Terms for the three units
Use this sheet when you prepare for the oral exam. Try to connect the terms to specific texts, scenes, quotations, or examples.
Unit 1: Voice
Core terms
| Term | Meaning / how to use it |
|---|---|
| voice | The way a person, narrator, speaker, or text expresses ideas, feelings, and identity. |
| personal voice | A voice that feels individual, honest, or strongly connected to someone’s own experience. |
| narrative voice | The voice telling a story. Ask: who speaks, what do they know, and how do they see the world? |
| speaker | The “I” or voice in a poem, speech, or text. Not always the same as the author. |
| point of view | The perspective from which a story or argument is presented. |
| tone | The attitude or mood of the voice, e.g. serious, angry, ironic, hopeful, bitter, humorous. |
| register | The level of language: formal, informal, academic, emotional, everyday, slang etc. |
| identity | How a person sees themselves, and how they are seen by others. |
| expression | The act of showing thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or personality through language or art. |
| silence | When someone cannot, will not, or is not allowed to speak. |
| being heard | When a voice is recognised, respected, or taken seriously. |
| marginalised voices | Voices from people or groups who are often ignored or excluded. |
| empowerment | Gaining confidence, strength, or the right to speak and act. |
| freedom of speech | The right to express opinions without censorship or punishment. |
| rhetoric | The art of using language to persuade or affect an audience. |
| ethos | Appeal to credibility, authority, or trust. |
| pathos | Appeal to emotions. |
| logos | Appeal to reason, evidence, and logic. |
| repetition | Repeating words or phrases for emphasis. |
| anaphora | Repetition at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences. |
| rule of three | Three words, phrases, or examples used together for effect. |
| metaphor | A figurative comparison where one thing is described as another. |
Connect to theme by asking:
- Who has a voice in this text, and who does not?
- What kind of voice is created: confident, uncertain, angry, personal, official, poetic?
- How does the language reveal the speaker’s identity or values?
- Is the text about speaking up, being silenced, or being listened to?
- How does the voice affect the reader or audience?
Sentence starters
- The text presents voice as…
- The narrator’s/speaker’s voice seems…
- Through the use of …, the speaker creates a sense of…
- The text gives voice to…
- The silence of … is important because…
Unit 2: Belonging
Core terms
| Term | Meaning / how to use it |
|---|---|
| belonging | Feeling accepted, connected, and at home in a place, group, relationship, or identity. |
| home | A physical place, but also a feeling of safety, memory, identity, and connection. |
| community | A group of people connected by place, culture, values, experience, or relationships. |
| family | Biological or chosen relationships that can create belonging, conflict, or responsibility. |
| identity | A person’s sense of who they are, shaped by memory, place, language, relationships, and society. |
| loneliness | Feeling isolated, unseen, or disconnected from others. |
| alienation | A stronger form of not belonging; feeling like an outsider or stranger. |
| exclusion | Being kept outside a group, place, or social world. |
| inclusion | Being accepted into a group or community. |
| social class | A person’s position in society based on money, status, education, or background. |
| prejudice | Judging someone before knowing them, often based on class, race, gender, culture, or appearance. |
| recognition | Being seen and accepted by others as who you are. |
| safety | The feeling that one is protected physically, socially, or emotionally. |
| privacy | Having a personal space where one can be oneself. |
| memory | Past experiences that shape identity and belonging. |
| nostalgia | A longing for the past, often connected to memory and loss. |
| escapism | Escaping from reality into fantasy, memory, entertainment, or another world. |
| second chance | The possibility of beginning again or creating a new form of life or belonging. |
| dialect | A variety of language connected to a place, region, or social group. |
| setting | The time and place of a text; often important for creating belonging or alienation. |
Connect to theme by asking:
- Where does the character feel at home, and where do they feel out of place?
- What creates belonging: family, place, love, memory, language, class, or choice?
- Is belonging presented as something you find, choose, or build?
- How does the setting influence the character’s sense of belonging?
- What causes loneliness or exclusion in the text?
Sentence starters
- The text explores belonging through…
- The character feels excluded because…
- Home is presented not only as a place, but as…
- The setting creates a feeling of…
- The text suggests that belonging depends on…
Unit 3: Borders
Core terms
| Term | Meaning / how to use it |
|---|---|
| border | A line, limit, or division between places, people, identities, or ideas. |
| boundary | A limit that can be physical, social, emotional, moral, or psychological. |
| national border | A border between countries. |
| border crossing | Moving across a border; can be literal or symbolic. |
| migration | Moving from one country or place to another, often for work, safety, family, or opportunity. |
| exile | Being forced to live away from one’s home or country. |
| refugee | A person forced to leave their country because of war, persecution, or danger. |
| immigrant | A person who moves to another country to live there. |
| culture | The values, traditions, language, habits, and art of a group of people. |
| cultural identity | A person’s sense of belonging to one or more cultures. |
| hybridity | A mixed identity shaped by more than one culture, place, or language. |
| fluid identity | An identity that changes depending on place, context, or how others see you. |
| othering | Treating someone as different, foreign, or less normal than “us”. |
| assimilation | Adapting to fit into a new dominant culture, sometimes by losing parts of one’s old identity. |
| integration | Becoming part of a new society while still keeping important parts of one’s own identity. |
| liminality | Being in-between two places, identities, stages of life, or social roles. |
| threshold | A doorway or point of transition between one state and another. |
| wall | A physical or symbolic structure that separates and protects, but can also isolate. |
| division | Separation between people, groups, or ideas. |
| connection | What links people across borders or differences. |
| transgression | Breaking or crossing a rule, limit, or boundary. |
Connect to theme by asking:
- What kind of border is central: national, cultural, personal, social, psychological, or symbolic?
- Who creates the border, and why?
- Who wants to cross the border, and what are the consequences?
- Does the border protect, divide, exclude, or connect people?
Sentence starters
- The border in the text can be understood as…
- The wall/boundary both separates and…
- The character crosses a border when…
General analytical terms useful for all three units
| Term | Meaning / how to use it |
|---|---|
| theme | A central idea or issue in a text. |
| message | What the text seems to suggest about a theme. |
| characterisation | How a character is presented through actions, speech, thoughts, appearance, and relationships. |
| setting | The time and place of a story, including the social, cultural, and physical environment. |
| conflict | A struggle between people, values, desires, places, or identities. |
| imagery | The use of vivid, descriptive language that appeals to the senses or creates a mental picture. |
| symbol | Something concrete that represents a larger idea. |
| contrast | A difference used to highlight an idea, e.g. inside/outside, silence/voice, home/away. |
| motif | A repeated image, idea, object, or situation. |
| perspective | The angle from which events or ideas are seen. |
| context | The social, historical, cultural, or political background of a text. |
| rhetorical devices | Language techniques used to affect or persuade the audience, e.g. repetition, rhetorical questions, metaphors, contrasts, anaphora, or the rule of three. |
| rhetorical pentagram | A model for analysing non-fiction texts by looking at sender, receiver/audience, topic, language, and situation/context. |
| quotation | A short piece of evidence from the text used to support your point. |