Loading…
GCSE English Literature · key term
A statement that appears contradictory but can reveal a meaningful idea.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1, Paper 2
A statement that seems contradictory but can suggest a meaningful idea, such as the witches’ claim that fair is foul.
Revise: Act 1The claim that each is the other is a paradox, unsettling the distinction between good and evil. The chiasmus reverses the words — fair–foul, foul–fair — making their language enact the reversal of values.
A statement that seems contradictory but can reveal a meaningful idea.
Connect a method to its meaning: explain how a paradox, symbol or imperative develops Dickens’s presentation of the Ghost.
Connect methods to meaning. Explain how a paradox, repeated chant, aside or stage direction shapes the audience’s response.
Create a free account to keep every note you open and track your progress.
A statement that seems contradictory but can reveal a meaningful idea, such as the witches’ reversal of ‘fair’ and ‘foul’.
An apparently contradictory statement that can reveal a meaningful idea, such as the Friar's instruction to Hero to 'die to live'.
An apparently contradictory description or statement that can reveal a deeper meaning.
A statement that appears to contradict itself. The final Commandment uses a contradiction to disguise inequality as equality.
A statement that appears contradictory; Orwell’s final Commandment uses a contradiction to expose the destruction of equality.
An apparently contradictory statement that invites examination. The claim that some animals are ‘more equal’ exposes the destruction of equality beneath the appearance of preserving it.
A statement that appears contradictory. The final Commandment in Animal Farm uses a contradiction to expose the destruction of genuine equality.
An apparent contradiction that can express a meaningful insight, such as fearing a ‘huge nothing’.
An apparently contradictory statement that can reveal a deeper meaning.
A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals a meaningful truth.
Paper 1, Paper 2
A statement that appears contradictory but may express a meaningful idea.
Revise: Act 1The first line is a paradox: apparently opposite qualities become interchangeable. Its chiasmus reverses the words from fair–foul to foul–fair, creating a verbal pattern in which moral distinctions seem to collapse.
A statement that appears contradictory but can suggest a meaningful truth, such as the witches’ reversal of good and evil.
A statement that appears contradictory but can express a significant idea, such as the Witches’ reversal of fair and foul.
A statement that seems contradictory but can reveal a meaningful idea.
A statement that seems contradictory but may reveal a meaningful truth.
A seemingly contradictory statement that can reveal a meaningful truth.
Paper 1, Paper 2
A statement containing apparently contradictory ideas which together reveal a meaningful truth.
Revise: Key quotationsThe phrase “told and not told” captures the paradox of their education. They have received information without being enabled to understand its full significance. This is more subtle than saying that they know nothing.
An apparently contradictory statement. The final Commandment’s claim that some animals are ‘more equal’ exposes the contradiction between equality and privilege.
An apparently contradictory statement. In Animal Farm, the claim that some animals are 'MORE EQUAL' exposes the corruption of equality.
An apparently contradictory statement that can express a meaningful idea, such as a brief moment being described as eternal.
A statement that appears contradictory but expresses a meaningful idea.
A seeming contradiction that reveals a meaningful idea, such as loyalty to an imposed identity becoming disloyalty to oneself.
Component 1, Component 2
A statement that appears contradictory but can suggest a meaningful truth, such as the witches' reversal of fair and foul.
Revise: Act 1Together, the witches declare, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair:”. This is both a paradox, which unsettles clear distinctions between good and evil, and chiasmus: fair–foul becomes foul–fair. The reversal introduces a world where something attractive may conceal danger.
An apparently contradictory statement that invites a deeper interpretation.
A seemingly contradictory statement that can reveal a deeper meaning.
A statement that seems contradictory but can reveal a meaningful idea.
A statement that appears self-contradictory but expresses a meaningful idea, such as Desdemona’s recognition that her husband no longer behaves like the man she knows.
A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals a meaningful idea.
A statement that appears contradictory but can reveal a truth.
A statement that appears contradictory. In Animal Farm, the final Commandment uses a contradiction to expose the pigs’ dishonest claim to equality.
A statement or description that appears contradictory but can express a meaningful idea, such as a figure resembling both a child and an old man.
A statement or description that seems contradictory but can express a meaningful idea, such as a figure appearing both young and old.
A contradiction that can reveal a meaningful truth, such as being emotionally close while physically apart.
An apparently contradictory statement that can reveal a meaningful truth.
An apparently contradictory statement that can express a meaningful truth, such as being both apart and close.
An apparently contradictory idea that reveals a meaningful connection or truth.
A statement or expression that appears contradictory but can reveal a meaningful idea.
A statement that appears contradictory but invites a deeper interpretation, such as the witches’ claim that fair is foul.
An apparent contradiction that can reveal a deeper meaning.
An apparently contradictory statement that invites a deeper interpretation, such as the witches’ claim that fair is foul.
A statement that appears contradictory but can reveal a significant idea.
A statement that appears contradictory but can reveal a deeper truth or challenge an assumption.
An apparently contradictory expression that reveals a meaningful idea, such as the Friar’s instruction to Hero to ‘die to live’.
An apparently contradictory statement that can express a meaningful idea, such as the Friar's instruction to Hero to ‘die to live’.
An apparently contradictory statement that can reveal a meaningful truth.
A statement that appears to contradict itself but can reveal a more complicated truth.
A statement that initially seems contradictory but reveals a meaningful idea.
A seemingly contradictory statement that reveals a meaningful truth.
An apparently contradictory idea that reveals a truth, such as a loving bond also causing conflict.
A statement or image that seems contradictory but can reveal a meaningful truth.
A seemingly contradictory description or statement that can reveal a meaningful idea, such as the Ghost appearing both young and old.
A statement that appears contradictory but can express a meaningful truth, such as the narrator’s suggestion that another man’s insanity helped keep him sane.
