Semantic field

A group of words connected by meaning, such as words associated with darkness.

A group of words linked by meaning, such as the cold-weather vocabulary used to describe Scrooge.

A semantic field of coldness turns his inner character into something almost physically visible: the narrator describes how his coldness “froze”, “nipped” and “shrivelled” his features. He even “iced his office”. This connects moral coldness to the actual discomfort of Bob Cratchit, whose tiny fire Scrooge refuses to replenish.

A group of words connected by meaning, such as the language of damage and disease in “Blasts”, “blights” and “plagues”.

A group of words connected by meaning, such as the military terms ‘salvo’ and ‘bombarded’.

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

A group of words connected by meaning, such as the climbing vocabulary “traverse”, “altitude” and “summit”.

A group of words connected by meaning, such as the conflict-related words “confrontation”, “Fought” and “struggle”.

Clarke develops a semantic field of conflict through “Fought” in line 9 and “struggle” in line 15. These words turn the difficulty of childbirth into an image of two lives trying to become distinct. The mother says they “both” fought over the rope, making separation a shared struggle rather than blaming the child alone.

A group of words connected by meaning, such as the sewing vocabulary in 'Poppies'.

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

In the final stanza, ‘burnt’, ‘scalded’ and ‘blazing’ form a semantic field of heat and destruction. The ‘blazing well’ in line 20 is an oil well. ‘Scalded’ makes the ocean sound like an injured body, while ‘the sun put out’ in line 19 intensifies the earlier image of a veiled sun.

Definition

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

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Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

OCR GCSE English Literature · J352