procedures so that soldiers can perform them together reliably.

A watering system that supplies small amounts of water directly to the soil near plant roots, reducing losses compared with less targeted watering.