Subject terminology

You are awarded marks explicitly for subject terminology use in both Language and Literature. Remember that English subject terminology can be applied to either Language or Literature and any text you are asked to comment on, should it be appropriate.

There are lots of terms on this list! Many of you will be already familiar with several of these terms from class. I have highlighted the essential terms in green for Grade 5.

For Grade 8 or 9 you should be comfortable with the full range of terms on this list, in order to apply these in a "judicious" way in the exam, depending on the passage or text you have been given to analyse.

Do remember to make sure you don't just "feature spot" but that you analyse what effects these terms / devices have on the reader or how they help to put forward a key message.

Key terminology:

Adjective - a describing word; which adds description to a noun.

Adverb - a word that adds extra information to a verb: "the dog ran quickly" "he smiled slowly".

Audience - the reader or spectator of a text / play.

Alliteration - the repeated starting sounds of words.

Ambiguity - something with unclear meaning which can be interpreted in different ways. There is ambiguity in

Ambivalence - the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

Antagonist - the person who causes conflict in a story.

Anaphora. The repeated starting words of a sentence for effect: "The reason why we should act now is that it is important. The reason why we should do this now is because it is immoral."

Antithesis - a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else. Lady Macbeth could be described as being the antithesis of Macbeth at the start of the play; he clearly has a moral conscience yet she comes across as cruel, heartless and unsympathetic.

Attitudes - the attitudes expressed by a writer on a specific subject.

Backstory. Information given to us about a characters background or history in narrative to add greater complexity to our understanding of them.

Binary opposites - two opposing ideas. For example, dark and light. Good and evil.

Blank verse. Used in Shakespeare: this simply refers to unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Cacophony: a harsh discordant mixture of sounds. Cacophony is used in the opening few lines of Porphyria's lover in the words "vex" "tore" "tops" "spite" "awake". The cacophonous language creates a harsh, unpleasant and aggressive mood which reflects the internal state of Porphyria's lover's mind. Another example of cacophany can be seen below:

My stick fingers click with a snicker

And, chuckling, they knuckle the keys;

Light-footed, my steel feelers flicker

And pluck from these keys melodies. —

“Player Piano,” John Updike

Caesura. A break in a line of poetry, caused by punctuation. This can create a dramatic pause or a moment of reflection in the reader, or it can be used to create other effects. Be careful not to apply this term to other types of writing, such as fiction writing. In fiction writing, you would simply refer to it as a full stop.

Cliche - a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

Complex sentence

Compound sentence

Catharsis - a purging of negative emotions by the end of a tragedy.

Colloquial language - informal, causal or slang uses of language.

Conjunction - words such as "and" "but" "so" that are used to link together two independent clauses.

Connotation - associations that we have with words which are not part of its direct or literal meanings.

Context - reference to the historical time period in which a text is set, which reveals to us important ideas about society, politics, religion, relationships, gender or status / hierarchy at the time it has been written.

Contrast - ideas which are different to each other.

Declarative sentence - a sentence which conveys information, think of it as declaring a fact.

Definite article - the word "the"

Denotation - the literal meaning of a word. For example: "home" means "the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household" This would be its denoted meaning. The connoted meaning would be: warmth, stability, happiness.

Dialogue - direct speech between two or more characters. Dialogue will use speech marks. If you use dialogue in your writing, make sure to write on a new line for different speakers. Dialogue contrasts with monologue - which means that one person speaks to themselves on stage.

Direct address (see also second person pronoun) - this is when a writer speaks directly to the audience, using the second person pronoun "you" or the collective pronouns "we" or "us": "let us go then you and I"

Dissonance - lack of harmony or agreement in ideas / language. Cognitive dissonance: the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time; performs an action that is contradictory to their beliefs, ideas, or values.

Dramatic irony - when the audience know more than one or more characters on stage.

Personification: giving human qualities or attributes to something that is non-human or to an abstract idea.

Echoes in ideas - ideas / language which echoes other parts of the text.

Ellipsis - dot dot dot... (punctuation marks) This is used as a technique to build up tension and suspense in writing.

Empathy - when the audience understand and share the feelings of a character.

Emotive language - words that appeal to the emotions; this can be used in persuasion.

End stopped line: a poetic technique by which a line ends with a full stop.

Enjambment: A line of poetry that runs on from one line to the next, without a full stop.

Euphemism - saying something in a roundabout, less direct way in order to soften its meaning.

Euphony / Euphoric sounds: A series of musically pleasant sounds, conveying a sense of harmony and beauty to the language. Example: Than Oars divide the Ocean, Too silver for a seam— Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon Leap, plashless as they swim.

Eye rhyme (sight rhyme) - words which appear to rhyme when you look at them, but which in reality do not rhyme when they are spoken aloud. Examples; food – flood, laughter – slaughter, though – tough.

Exclamative sentence: These are used to express strong feelings, strong emphasis or emotion.

Extended metaphor: when an author exploits a single metaphor or analogy at length through multiple linked vehicles, tenors, and grounds throughout a poem or story.

Flash back / flash forward: when a story jumps from its chronological sequence to offer additional information on a character or event.

Focal point - what the narrative focus rests on.

Foreshadowing ; introducing subtle hints and clues as to what may happen later on.

Homophone - words which sound the same but have different meanings: "hair" "hare" "bear" and "bare"

Hyperbole - deliberate exaggeration for effect.

Juxtaposition - contrasts in ideas.

Iambic pentameter - line of 10 syllables following a stress-unstress pattern. In Shakespeare, he will usually reserve iambic pentameter for his characters of high standing who are deemed to have noble qualities. Macbeth at the start of the play speaks in this verse. However, this gradually changes as the play progresses when he becomes more and more corrupt.

Inclusive language - language which seeks to make the audience feel included. Words such as "we" "us" and "our" help to create this effect.

In media res - a story which starts mid-action.

Imagery - The use of vivid language to generate ideas and/or evoke mental images in the reader's mind.

Implied reader - a piece of writing which is directed towards an invisible reader / audience.

Imperative - a sentence which is an instruction or command, which will usually start with a verb: "Go outside", or "Stop now".

Indefinite article - the word "a".

Interjection - an expression of shock or surprise: "oh!" "Ah!" etc.

Interrogative sentence: a question. Think of the word interrogation.

Irony - the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

First person narration: this can apply to any text, including poetry. A first person narration is a story or situation told using the first person pronoun "I". This device can offer first hand information and tends to offer more subjectivity to the narration, including personal thoughts and feelings.

Lyric poem. Personal or subjective viewpoint offered, usually containing feelings.

Metaphor: A comparison between two ideas without using "like" or "as".

Modal Verb: expresses degrees of possibility: must, should, can, may, might etc. Can be used as a technique in persuasion.

Monosyllabic words - words with one syllable. Convey a childish or immature quality.

Monologue (opposite of dialogue): stage device in which a character speaks alone on stage to an audience. As a device it allows them to reveal their innermost private thoughts and feelings.

Moral - a warning or lesson that is conveyed to an audience in a text.

Motif - a symbol which is repeated throughout various parts of a narrative, with meaning that might change as the narrative progresses.

Mouthpiece of an author - this is when the author uses a character in their work to voice their own thoughts and ideas. Consider Walton's character in Frankenstein as being Shelley's mouth-piece: especially in the concluding pages when he expresses condemnation of the characters.

Noun - an object or thing.

Omniscient narrator: a device used in novels. The omniscient narrator is a third person narrative perspective, whereby the story is narrated by an invisible narrator who remains outside of the story, and is free to move about the story at will. They can also narrate a person's thoughts. The reader will tend to get an objective viewpoint from this narrative device.

Onomatopoeia - words that sound like the noise they resemble boom, buzz, crackle, gurgle, hiss, pop, sizzle, snap, swoosh, whir, zip.

Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear; fair is foul; bitter sweet.

Pathetic fallacy : The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attributing of human emotion and conduct to all aspects within nature.

Pathos : is an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response.

Polysyllabic words - words with multiple syllables.

Pronoun - stands in place of a noun. For example: "she" instead of Joanna or "I" instead of my name.

Protagonist: the leading character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel.

Prototype : a character that serves as a typical example of a class; model; exemplar. Think of Mrs. Johnstone's character in Blood Brothers who serves to represent lower working class women.

Pun : play on words.

Rhetorical questions - a question which does not need to be answered.

Repetition - The re-use of words and phrases for an effect

Rhyme: This is the one device most commonly associated with poetry by the general public. Words that have different beginning sounds but whose endings sound alike, including the final vowel sound and everything following it, are said to rhyme. Example: time, slime, mime

Rhyming couplet - two lines in poetry, side by side which rhyme. The witches in Macbeth speak in rhyming couplets.

Rhythm

Romantic fiction / Romanticism

Run-on line: see enjambment.

Sibilance - repeated "s" sounds - this device can have different effects depending on the context in which it has been used. It can create a hushed mood and tone; it can create the sense of secrecy, or it can create a hissing, spiteful tone.

Simple sentence - a sentence with one item of information, which can stand alone as an independent clause.

Semantic field - words which are linked by meaning. Think of words linked to imprisonment: "chains" "cell" "bars".

Setting - where the story or narration takes place, which can add to our understanding of characters or themes.

Simile - a comparison to something else using the words like or as.

Soliloquy - a character speaking alone to an audience on stage.

Sonnet. a fourteen line poem in iambic pentameter with a prescribed rhyme scheme; its subject was traditionally love.

Superlative: a word to emphasise extremes - 'worst', 'best'.

Stanza - collection / group of lines in a poem.

Stage directions

Subjective viewpoint. First person viewpoint, which contains personal feelings / viewpoints. Contrasts with an objective viewpoint, which is more distant and detached.

Symbolism - an item or object may have more meaning than it literally suggests, representing different ideas.

Sympathy: We are forced to feel sorry for a character even though we may not have directly gone through the same experiences. Think of the young woman in the poem "The Farmer's Bride".

Themes - ideas that a text examines.

Tense - present, past, future.

Tricolon / Triples / Rule of three

The Sublime: of very great excellence or beauty; elevate to a high degree of moral or spiritual purity or excellence.

Unreliable narrator: a story relayed through a character using the first person voice. It is difficult to know how accurate their version of events are.

Verb - doing word.

Volta - turning point in a sonnet.