English Flashcards
tuesday revision
A Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer, most noted for his novel Treasure
Island.
Robert Louis
Stevenson
A word describing an attribute of a noun, such as sour, red, cold, smooth.
Adjective
Name of a person, place or thing. E.g. Linda, Coleford, table, horse.
Noun
Used to describe a verb. Usually they are adjectives with an –ly suffix. E.g. gently,
carefully, cleverly.
Adverb
A word used to describe an action E.g. run, sit, swim, eat, write.
Verb
A conclusion or opinion that is formed because of known facts or evidence. E.g. If
your teacher smiles or laughs, you might infer they are in a good mood.
Inference
Basing opinions on obvious facts to understand the explicit meaning.
Deduction
The comparison of one thing with another using ‘like’ or ‘as’
Simile
The occurrence of the same letter at the beginning of words.
Alliteration
A figure of speech that directly compares one thing to another
Metaphor
When you give an animal or object qualities or abilities that only a human
can have.
Personification
A figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another
meaning other than its literal meaning. E.g. Red can represent danger
Symbolism
Behaviour that is contrary to or forbidden by criminal law.
Criminality
Giving or showing firm and constant support or to a person or institution.
Loyalty
Having a responsibility to someone or something and committing to that
responsibility.
Duty
A result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant. Many of the
characters are seen to be dealing with the aftermath of their choices.
Consequences
The practice of attacking and robbing ships at sea. It was a major threat to
Britain’s export industry in the early 18
th century
Piracy
Giving emotions to something non-human. Often it is used to give the
weather human emotions to reflect the mood of a character.
Pathetic Fallacy
To behave in a wild state (often used to describe an animal) after escape from captivity (being imprisoned or confined).
Feral
An immoral (evil) or corrupt person
Degenerate
The protagonist. We watch him grow into a man over the course of the
novel.
Jim Hawkins
The antagonist. He challenges some of the stereotypes surrounding pirates
Long John Silver
He is portrayed as a fool when he falls for Long John Silver’s plot to capture
the Hispaniola.
Squire Trelawney
Middle class, educated. He is the doctor and becomes a sympathetic and
practical character
Dr Livesey
He survives being stranded by his crew and is a symbol of the rough justice
of the pirates. He helps Jim Hawkins to escape.
Ben Gunn
To actively go against or oppose authority or control.
Rebellious
To be boldly disobedient.
Defiant
To give up something that you care about, for the sake of something that is
regarded as more important or worthy.
Sacrifice
A person’s face or facial expression.
Countenance
Someone who understands people or situations and who shows sensitivity.
Perceptive
Someone who lies, actively misleads and cannot be trusted.
Deceitful
An exposed area or weakness
Vulnerable
To express passionate grief or sorrow, sometimes as a song or poem.
Lament
To have excessive pride or self-confidence which often leads to someone’s
downfall.
Hubris
Something that cannot be changed, reversed, or recovered.
Irrevocably
The leading character in a film, novel, story, poem or song. They can be
both a hero and an anti-hero.
Protagonist
A person who opposes or is hostile (unfriendly) to someone, often the
protagonist.
Antagonist
Something that is unclear and difficult to understand or see
Obscure
To find comfort in a time of great distress or sadness.
Solace
A risky or daring journey or course of action.
Venture
To show great bravery.
Heroism
A novel dealing with one person’s formative years or spiritual education.
Bildungsroman
The principles that help us understand what is right and wrong.
Morality
A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden
meaning.
Allegory
A character who contrasts with another character
A foil
An image, icon or object used to represent ideas, feelings or concepts.
E.g.: a snake represents evil due to the story of Adam and Eve in the bible
Symbol
A narrative poem about a serious subject, usually about heroic deeds.
Epic poetry
A dominant or repeated idea in a piece of work. In Treasure Island, these
repeated ideas are solitude, the colour black and animals.
Motif
A tale that ends in sadness, usually caused by the protagonist's hubris or fatal flaw (a character trait that causes their downfall).
Tragedy
A belief that art and literature should provide instruction and information as
well as enjoyment and pleasure.
Didacticism
A story where the hero ‘falls under a dark spell’ (sleep, sickness or enchantment)
before breaking free and being redeemed. E.g.: The Fall of Man, A Christmas Carol.
Rebirth
A story where at the beginning, the hero is insignificant and dismissed by others, but
something happens to elevate them, revealing them to be exceptional. E.g.: Cinderella,
Pygmalion.
Rags to riches
A story made up of humorous events, normally involving mistaken identity,
misunderstanding or confusion. E.g A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Comedy
A story where there is an evil force threatening the hero/their world/mankind. The hero
must fight and slay this monster, which often isn’t easy, but they come out triumphant,
and receive a great reward. Eg – Beowulf, The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Overcoming the
monster
In this story the hero travels out of their ‘normal world’ into the overwhelming and
unknown, before escaping back to the safety of their home. This is different to the
Quest. E.g.: Alice in Wonderland
Voyage and return
A story where there is a mission, the hero must set out on a long, hazardous journey,
and will battle all obstacles until they are triumphant. E.g.: The Odyssey
Quest
A saying that has a different message to what the individual words mean, for example,
‘that’s a piece of cake’ is a saying for ‘that’s easy’
Idiom
Idiom meaning an area of weakness/vulnerability, which could lead to your downfall.
Origin - the greek myth of Achilles.
Achilles’ heel
Idiom meaning something that is invited in or inserted that appears harmless or
positive but later reveals itself to be dangerous and damaging. Origin - the greek myth
of Troy.
A Trojan horse
Something that is prohibited and therefore becomes more desirable. Origin - Garden of
Eden story in the bible
Forbidden fruit
Something seen as a great treasure that turns out to be a curse. Origin - the greek
myth of Pandora
To open Pandora’s
box
Where a person’s achievement is limited based on how others perceive them rather
than on their actual potential. Origin - a theory named after the greek myth of
Pygmalion.
The Pygmalion effect
When a person achieves unexpected or sudden success, especially after obscurity,
neglect, or misery. Origin - cultural tales going as far back as 6BC.
A Cinderella story
To be responsible for the well-being of a sibling, or for other human beings in general.
Origin - the story of Cain and Abel in the bible
To be your brother’s
keeper
Don’t allow your ambition to get out of control or run away with you. Origin - Icarus’
story in greek mythology
Don’t fly to close to the sun
When a ‘small’ or unexpected person/organisation defeats a larger one in a surprising
way. Origin - the bible tale of the shepherd who defeated a giant.
David versus Goliath
To enter into a situation that is particularly strange, problematic, difficult, complex, or
chaotic. Origin - Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Down the rabbit hole
Used to describe someone who’s prone to unpredictable behaviour. Origin - chemicals
used by hat makers in the 1800s sent them mad.
Mad as a hatter
Based on the story of Helen of Troy in greek mythology whose beauty was such that a
suitor started a large scale war to win her hand. Origin of phrase - 17th century poem
by Marlowe.
The face that
launched a thousand
ships
To hint or refer to something indirectly.
Allusion
A figure of speech containing an implied comparison.
Metaphor
A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a
moral or political one.
Allegory
A perfect place or paradise. Origin - the garden that God created for Adam and Eve in
the bible.
Eden
To desire to do something, especially something that is wrong or unwise.
Temptation
To actively go against or oppose authority or control.
Rebellious
To be boldly disobedient.
Defiant
To give up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more
important or worthy. Traditionally an animal is killed to honour a deity (god).
Sacrifice
A person’s face or facial expression.
Countenance
To have or show sensitive insight into something or someone.
Perceptive
Don’t fly too close to
the sun
Don’t allow your ambition to get out of control or run away with you. Origin - Icarus’
story in greek mythology
David versus Goliath
When a ‘small’ or unexpected person/organisation defeats a larger one in a surprising
way. Origin - the bible tale of the shepherd who defeated a giant.
Down the rabbit hole
To enter into a situation that is particularly strange, problematic, difficult, complex, or
chaotic. Origin - Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Mad as a hatter
Used to describe someone who’s prone to unpredictable behaviour. Origin - chemicals
used by hat makers in the 1800s sent them mad.
The face that
launched a thousand
ships
Based on the story of Helen of Troy in greek mythology whose beauty was such that a
suitor started a large scale war to win her hand. Origin of phrase - 17th century poem
by Marlowe
A word or group of words that contain a noun and that work together to form the
subject, object or prepositional phrase in a sentence
Noun phrase
A noun that renames the noun that comes before it. E.g.: The playwright,
Shakespeare, wrote plays. The appositive phrase is Shakespeare, it’s renamed the
noun ‘author.’ Or, artist Georgia O’Keeffe painted images of flowers. Georgia O’Keeffe
is the appositive phrase. It identifies the artist.
Appositive phrase
A verb used in forming the tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. The primary
auxiliary verbs are be, do, and have. Modal auxiliaries are can, could, may, might,
must, shall, should, will, and would.
Auxiliary verbs
