148 terms
AO2, All Papers: Assessment Objective 2 (AO2)
AO2requires detailed analysis of how writers use literary techniques and formal conventions to create meaning. This incl
Assessment Objectives
AO2, All Papers: Assessment Objective 2 (AO2)
This AO2 skill involves identifying metaphors and analyzing their function in creating meaning, examining how figurative
Assessment Objectives
AO2, All Papers: Assessment Objective 2 (AO2)
This AO2 skill involves examining how syntax—the arrangement of words and clauses—creates effects and meanings beyond th
Assessment Objectives
AO3, All Papers: Assessment Objective 3 (AO3)
AO3 assesses your knowledge of historical, social, cultural and literary contexts and your ability to explain how these
Assessment Objectives
AO3, All Papers: Assessment Objective 3 (AO3)
This AO3 skill involves examining texts' publication contexts and their various receptions, understanding how historical
Assessment Objectives
AO4, Paper 2, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 4 (AO4)
AO4 assesses your ability to identify and analyze connections between texts, exploring how they relate thematically, for
Assessment Objectives
AO4, Paper 2, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 4 (AO4)
This AO4 skill involves identifying shared themes across texts and analyzing how different works develop, interrogate, o
Assessment Objectives
AO4, Paper 2, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 4 (AO4)
This AO4 skill involves analyzing how different texts' formal choices (narrative perspective, poetic form, dramatic stru
Assessment Objectives
AO5, Paper 1, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 5 (AO5)
AO5 assesses your understanding that texts are open to multiple interpretations and your ability to engage with differen
Assessment Objectives
AO5, Paper 1, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 5 (AO5)
Feminist criticism analyzes literary texts through the lens of gender, examining how literature represents women, mascul
Assessment Objectives
AO5, Paper 1, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 5 (AO5)
Marxist criticism analyzes literary texts through the lens of class, economics, and ideology. It examines how texts repr
Assessment Objectives
AO5, Paper 1, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 5 (AO5)
Psychoanalytic criticism applies psychological theory—particularly Freudian concepts of the unconscious, repression, and
Assessment Objectives
AO5, Paper 1, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 5 (AO5)
Post-colonial criticism examines literary representations of colonialism and imperialism, analyzing how texts portray co
Assessment Objectives
AO5, Paper 1, Non-examination assessment: Assessment Objective 5 (AO5)
Eco-criticism analyzes literary representations of nature and the environment, examining how texts portray human-nature
Assessment Objectives
Assessment Objective 1 (AO1)
AO1 assesses your ability to construct personal interpretations of texts using subject terminology accurately. It emphas
Assessment Objectives
Assessment Objectives (AO1-AO5)
Assessment Objectives (AOs) define what students must demonstrate. AO1: personal and creative response with appropriate
Paper 3
Censorship and Publication Context
Censorship and publication restrictions profoundly affected what could be written and how texts circulated, shaping lite
Assessment Objectives
Character Analysis
Character analysis involves detailed examination of a character's personality, motivations, choices, relationships, and
Paper 1
Collective Trauma and Literary Representation
Literature addressing collective trauma examines how historical events (slavery, genocide, colonialism) are represented
Paper 2
Comparative Essay Technique
Comparative essay technique involves weaving two texts together throughout an essay, moving between them frequently to e
Paper 3
New Historicism
New Historicism is a critical methodology that reads texts in close relation to their historical moments, examining how
Paper 1
Non-Examination Assessment
Non-examination assessment is coursework submitted at the end of the course, contributing 20% of the total qualification
Paper 3
Paper 1, Drama; Paper 2, Prose; Paper 3, Poetry: Allusion
Allusion is an indirect reference that assumes reader knowledge of the alluded-to text or concept. It enriches meaning b
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama; Paper 2, Prose; Paper 3, Poetry: Allusion
Intertextuality describes how texts reference and engage with other texts, creating meaning through these relationships
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama; Paper 2, Prose: Denouement
The denouement is the final section of a narrative where complications are resolved and the action winds down following
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama; Paper 2, Prose: Denouement
Rising action is the portion of a narrative where complications develop and tension increases toward the climax. Conflic
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Tragedy is a dramatic form that depicts the fall of a significant character, traditionally of high social status. Classi
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Comedy is a dramatic form that uses humor, wit, and satirical observation to expose human weakness and social convention
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Tragicomedy combines tragic and comic modes, presenting serious conflicts and the possibility of catastrophe alongside h
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience possesses knowledge that characters lack, allowing viewers to perceive meaning i
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Catharsis, from Greek meaning 'purification' or 'cleansing', describes the emotional effect of tragic drama. According t
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Hamartia, from Greek meaning 'missing the mark', is a fundamental error, flaw, or misjudgment inherent in the tragic pro
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Hubris describes overbearing pride or arrogance, particularly the excessive self-confidence that causes a character to d
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
A soliloquy is an extended speech by a character alone on stage or apparently alone, in which they express thoughts, pla
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
A monologue is an extended speech by one character to other characters present on stage. Unlike a soliloquy, a monologue
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Dialogue is the primary mode of dramatic communication, consisting of exchanges between characters. Through dialogue, pl
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
An aside is a short speech, phrase, or even a single line delivered by a character to the audience or to another charact
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Stage directions are textual instructions that guide actors and directors in bringing the dramatic action to life. They
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Anagnorisis, from Greek meaning 'recognition' or 'discovery', is a critical moment in tragedy when the protagonist sudde
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Peripeteia (also spelled peripety) refers to an abrupt reversal in the situation of a character, typically from a positi
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
The chorus is a collective character or group that typically stands apart from the main action, offering commentary, con
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
The three unities are formal constraints derived from classical dramatic theory, particularly Greek drama, emphasizing s
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Jacobean drama refers to plays composed during James I's reign, following the Elizabethan period. These plays typically
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Restoration drama (1660-1700) is characterized by comedies of manners featuring witty dialogue, sexual intrigue, and soc
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Five-act structure is a traditional framework for dramatic organization, with each act serving distinct functions in plo
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Exposition is the opening portion of a drama that introduces characters, setting, situation, and the central conflict th
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience possesses knowledge unavailable to characters, creating discrepancy between char
Paper 1
Paper 1, Drama: Tragedy
Restoration comedy of manners is a sophisticated dramatic form examining social behavior through wit and sexual satire,
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, AO3: Social Context
Social context encompasses the social structures, hierarchies, values, and norms of a text's historical period. Understa
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, AO3: Social Context
Historical context refers to the significant events and historical periods that shaped a text's creation and setting. Un
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, AO3: Social Context
Cultural context encompasses the artistic movements, intellectual currents, literary traditions, and broader cultural va
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, AO3: Social Context
Literary context refers to the body of existing literature, literary traditions, and conventions that shape how a text i
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3: Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term referring to one thing is applied to another, suggesting an implicit comp
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3: Metaphor
Imagery is language that appeals to the senses—sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell—creating vivid sensory impressions
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3: Metaphor
Symbolism is the use of objects, characters, actions, or settings to represent abstract ideas, qualities, or concepts. S
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3: Metaphor
Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in words that appear close together in a text. It cre
Paper 1
Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3: Metaphor
Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound in words that appear close together in a text. Like alliteration, as
Paper 1
Paper 2, Prose and Paper 1, Drama: Gothic Genre
Gothic literature is characterized by elements of horror, mystery, and the supernatural, typically set in dark, decaying
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose and Paper 1, Drama: Gothic Genre
Pastoral literature presents an idealized vision of rural life and nature, typically contrasting this idyllic world with
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose; Paper 3, Poetry: Augustan Literature
Augustan literature refers to works from the late 17th and early 18th centuries emphasizing classical models, wit, and r
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose; Paper 3, Poetry: Augustan Literature
Georgian literature spans the reigns of the Georges and encompasses the transition from Augustan neoclassicism to Romant
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Narrative perspective refers to the narrator's position, relationship to the story, and access to information. The three
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Free indirect discourse (sometimes called free indirect style) presents a character's thoughts or speech within the narr
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Stream of consciousness is a modernist narrative technique that attempts to portray the actual mental processes of a cha
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Dystopian fiction presents an imaginary future or alternative society characterized by oppression, totalitarianism, envi
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
The picaresque is a narrative genre originating in Spanish literature, featuring a picaro—a clever rogue of low social s
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
The Bildungsroman (German: 'novel of formation') is a narrative genre that traces the protagonist's intellectual, moral,
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
An epistolary novel is constructed from written documents—primarily letters—that reveal plot, character, and theme throu
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
An omniscient narrator possesses unlimited knowledge of the narrative world and can reveal characters' internal thoughts
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
An unreliable narrator is one whose version of events cannot be trusted as fully accurate due to psychological instabili
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
A frame narrative embeds one story within another, creating layers of narration. The outer frame provides perspective, a
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Gothic conventions are repeated devices and situations in Gothic fiction, creating atmosphere of fear, mystery, and psyc
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
A bildungsroman is a novel centered on the protagonist's development from youth to maturity, emphasizing psychological o
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Postmodern narrative techniques destabilize conventional storytelling, foregrounding the constructedness of narrative an
Paper 2
Paper 2, Prose: Narrative Perspective
Diaspora literature explores experiences of displacement, exile, migration, and cultural hybridity, examining how commun
Paper 2
Paper 3, Coursework, Assignment Writing: Citation and Bibliography
Citation involves crediting sources within essays using footnotes, in-text citations, or endnotes. Bibliography lists al
Paper 3
Paper 3, Coursework, Assignment Writing: Citation and Bibliography
Editing involves revising content for clarity, logic, and effectiveness. Proofreading involves careful checking for spel
Paper 3
Paper 3, Coursework, Non-Exam Assessment: Independent Critical Study
Independent critical study involves students directing their own literary investigation: selecting texts, formulating re
Paper 3
Paper 3, Coursework, Non-Exam Assessment: Independent Critical Study
Coursework is assessed using specified criteria that value informed personal response, analytical skills, understanding
Paper 3
Paper 3, Figurative Language: Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things using the words 'like', 'as',
Paper 3
Paper 3, Figurative Language: Simile
Personification is a figure of speech in which non-human things (objects, animals, natural phenomena, abstract concepts)
Paper 3
Paper 3, Figurative Language: Simile
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole (or vice versa). For example, 'hands'
Paper 3
Paper 3, Figurative Language: Simile
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated wi
Paper 3
Paper 3, Figurative Language: Simile
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory or antithetical words, phrases, or ideas in unexpected pro
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
A sonnet is a highly structured poetic form consisting of 14 lines, typically written in iambic pentameter, with a stric
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
A ballad is a narrative poetic form, traditionally of folk origin, characterized by regular meter and rhyme, often featu
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
An elegy is a lyric poem, often of considerable length, that mourns an individual loss (typically a death) or reflects o
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
An ode is a lyric poem of praise, traditionally formal and elevated in tone, often addressing a specific subject (a pers
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
A dramatic monologue is a narrative poetic form in which a single speaker addresses one or more silent listeners in a sp
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
Free verse is a modern poetic form that abandons traditional constraints of metre, rhyme, and regular stanza form. It re
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
A villanelle is a fixed poetic form consisting of 19 lines arranged in five tercets (three-line stanzas) and one final q
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetic Forms: Sonnet
Formal verse (or fixed forms) is poetry that adheres to specific rules governing metre, rhyme scheme, stanza structure,
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Context: Biographical Context
Biographical context includes relevant details about a poet's life—where they lived, what experiences they had, major ev
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Context: Biographical Context
Historical and cultural context encompasses the historical period when a poem was written, major events and movements of
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Movements: Romantic Poetry
Romantic poetry emerged in late 18th-century Europe as a reaction against Enlightenment rationalism, emphasizing emotion
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Movements: Romantic Poetry
Victorian poetry spans the 62-year reign of Queen Victoria, encompassing diverse voices and approaches unified by formal
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Movements: Romantic Poetry
Modernist poetry (roughly 1890-1945) broke decisively with 19th-century conventions, embracing fragmentation, imagism, f
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Movements: Romantic Poetry
Post-modern poetry (roughly 1945-1990s) extends and ironizes modernist techniques, emphasizing linguistic playfulness, t
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry Movements: Romantic Poetry
Contemporary poetry encompasses diverse late 20th and 21st-century movements and voices, including Language poetry's foc
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a metrical pattern consisting of five iambic feet (each foot being an unstressed syllable followed
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar sounds at the ends of words. Rhyme scheme refers to the pattern of rhymi
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Enjambment is a poetic technique in which a grammatical phrase, clause, or sentence continues beyond the end of a line i
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Metre is the regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse, typically measured in units called feet.
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Rhythm in poetry is the auditory effect created by the arrangement of syllables, stresses, pauses, and line breaks. It e
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Rhyme scheme is a systematic notation of end rhymes in poetry, where each new rhyme sound receives a new letter. It prov
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
A caesura is an intentional pause or break within a line, created by punctuation (comma, period, dash), syntax, or a nat
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
A volta is a marked turning point in a poem where the poet shifts perspective, introduces a contradiction, or changes em
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Stanza form refers to the number and arrangement of lines in grouped units within a poem. Common forms include couplets
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Literary techniques and devices are the methods and strategies poets use to shape language and create effects. They incl
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
An image is a concrete word picture created through sensory language. Imagery refers to the collection of images in a te
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
A symbol is an object, image, or action that represents something beyond itself, typically an abstract concept, emotion,
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Tone is the poet's or speaker's attitude toward their subject, expressed through language choices, diction, syntax, and
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Narrative poetry tells a story—it has characters, events, plot, and often temporal development. Narrative poems might be
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Lyric poetry emphasizes personal emotion, subjective experience, and meditation rather than narrative events. Lyric poem
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
The heroic couplet is a pair of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter, highly favored in 17th and 18th-century poetry for it
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Metaphysical poetry uses elaborate figurative language and intellectual argument to explore love, religion, and philosop
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
An extended metaphor (or conceit) pursues a single comparison throughout a poem or section, developing all its implicati
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Narrative unreliability in poetry occurs when the speaker's perspective distorts truth through emotion, bias, or limited
Paper 3
Paper 3, Poetry: Iambic Pentameter
Satirical poetry uses wit, irony, and exaggeration to ridicule folly or vice, combining entertainment with social critic
Paper 3
Paper 3, Section A: Post-2000 Poetry
Post-2000 poetry refers to modern verse composed from 2000 onwards, representing contemporary literary voices and concer
Paper 3
Paper 3, Section A: Post-2000 Poetry
Unseen poetry comparison is an assessment task requiring students to engage with an unfamiliar modern poem and establish
Paper 3
Paper 3, Section A: Post-2000 Poetry
Named poet study involves sustained engagement with one contemporary poet's body of work, enabling students to develop d
Paper 3
Paper 3, Section A: Post-2000 Poetry
Unseen poetry analysis is the ability to engage meaningfully with a previously unknown poem, reading carefully to identi
Paper 3
Paper 3, Section B: Specified Poetry Text
The specified poetry text is a complete collection or selection of poems chosen by the exam board for intensive study. S
Paper 3
Paper 3, Section B: Specified Poetry Text
The poetry comparative essay is a timed examination task requiring integrated analysis of two poems from the specified t
Paper 3
Paper 3, Sound Devices: Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds within or at the ends of words in close proximity, with different vowel
Paper 3
Paper 3, Sound Devices: Consonance
Sibilance is the prominent repetition of 's' and 'z' sounds (and sometimes 'x' and 'sh' sounds), creating a characterist
Paper 3
Paper 3, Sound Devices: Consonance
Onomatopoeia is the use of words that phonetically imitate the sounds they denote. Examples include 'buzz', 'hiss', 'spl
Paper 3
Paper 3, Textual Analysis: Textual Analysis: Structure
Structural analysis of poetry examines how texts are organized at large scale: overall form (sonnet, free verse, etc.),
Paper 3
Paper 3, Textual Analysis: Textual Analysis: Structure
Analysis of form and content investigates the relationship between a poem's technical features (form, metre, rhyme, stru
Paper 3
Paper 3, Textual Analysis: Textual Analysis: Structure
Word-level analysis examines particular vocabulary choices, considering denotation (literal definition), connotation (em
Paper 3
Paper 3, Textual Analysis: Textual Analysis: Structure
Sentence-level analysis examines syntax (the arrangement of words and grammatical structures), considering how sentences
Paper 3
Paper 3, Textual Analysis: Textual Analysis: Structure
Whole-text analysis considers how language patterns develop across an entire poem—including repetition, progression, var
Paper 3
Paper 3, Textual Analysis: Textual Analysis: Structure
Close reading is the fundamental skill of carefully reading texts to notice specific details—word choices, imagery, synt
Paper 3
Patronage and Literary Production
Patronage systems, where writers depended on support from wealthy or powerful patrons, fundamentally shaped literary pro
Assessment Objectives
Poetic Voice and Style
A poet's voice and style encompasses their distinctive use of language, recurring structural choices, characteristic ton
Paper 3
Postcolonial Criticism
Postcolonial criticism examines how texts represent colonization, colonized peoples, and the legacies of empire, often r
Paper 1
Psychoanalytic Criticism (Advanced)
Psychoanalytic criticism applies Freudian and post-Freudian theory to analyze characters' unconscious motivations and th
Paper 1
Reader-Response Criticism
Reader-response criticism shifts critical focus from the text itself to the reading process and the reader's constructio
Paper 2
Research and Study Skills
Research and study skills include locating relevant texts and critical sources, evaluating source quality and reliabilit
Paper 3