AQA GCSE English Literature: Unseen Poetry Glossary

alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound at the start of nearby words.

allusion
An allusion is a brief or indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, or piece of literature, which is designed to add meaning or context.

analyse
To analyse means to think carefully about what the writer has written, the effect it has on the reader, and how this was achieved.

anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive lines, sentences, or clauses for emphasis or rhythm (in poetry).

antithesis
Antithesis is created when two directly contrasting ideas are placed closely together for comparison.

assonance
Assonance is the repetition of sounds (usually vowels) in nearby words, often to create or emphasise mood or musicality.

atmosphere
The atmosphere of a text is the overall impression created through the feelings, emotions, and mood the writer conveys to the reader.

attitude
An attitude is the way someone thinks or feels about something.

audience
The audience of a text means the people who will read it, or at whom it is aimed; for example, teenagers.

caesura
Caesura is a deliberate pause or break within a line of poetry, usually marked by punctuation. This pause follows natural speech patterns.

connotation
Connotations are the ideas or feelings that a word might produce in a reader.

consonance
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in a series of words, typically within or at the end of words.

context
Context is knowledge of the world of the poem that can help a reader understand its meaning.

contrast
Contrast in a text is when two things are presented in such a way as to highlight their differences.

convey
To convey a meaning or idea is to express it so it can be understood by a reader.

dramatic irony
Dramatic irony is the feeling that is created in a poem when the reader has a greater awareness of events than the character(s) within the poem.

end-stopped
An end-stopped line is one where the sentence or phrase ends with punctuation, giving a sense of completeness or finality.

enjambment
Enjambment occurs when a sentence or phrase runs over into the next line of poetry without a pause.

exaggerate
To exaggerate is to make a point by saying something is better, worse, or in some other way more extreme than it really is. For example, ‘It was so cold my hands were turning to ice.’

explicit
An explicit statement is one that plainly states a fact or viewpoint, rather than just hinting.

extended metaphor
An extended metaphor is when a writer describes something as if it were something else, and does so making several different points of comparison, often over more than one sentence.

figurative language
Figurative language is the use of words to convey meaning in a non-literal way, for example, in metaphors and similes.

foreshadow
To foreshadow is the technique of making the reader anticipate events that will happen later. For example, ‘If I had known then, I might not have done what I did next.’

form
A poem’s form can be ‘closed’ and follow set patterns and typical genre conventions, or ‘free’ and not follow any particular rules or structural conventions.

free verse
Free verse is poetry that does not follow regular rhyme or rhythm patterns, allowing greater freedom in expression.

genre
The poetic category into which a poem falls, such as elegy, ballad, lament, or sonnet is known as its genre.

half-rhyme
Half-rhyme occurs when words have similar but not identical rhymes, often creating a subtle or uneasy effect.

hyperbole
Hyperbole is language that exaggerates a situation to add emphasis or create a humorous image.

image
An image is a picture that is created in the reader’s mind through vivid words and comparisons.

imagery
Imagery is the collective term referring to pictures created in poems using sensory and figurative language techniques.

implicit
Implicit meaning is meaning which is hinted at, not stated explicitly, so that the reader has to infer it.

inferred
Inferred means deduced or worked out (where a meaning has been implied).

interpret
To interpret is to make sense of something in a particular way.

irony
Irony occurs when there is a contrast between what is expected and what happens, or when words mean the opposite of what they say.

judgement
A judgement is a considered opinion, often assessing the value of something.

metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison of two things which creates an image to show the resemblance without using comparative words.

method
In poetry, a method is a way of doing something or a poetic technique which creates meaning.

metre
Metre is the structured rhythm of a poem, created by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.

mood
The mood of a poem is the overall feeling that it creates in the reader.

narrator
In poetry, a narrator tells the story within the poem.

onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia refers to words that imitate the sounds they describe, such as ‘buzz’ or ‘clang’.

oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines words which hold directly opposite meanings; for example, old news.

pathetic fallacy
Pathetic fallacy is the literary technique of giving human feelings to inanimate things, such as the weather.

pathos
Pathos is creating or suggesting a feeling of pity.

personification
Personification is a technique in which a writer describes non-human things as if they have human qualities or abilities, as in ‘Time marches on’.

perspective
The word ‘perspective’ can refer to narrative viewpoint, as in ‘a third-person perspective’, or to an attitude towards a subject.

purpose
The purpose of a text is what its author intends it to achieve; for example, to teach a lesson or to criticise.

refrain
A refrain is a repeated line or phrase in a poem or song, often emphasising a theme or idea.

repetition
Repetition in a text is using a word, phrase, or sentence more than once.

rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes in a poem, often marked using letters that represent rhyming lines, for example, ABAB.

rhyming couplet
A rhyming couplet is two consecutive lines that rhyme.

sensory
Sensory language relates to the five senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste; it may also include language that describes motion/balance and body awareness.

setting
The setting is the location where events in a poem take place.

sibilance
Sibilance is the repetition of ‘s’, ‘sh’, or ‘z’ sounds, often creating a soft, hissing, or sinister effect.

simile
Similes are figures of speech that describe things more vividly by comparing them to other things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

stanza
A stanza is a set of grouped lines in a poem.

stream of consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a narrative style that imitates the flow of a character’s thoughts, often without clear structure.

theme
A theme is a core idea or message that the poet wants to share.

tone
Tone can refer to a poet’s attitude to their subject, and to the relationship they seek to establish with their readers.

viewpoint
The viewpoint is the attitude presented by a poet or the speaker in a poem, shown through their thoughts and ideas.

voice
Voice in writing is the expression of the author’s personality or attitude, or that of a first-person character, through their choice of language.