Semantic field
A cluster of related words, images, and concepts that appear throughout a text, creating patterns of meaning that reinforce themes. Semantic fields operate across multiple textual moments to create cumulative effect.
Real World
In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', words like 'blood', 'daggers', 'wounds', and 'slaughter' form a semantic field of violence that accumulates meaning across the whole play, reinforcing the theme of corruption through ambition.
Exam Focus
Track a semantic field across multiple quotations to demonstrate how meaning builds cumulatively — single-quotation analysis misses this AO2 reward.
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