GCSE-readyLiterary terms for AO2: the words examiners want
The specification asks you to use relevant subject terminology: literary terms such as metaphor, irony, persona, synecdoche and pathetic fallacy. Precise terms show the examiner you understand how a writer works, but a term only counts when you explain its effect.
Language terms
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Metaphor | Saying something is something else | "Juliet is the sun" |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to non-human things | a saw that 'snarled' |
| Synecdoche | A part stands for the whole | 'all hands on deck' (hands = sailors) |
| Pathetic fallacy | Weather or setting reflecting feeling | "a dreary night of November" (Frankenstein) |
| Irony | A gap between what is said or expected and what is meant or happens | the opening of Pride and Prejudice |
| Symbol | An object standing for an idea | the green light, the scarlet letter, Miss Havisham's stopped clocks |
Voice and drama terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Persona | A voice or character a poet adopts, different from the poet (as in a dramatic monologue) |
| Dramatic irony | The audience knows something a character does not |
| Soliloquy | A character alone on stage speaks their thoughts |
| Aside | A brief remark to the audience that other characters do not hear |
| Foreshadowing | Hints of what will happen later |
| Motif | A repeated image or idea, such as blood in Macbeth |
| Hamartia | A tragic hero's fatal flaw, such as Macbeth's ambition |
Form and structure terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| First-person retrospective narrator | An older narrator looking back (Pip, Jane Eyre) |
| Omniscient narrator | An all-knowing third-person narrator (Silas Marner) |
| Frame narrative | A story told within another story (Frankenstein) |
| Epistolary | Told through letters or documents |
| Bildungsroman | A novel of growing up |
| Allegory | A story with a second, symbolic meaning (Animal Farm, A Christmas Carol) |
| Cyclical structure | Ending where it began |
Rewrite this weak comment to make it precise: 'The writer uses a technique to show the weather is bad because Victor is doing something bad.'
- Name the term: pathetic fallacy.
- Quote: 'a dreary night of November'.
- Explain the effect: the bleak weather reflects the dark, unnatural act.
Answer: Shelley uses pathetic fallacy: 'a dreary night of November' mirrors the dark, unnatural act of creation and warns the reader that it will bring misery.
Know and use terms precisely: metaphor, personification, synecdoche, pathetic fallacy, irony, symbol, persona, dramatic irony, soliloquy, aside, foreshadowing, motif, hamartia, narrator types, frame narrative, epistolary, Bildungsroman, allegory, cyclical structure. Always explain the effect.
- Metaphor
- A comparison that says one thing is another, without using 'like' or 'as'.
- Irony
- A contrast between what is said and what is meant, or between what is expected and what happens.
- Pathetic fallacy
- Using weather or setting to reflect a character's mood or the atmosphere.
- Personification
- Giving human qualities to something non-human.
- Symbol
- An object, colour or image that represents a bigger idea, such as the conch in Lord of the Flies standing for order.
- Dramatic irony
- When the audience or reader knows something that a character does not.
All GCSE and International GCSE English Literature key terms and definitions →
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'The city voted for change.' Here 'the city' means its people. Which term fits?
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Pathetic fallacy
- Metonymy or synecdoche, where a related thing stands for the whole
Show the answer
Answer: Metonymy or synecdoche, where a related thing stands for the whole
The place stands for its people.
Which term means a character's voice adopted by a poet?
- Motif
- Persona
- Caesura
- Volta
Show the answer
Answer: Persona
The Duke is a persona.
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- Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification
- Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Literature (4ET1) specification
Checked by the GCSE-ready editorial team, 23 October 2026. Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.