English Literature key terms

The repetition of ‘s’ or similar hissing sounds in nearby words.

A comparison using “like” or “as” to connect two things.

A situation in which the outcome contradicts what someone intended or expected.

A false spoken accusation that damages someone's reputation.

Humour created through exaggerated physical action, such as comic beatings, falls or chases.

Untidy or careless in personal appearance or habits; the word Miss Scatcherd uses to condemn Helen Burns.

A short, memorable phrase used to promote an idea or cause, such as the animals’ repeated statement about four legs and two legs.

Treating people as inferior because of their social position, or valuing people chiefly for their wealth and status.

The desire to gain greater social standing, wealth or respectability.

A system of social groupings shaped by factors such as family background, occupation, education, wealth and inherited status.

The application of ideas about biological competition and selection to human society, often used to justify domination or the exclusion of people labelled weak.

A ranking of people according to status, wealth or power.

A political outlook favouring greater equality and collective provision rather than allowing private profit to determine people’s welfare.

Movement from one social class or position to another.

The arrangements, rules and shared habits through which a society maintains stability and organises relationships between people.

A person’s position within a social hierarchy, influenced in Austen’s world by family background, titles, landownership and occupation.

A responsibility to consider other people’s welfare and act to help them, rather than treating their suffering as someone else’s problem.

A person’s position in society, shaped by factors such as birth, title, wealth, occupation and reputation.

Language associated with a particular social group.

Support for other people, especially through sharing responsibility for their struggle or cause.

A speech in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud while alone on stage, giving the audience access to intentions hidden from other characters.

Being alone, which may be chosen and temporarily comforting rather than painful.

A fourteen-line poem, usually with a patterned rhyme scheme and often concerned with love.

A person believed to be able to predict future events.

An inner spiritual or moral self. In Never Let Me Go, debate about whether clones have souls concerns whether society recognises their full humanity.

An essay that uses a printed extract together with knowledge of the whole studied text to answer one question.

Supreme authority to rule a state or community.