GCSE English Glossary of literary terms

GCSE English Glossary of literary terms

1. Alliteration

   • The repetiton of the same consonant sound, especially at the beginning of words

2. Allusion

   • A reference to another event,person place of work of literature

3. Ambiguity

   • Use of language where the meaning is unclear or has two or more possible meaning or interpretations. it could be created by a weakness in the writers expression, but it is more likely it is a deliberate device used by the writer to create layers of meaning

4. Anthropomorphism

   • The endowment of human charateristics to something that is not human

5. Assonance

   • The repetiton of similar vowel sounds

6. Atmosphere

   • The prevailing mood created by a piece of writing

7. Colloquial

   • Ordinary, everyday speech and language

8. Connotation

   • An implication or association attched to a word or phrase. it is suggested of felt rather than being explicit

9. Diction

   • The choice of words a writer uses. Another word for "vocabulary"

10. Empathy

    • A feeling on the part of the reader of sharing the particular experience being described by the character of writer

11. Enjambement

    • A verse line that flows on into the next line without a pause

12. End stopping

    • A Verse line with a pause of stop at the end of it.

13. Figurative Language

    • Language that is symbolic or metaphorical and not meant to be taken lierally

14. Genre

    • A particular type of writing- e.g.,prose, potery,drama

15. Imagery

    • The use of words to create a picture or "image" in the mind of the reader, images can relate to any of the senses, not just sight.

16. Internal rhyme

    • Rhyming words within a line rather than at the end of lines

17. Irony

    • At its simplest level, it means saying one thing while meaning another. It occurs where a word of phrase has one surface meaning but another contradoctory, possibly opposite meaning is implied. orony is often confused with sarcasm. Sarcasm is spoken, relying on the tone of voice and is much more blunt than irony.

18. Metaphor

    • A comparisonof one thing to another to make the description more vivid. The metaphor actually states that one thing os another.

19. Metre

    • The regular use of unstrssed and stresses syllables in poetry

20. Narrative

    • A piece of writing that tells a story

21. Onomatopoeia

    • The use of words whose sounds copies the thing or process they describe

22. Pathos

    • The effect in literature which makes the reader feel sadness or pity

23. Personification

    • The attribution of human feelings, emotions or sensations to an inanimate object. Personification is a type of metaphor where human qualities are given to thing or abstract ideas

24. plot

    • The sequence of events in a poem,play,novel, or short story that makes up the main storyline

25. Point of view

    • A story can be told by one of the characters of from another point of view. The point of view can be changed from one part of the story to another when events are viewed through the minds of two or more characters

26. Protagonist

    • The maon character of speaker in a poem, monologue, play or story

27. Pun

    • A play on words that have similar sounds but quite differenet meanings

28. Ryhme

    • Corresponding sounds in words, usally at the end of each line, but not always

29. Rhythm

    • The 'movement' of the poem as created though the mter and the way that the language is stressed within the poem

30. Satire

    • The highlighting or exposing of the human failing of foolishness though ridiculing them. Satire can range from being gentle and light to extremely biting and bitter in tone.

31. Simile

    • The comparison of one thing to another in order to make the description more vivid

32. Sonnet

    • A fourteen-line poem, usually with 10 syllables in each line. There are several ways in which the lines can be organised, but they often consist of an octave and a sestet

33. Stanza

    • The blocks of lines into which a poem is divided. [sometimes these are, less precisely, referred to as verses, which can lead to confusion as poetry is sometimes called 'verse'

34. Structure

    • The way a poem or play or other piece of writing has been put together

35. Style

    • The individual way in which the writer has used language to express his or hers ideas

36. Symbol

    • Like the use of images, symbols present thing which represent something else. In very simple terms, a red rose can be used to symbolise love; distant thunder can symbolise approaching trouble. Sybols can be very subtle and multi-layered in the siginficance.

37. Syntax

    • The way in which sentences are structured. Sentences can be structured in different ways o achieve different affects

38. Theme

    • The central idea or ideas thta a writer explores though a text