Year 13 Cambridge English Literature: Key Terms Memory Guide | 剑桥A-Level英语文学核心术语速记指南

📚 Year 13 Cambridge English Literature: Key Terms Memory Guide | 剑桥A-Level英语文学核心术语速记指南

Mastering the precise literary terminology is essential for success in the Year 13 Cambridge English Literature examination. This guide provides concise, paired definitions in English and Chinese, organised by category, to help you internalise these concepts quickly and apply them confidently to unseen texts, set works, and critical essays. Each term is paired with a clear explanation that follows the exam’s expected usage.

掌握精确的文学术语是 Year 13 剑桥英语文学考试成功的关键。本指南按类别提供英中对照的简明定义，助你快速内化这些概念，并自信地应用于陌生文本、指定作品和评论文章之中。每个术语均配以符合考试要求的清晰解释。

1. Sound Devices in Poetry | 诗歌音韵手法

Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in close proximity, e.g. ‘fickle fortune’.

头韵： 相邻词开头的辅音重复，如 ‘fickle fortune’。

Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds within words to create internal rhyme or musicality, e.g. ‘the rain in Spain’.

半谐音（元韵）： 词语内部元音的重复，用以产生内在韵律或音乐感，如 ‘the rain in Spain’。

Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the end of words, without matching vowels, e.g. ‘pitter patter’.

辅音韵： 辅音的重现，尤其在词尾，而元音不同，如 ‘pitter patter’。

Sibilance: A specific form of consonance involving hissing ‘s’, ‘sh’, ‘ch’ sounds, often creating a sinister or smooth effect.

嘶音： 一种特殊的辅音韵，含有 ‘s’、’sh’、’ch’ 等嘶声，常营造阴险或流畅的效果。

Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate natural sounds, such as ‘buzz’, ‘hiss’, ‘clang’.

拟声词： 模仿自然声音的词语，如 ‘buzz’、’hiss’、’clang’。

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2. Figurative Language | 修辞语言

Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things stating one is the other, e.g. ‘All the world’s a stage’.

暗喻： 直接将一事物说成另一不同事物，如 ‘整个世界是一座舞台’。

Simile: A comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’, e.g. ‘as brave as a lion’.

明喻： 使用 ‘像’ 或 ‘如同’ 的比较，如 ‘像狮子一样勇敢’。

Personification: Attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas, e.g. ‘the wind whispered’.

拟人： 赋予无生命事物或抽象观念以人的特性，如 ‘风在低语’。

Oxymoron: A compressed paradox placing two contradictory terms together, e.g. ‘bittersweet’, ‘living death’.

矛盾修饰法： 将两个互相矛盾的词语并置的紧缩悖论，如 ‘bittersweet’、’活着的死亡’。

Metonymy: Substituting the name of something with a closely associated term, e.g. ‘the Crown’ for monarchy.

转喻： 用密切相关的词语替代所指事物，如用 ‘王冠’ 指代君主制。

Synecdoche: A part of something used to represent the whole or vice versa, e.g. ‘all hands on deck’.

提喻： 以部分代表整体，或整体代表部分，如 ‘全体人手（hands）到甲板’。

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3. Structural Poetic Features | 诗歌结构特征

Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break without a pause.

跨行连续： 一个句子或分句不停顿地跨越诗行断开处延续到下一行。

Caesura: A deliberate pause or break within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation.

行间停顿： 诗中一行之内有意的停顿或中断，常由标点标记。

End-stopped line: A line of verse that concludes with a natural pause at a grammatical boundary, often with a comma or full stop.

行尾停顿句： 在语法边界处自然停顿的诗行，通常带有逗号或句号。

Iambic pentameter: A meter consisting of five iambs (unstressed followed by stressed syllable) per line, the rhythm of Shakespearean verse.

五音步抑扬格： 每行五个抑扬格音步（轻-重音节）的格律，莎剧诗体节奏。

Blank verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter, widely used in Shakespeare’s plays and Milton’s epic.

无韵诗： 不押韵的五音步抑扬格，广泛用于莎士比亚戏剧和弥尔顿史诗。

Sonnet: A 14-line lyric poem, typically in iambic pentameter, with Italian (Petrarchan) or English (Shakespearean) rhyme schemes and a volta (turn).

十四行诗： 十四行的抒情诗，通常为五音步抑扬格，有意式（彼特拉克体）或英式（莎士比亚体）押韵格式以及一个 ‘转折’（volta）。

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4. Narrative Voice and Perspective | 叙事声音与视角

First-person narrator: A character within the story narrates using ‘I’, offering a limited, subjective viewpoint.

第一人称叙述者： 故事中的一个人物用 ‘我’ 来叙述，提供有限的、主观的视角。

Third-person limited: The narrator stands outside the story but focalises through one character’s consciousness, revealing only that character’s thoughts and perceptions.

第三人称受限视角： 叙述者在故事之外，但透过一个人物的意识聚焦，只揭示该人物的思想和感知。

Omniscient narrator: An all-knowing narrator who can access the thoughts and feelings of any character and provide panoramic insight.

全知叙述者： 无所不知的叙述者，能进入任何人物的思想与情感，提供全景式洞察。

Unreliable narrator: A narrator whose credibility is compromised, deliberately misleading the reader or limited by bias, ignorance, or madness.

不可靠叙述者： 叙述者的可信度受损，故意误导读者，或因偏见、无知、疯狂而受限。

Free indirect discourse: A third-person narrative technique blending a character’s thoughts with the narrator’s voice without explicit indicators like ‘she thought’.

自由间接引语： 第三人称叙事技巧，将人物思想与叙述者声音融合，不使用 ‘她想’ 等明确标示。

Stream of consciousness: A radical narrative mode attempting to capture the continuous, chaotic flow of a character’s thoughts and feelings.

意识流： 一种激进的叙事模式，试图捕捉人物思想与情感持续、混乱的流动过程。

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5. Prose Techniques | 散文技巧

Foreshadowing: Hints or clues planted early in a narrative to suggest future events, building tension or unity.

预示： 叙事早期埋下的暗示或线索，预示未来事件，营造张力或统一性。

In medias res: Latin for ‘in the midst of things’; starting a narrative in the middle of action rather than from the chronological beginning.

中间切入法： 拉丁语 ‘从事件中间开始’；叙事从行动中途展开，而非按时间顺序从头开始。

Bildungsroman: A novel of formation or education, tracing the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood.

成长小说： 教育小说，追溯主人公从青少年到成年的心理和道德成长历程。

Allegory: A sustained narrative in which characters, settings, and events function on a symbolic level to convey abstract moral or political meanings.

寓言： 延伸的叙事，其中人物、场景和事件在象征层面上运作，传达抽象的道德或政治意义。

Epistolary novel: A novel written in the form of letters, diary entries, or other documents, creating a sense of immediacy and multiple perspectives.

书信体小说： 以信件、日记或其他文件形式写成的小说，营造即时感与多重视角。

Foil: A character who contrasts with another, usually the protagonist, to highlight particular qualities.

陪衬角色： 与另一角色（通常是主人公）形成对比，以突显其特定品质的人物。

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6. Dramatic Conventions | 戏剧惯例

Soliloquy: A speech delivered by a character alone on stage, revealing inner thoughts and feelings to the audience.

独白： 角色独自在舞台上的话语，向观众揭示内心思想和情感。

Aside: A remark directed to the audience or another character that is not heard by the other characters on stage.

旁白： 说给观众或另一角色听，而舞台上其他角色听不到的话语。

Dramatic irony: A situation where the audience knows more about the events or characters’ circumstances than the characters themselves, creating tension or pathos.

戏剧性反讽： 观众对事件或角色处境比角色自身了解更多，由此产生张力或哀婉的情境。

Hamartia: A tragic hero’s fatal flaw or error of judgement leading to downfall, often interpreted as hubris.

悲剧性缺陷（Hamartia）： 悲剧主人公导致其毁灭的性格缺陷或判断错误，常被解读为傲慢。

Catharsis: The purging or purification of emotions of pity and fear experienced by the audience at the end of a tragedy.

净化（Catharsis）： 悲剧结尾观众所经历的怜悯与恐惧情感的宣泄或净化。

Anagnorisis: A moment of critical discovery or recognition, where the protagonist gains crucial knowledge, often leading to peripeteia.

发现（Anagnorisis）： 关键的认识或发现时刻，主人公获得决定性认知，常引向命运的突变。

Peripeteia: A sudden reversal of fortune from prosperity to adversity in a tragic plot.

突转（Peripeteia）： 悲剧情节中由顺境到逆境的命运突然逆转。

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7. Style and Syntax | 风格与句法

Diction: The deliberate choice of vocabulary and style of expression to create tone and meaning; e.g. archaic, colloquial, formal, Latinate diction.

措辞： 为创造语气和意义而有意的词汇与表达风格选择；如古语词、口语词、正式语、拉丁语源词。

Syntax: The arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences; can be periodic, fragmented, balanced, or inverted to achieve specific effects.

句法： 词语和短语组合成句子的排列方式；可为圆周句、碎片句、平衡句或倒装句以达成特定效果。

Tone: The narrator’s or speaker’s attitude towards the subject and the audience, conveyed through style; e.g. ironic, elegiac, satirical.

语气： 叙述者或说话人通过风格传递的对主题及听众的态度；如反讽的、哀歌的、讽刺的。

Register: The level of formality of language use in a given context, ranging from intimate to formal, technical, or ceremonial.

语域： 某一语境中语言使用的正式程度，范围从亲密到正式、技术性或礼仪性。

Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences for emphasis.

首语重复： 在连续分句或句子开头有意重复一个词或短语，以增强语气。

Chiasmus: A rhetorical figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, e.g. ‘Ask not what your country can do for you…’.

交错修辞： 词语、语法结构或概念以相反顺序重复的修辞格，如 ‘不要问你的国家能为你做什么……’。

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8. Rhetorical and Persuasive Devices | 修辞与说服手法

Ethos: An appeal to credibility, character, or authority of the speaker to gain the audience’s trust.

道德诉求（Ethos）： 诉诸说话者的信誉、品格或权威以获取听众信任。

Pathos: An appeal to the audience’s emotions, aiming to evoke pity, sadness, anger, or sympathy.

情感诉求（Pathos）： 诉诸听众的情感，旨在激起怜悯、悲伤、愤怒或同情。

Logos: An appeal to logic and reason, using evidence, facts, and rational argument.

理性诉求（Logos）： 诉诸逻辑和理性，运用证据、事实和合理论证。

Antithesis: Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses, e.g. ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’.

对偶： 在平衡短语或从句中并置对比观念，如 ‘那是最美好的时代，那是最糟糕的时代’。

Litotes: A form of understatement that uses a negative to affirm a positive, e.g. ‘not a bad idea’.

曲言（反叙）： 用否定对立面来表达肯定的含蓄陈述形式，如 ‘不是一个坏主意’。

Euphemism: A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered too harsh or blunt, e.g. ‘passed away’.

委婉语： 用温和或间接的词语替代被认为过于刺耳或直白的说法，如 ‘去世（passed away）’。

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9. Literary Theory Lenses | 文学批评视角

Feminist criticism: Examines literature through the lens of gender dynamics, power relations, and the representation of women, challenging patriarchal norms.

女性主义批评： 以性别动态、权力关系和女性表征为透镜审视文学，挑战父权规范。

Marxist criticism: Analyses texts by exploring class struggle, ideology, materialism, and economic power structures within the narrative.

马克思主义批评： 通过探究叙事中的阶级斗争、意识形态、唯物主义和经济权力结构来分析文本。

Psychoanalytic criticism: Applies concepts from Freud or Lacan, such as the unconscious, desires, repression, and the Oedipus complex, to interpret character and symbolism.

精神分析批评： 运用弗洛伊德或拉康的概念，如无意识、欲望、压抑和俄狄浦斯情结，来解读人物和象征。

Postcolonial criticism: Focuses on literature produced in or about formerly colonised cultures, exploring themes of identity, hybridity, othering, and resistance.

后殖民批评： 关注在或关于前殖民文化的文学，探索身份、杂糅、他者化和抵抗等主题。

Ecocriticism: Studies the relationship between literature and the physical environment, examining representations of nature, ecological crises, and anthropocentrism.

生态批评： 研究文学与自然环境的关联，审视自然表征、生态危机和人类中心主义。

Reader-response criticism: Emphasises the reader’s active role in creating meaning, acknowledging that interpretation is shaped by the reader’s own experience and horizon of expectations.

读者反应批评： 强调读者在创造意义上的主动作用，承认解读由读者自身经验与期待视野塑造。

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10. Genre and Mode | 体裁与模式

Tragedy: A dramatic or narrative work depicting the downfall of a noble protagonist due to fate, a flaw, or societal forces, moving from prosperity to catastrophe.

悲剧： 描绘高贵主人公因命运、缺陷或社会力量而从顺境走向毁灭的戏剧或叙事作品。

Comedy: A genre that moves from disorder to order, often ending with reconciliation or marriage, and designed to amuse through wit, irony, and humorous situations.

喜剧： 一种由混乱走向秩序的体裁，常以和解或婚姻告终，旨在通过机智、反讽和幽默情境取悦观众。

Pastoral: A mode idealising rural life, shepherds, and the natural world, often contrasting it with the corruption of court or city.

田园模式： 对乡村生活、牧羊人和自然世界进行理想化的模式，常与宫廷或城市的腐败形成对比。

Gothic: A mode characterised by elements of horror, the supernatural, transgressive desires, decaying settings, and an atmosphere of mystery and suspense.

哥特模式： 以恐怖、超自然、僭越欲望、破败场景及神秘悬疑气氛为特征的模式。

Satire: A mode that ridicules human vice, folly, or societal institutions through irony, exaggeration, and humour, often with a moral purpose.

讽刺： 通过反讽、夸张和幽默嘲弄人性弱点、蠢行或社会制度的模式，常带道德意图。

Elegy: A sombre, meditative lyric poem lamenting the death of a person or, more broadly, a loss, often moving from grief to consolation.

挽歌： 哀悼亡者或更广泛伤逝的沉郁、沉思的抒情诗，常由悲痛转向慰藉。

Dramatic monologue: A poem in which a single speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing character and dramatic situation through speech, e.g. Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’.

戏剧独白诗： 由一个说话人对沉默听者倾诉的诗歌，通过话语揭示人物性格和戏剧性情境，如勃朗宁的《我已故的公爵夫人》。

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