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GCSE English Literature · key term
Addressing someone absent, something non-human or an abstract idea as though it could hear and respond.
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Paper 1
Revise: Fate and free willThe apostrophe addresses the stars as opponents he can challenge. “Defy” sounds forceful, contrasting with his earlier request for guidance. Romeo now appears determined to take control by dying beside Juliet.
Paper 2
Direct address to an absent person, an abstract idea or something non-human as though it could hear and respond.
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In Stave Four, Death is addressed as though it were a powerful being that could build an altar and command terrors. This personification, and the apostrophe to Death, give the passage the force of a challenge rather than a detached description.
A direct address to someone absent or dead, or to an abstract idea, as though they could hear the speaker.
Directly addressing someone absent, something non-human or an abstract idea as though it could respond.
Directly addressing an absent person, an abstract idea or a non-human presence, as when the speaker addresses the storm.
A direct address to someone absent or to something non-human, as when a speaker talks to a stream.
Paper 2
Addressing someone or something absent, imagined or unable to answer as though it could hear the speaker.
Revise: You'reThe formal-sounding address “O” gives a small loaf an almost celebratory importance. This is apostrophe: the mother speaks to someone who cannot answer her.
A direct address to someone absent or to something non-human, as when the speaker addresses Harlem.
Addressing an absent person, an abstract idea or an object as though it could hear and respond.
Addressing an absent person, an abstract idea or a non-human thing as though it could hear and respond.
Component 1, Component 2
A direct address to someone absent or to something non-human, such as the stars.
Revise: Act 5Addressing the stars directly is apostrophe. The verb “defy” presents him as resisting the power he believes governs his life. The stars connect his reaction to the idea of the lovers’ fate announced at the beginning of the play.
A direct address to someone absent, dead or unable to reply, or to an abstract idea or object.
