English Literature key terms

Language spoken to a particular person, often using “you” or naming them.

The ability to distinguish accurately between appearances and reality, or between good and poor judgement.

Care in handling sensitive information and avoiding unnecessary disclosure.

A question asking students to develop an argument about a text, using evidence from different moments rather than beginning with a printed extract.

The public shame caused by behaviour judged to violate accepted social or moral standards.

Clothing, behaviour or a changed identity used to prevent others from recognising someone.

The disappointment that follows discovering that a person, belief or promised future is not what it seemed.

A feeling of being disconnected from a place, community or cultural identity.

Being forced to leave a home or place of settlement, often because of war or persecution.

The loss of land, property or control over a place to another person or group.

Opposition to a decision or to the person exercising authority.

A Protestant Christian who worships outside the established Church of England.

The belief that a monarch's authority comes from God.

The belief that a monarch's authority comes from God, making rebellion against the monarch an offence against divine authority.

A festival of lights celebrated by several religious communities. The Kumars’ celebration includes welcoming Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess associated with prosperity.

Genetic material that can be used in forensic investigation to link a person to biological traces. In DNA, genuine traces are planted to create a false account of events.

A set of beliefs taught as authoritative by a religious group.

A factual-seeming style that uses precise details, reports and records to present events as though they could be documented.

Threatening, controlling, degrading or violent behaviour within an intimate or family relationship.

The expectation that women's proper place is in the home, caring for a household and family rather than participating fully in public life.

The nineteenth-century expectation that women should centre their lives on the home and family rather than public activity or professional ambition.

Abusive behaviour within a family or intimate relationship, including physical violence, threats and controlling behaviour.

Power or rule over others.

A person who provides an organ for someone else. In Never Let Me Go, clones undergo repeated donations within a system that eventually kills them.

A double or counterpart of a person, often used in Gothic fiction to expose a hidden or threatening aspect of identity.

A character who mirrors aspects of another character, sometimes revealing a darker version of their desires or behaviour.

A word or expression with two meanings, often one innocent and one sexual.