GCSE English Analysis Terms to Get a Grade 9

If you want to excel in GCSE English Language or Literature, you will need to demonstrate the ability to critically analyse the language, structure, and themes of texts. Making use of an impressive range of analytical terms will help show the examiners that your close reading skills are worthy of top marks.

This guide is your ultimate resource for mastering the GCSE English analysis terms that will help you get a grade 9.  Whether you’re analysing a Shakespearean soliloquy or exploring the deeper meaning of a modern poem, these terms will sharpen your analytical skills and elevate your writing.

Remember, though, that memorising these terms is just the first step. To secure high marks, it’s not enough just to identify these features in texts – you must always analyse the effect that these devices have on the reader or the meaning of the work. If you want to take your analysis to the next level, why not book in a session with one of our expert GCSE English tutors?

Without further ado, here’s our list of the key GCSE English analysis terms you need to get a grade 9.

Essential GCSE English Analysis Terms for Grade 9

Language Techniques

These language techniques are some of the fundamental tools writers use to craft their ideas, evoke emotions, and engage readers. These terms will definitely come in handy for your GCSE English analysis.

Metaphor: a figure of speech that implies comparison by stating one thing is another.
Example: “All the world’s a stage” – As You Like It by William Shakespeare.

Simile: a figure of speech comparing two different things using “like” or “as.”
Example: “My love is like a red, red rose” – A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns.

Personification: giving human traits to non-human objects or ideas.
Example: “Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir” – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Imagery: descriptive language that appeals to the senses.
Example: “And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn” – To Autumn by John Keats.

Symbolism: using symbols to represent ideas or qualities.
Example: The green light in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald symbolises hope and the American Dream.

Irony: a contrast between expectations and reality.
Example: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Allusion: a reference to another work of literature, person, or event.
Example: “The pen is mightier than the sword” – Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s Richelieu.

Oxymoron: a figure of speech combining contradictory terms.
Example: “O brawling love! O loving hate!” – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Paradox: a statement that appears self-contradictory but reveals a deeper truth.
Example: “I must be cruel, only to be kind” – Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Pun: a play on words with multiple meanings or similar sounds for humorous or rhetorical effect.
Example: “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man” – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Euphemism: a mild or indirect word used in place of one that might be harsh or blunt.
Example: “He passed away” instead of “He died.”

Colloquialism: informal language or slang used in writing.
Example: “Ain’t I a woman?” – Ain’t I a Woman? by Sojourner Truth.

Dialect: the representation of a particular region or group’s speech.
Example: “We’s safe, Huck, we’s safe!” – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Idiom: a common phrase or expression with a meaning not deducible from its literal words.
Example: “Kick the bucket” meaning “to die.”

Sound Devices

How the words of a literary text sound is a vital component of its meaning and effect on the reader. This selection of key sound analysis terms will help you unpack what authors are doing with the sounds their words make.

Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds in closely placed words.
Example: “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes” – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds within words.
Example: “Hear the mellow wedding bells” – The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe.

Onomatopoeia: words that imitate the natural sounds they describe.
Example: “And murmuring of innumerable bees” – The Princess by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Sibilance: a specific form of alliteration involving the repetition of “s” or “sh” sounds.
Example: “The silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” – The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the end of words or syllables.
Example: “Great, or good, or kind, or fair” – A Valediction: Of Weeping by John Donne.

Euphony: the use of pleasant, harmonious sounds.
Example: “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” – To Autumn by John Keats.

Cacophony: a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
Example: “With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, / Agape they heard me call.” – The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices are techniques authors and speakers use to persuade, emphasise ideas, or create memorable expressions. Learn these GCSE English analysis terms if you’re aiming for a grade 9.

Repetition: the deliberate use of a word or phrase multiple times.
Example: “O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells” – O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman.

Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.
Example: “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better.” – How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Rhetorical Question: a question posed for effect, not requiring an answer.
Example: “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” – The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.

Hyperbole: an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.
Example: “I had to wait in the station for ten days – an eternity.” – Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Epistrophe: the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences.
Example: “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” – Traditional Proverb.

Chiasmus: a rhetorical device in which words or concepts are repeated in reverse order.
Example: “Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.” – Benjamin Franklin.

Antithesis: the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Litotes: a form of understatement that uses a negative to express a positive.
Example: “He’s not exactly a genius.” – Common Usage.

Parallelism: the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or similar in construction.
Example: “It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Polysyndeton: the use of several conjunctions in close succession, often to create a sense of rhythm or emphasis.
Example: “And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven.” – The Bible (Genesis 7:23).

Asyndeton: the omission of conjunctions between parts of a sentence.
Example: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar.

Climactic Order: arranging ideas in order of increasing importance or intensity.
Example: “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” – Action Comics.

Zeugma: a figure of speech where a word applies to multiple parts of a sentence.
Example: “She broke his car and his heart.” – Common Usage.

Antimetabole: repetition of words in reverse grammatical order.
Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy.

Poetry Analysis

Writers use a unique set of tools to structure and give meaning to their poems. These GCSE English terms will help you analyse poetry to grade 9 level.

Caesura: a deliberate pause or break within a line of poetry.
Example: “To err is human; || to forgive, divine” – An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope.

Enjambment: the continuation of a sentence or phrase across lines of poetry without a pause.
Example: “Or gazing on the new soft-fallen masque / Of snow upon the mountains and the moors” – Bright Star by John Keats.

Couplet: two successive lines of verse that rhyme and have the same metre.
Example: “But at my back I always hear / Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near” – To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell.

Quatrain: a stanza of four lines, often with a specific rhyme scheme.
Example: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate: / Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, / And summer’s lease hath all too short a date” – Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare.

Free Verse: poetry that does not follow a fixed meter or rhyme scheme.
Example: “The fog comes / on little cat feet” – The Fog by Carl Sandburg.

Sonnet: a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter, often iambic pentameter.
Example: “When I consider how my light is spent” – Sonnet 19 by John Milton.

Volta: a rhetorical shift or dramatic change in thought or emotion within a poem, especially in sonnets.
Example: “But thy eternal summer shall not fade” – Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare.

Meter: the structured pattern of beats in a poem, measured in feet.
Example: “By the shores of Gitche Gumee, / By the shining Big-Sea-Water.” – The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Rhyme: the repetition of identical or similar sounds at the end of lines.
Example: “Tyger Tyger, burning bright, / In the forests of the night” – The Tyger by William Blake.

Rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse.
Example: “Is this a dagger which I see before me” – Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Structural Devices

Structural devices refer to the way a text is organised and presented. These devices are commonly used in longer writing in prose (such as novels), plays, or epic poems, but may also appear in shorter works.

Juxtaposition: placing two contrasting ideas close together to highlight their differences.
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Foreshadowing: hinting at events to come later in the text.
Example: “Life were better ended by their hate, / Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love” – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Climax: the point of greatest tension or intensity in a narrative or drama.
Example: “I am the son of man, / and I am come to unbuild you” – The Second Coming by W. B. Yeats.

Anticlimax: a sudden transition from an important idea to a trivial one, often for comic effect.
Example: “Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, / Dost sometimes counsel take – and sometimes tea” – The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope.

Chronological Order: presenting events in the sequence in which they occur.
Example: The straightforward timeline of events in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Flashback: an interruption in the narrative to depict events that occurred earlier. Also known as Analepsis.
Example: The opening chapter of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë recounts the events leading up to the story.

Circular Structure: when a text ends where it began, creating a sense of completeness.
Example: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck begins and ends in the same location, by the river.

Parallel Structure: repeating a pattern of phrases, clauses, or sentences for emphasis or rhythm.
Example: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – Patrick Henry.

Pace: the speed at which the narrative unfolds, controlled by sentence length, punctuation, and detail.
Example: The fast-paced battle scenes in The Iliad by Homer.

Epistolary Form: a narrative told through letters, diary entries, or other documents.
Example: Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Unreliable Narrator: a narrator whose credibility is compromised, influencing how the story is perceived.
Example: The narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

Frame Narrative: a story within a story, where an overarching narrative contains secondary ones.
Example: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Advanced Vocabulary for GCSE English Essays

If you’re aiming for a 9 in GCSE English, you’ll need to use sophisticated vocabulary in your essays. Below is a list of powerful verbs and phrases that will enhance your writing and impress examiners.

Evokes: to bring a feeling, memory, or image to mind.
Example: The description of the barren landscape evokes a sense of desolation.

Connotes: to suggest or imply an additional meaning beyond the literal.
Example: The use of the colour red connotes danger and passion.

Suggests: to put forward an idea or interpretation.
Example: The character’s hesitation suggests internal conflict.

Contrasts: to show a clear difference between two ideas or elements.
Example: The author contrasts light and dark to highlight the protagonist’s moral struggle.

Highlights: to draw attention to a particular aspect or idea.
Example: The imagery highlights the fragility of human life.

Reinforces: to strengthen or support an existing idea or argument.
Example: The repetition of the phrase reinforces the character’s despair.

Alludes to: to reference or hint at another work, event, or idea.
Example: The poem alludes to classical mythology.

Portrays: to depict or describe in a certain way.
Example: The narrator portrays the antagonist as manipulative and calculating.

Symbolises: to represent an abstract concept or idea.
Example: The storm symbolises the chaos in the protagonist’s mind.

Establishes: to set up a tone, theme, or character early in the text.
Example: The opening paragraph establishes a mood of suspense.

Foreshadows: to hint at events that will occur later in the text.
Example: The broken mirror foreshadows the protagonist’s downfall.

Juxtaposes: to place contrasting elements close together for effect.
Example: The poet juxtaposes images of beauty and decay.

Emphasises: to give special importance to a particular idea or theme.
Example: The use of italics emphasises the character’s inner turmoil.

Undermines: to weaken or subvert an idea or argument.
Example: The ironic tone undermines the seriousness of the statement.

Develops: to build or expand upon an idea, character, or theme.
Example: The subplot develops the theme of redemption.

Explores: to investigate or examine an idea or concept in depth.
Example: The author explores the impact of societal expectations on individuality.

Challenges: to question or oppose an established idea or belief.
Example: The protagonist’s actions challenge traditional gender roles.

Examines: to look at or study an aspect of the text in detail.
Example: The essay examines the role of setting in shaping the narrative.

Improve Your GCSE English Analysis

Now that you know the key GCSE English analysis terms to get a grade 9, it’s time to take the next step. Unfortunately, excelling in GCSE English requires more than memorising terms—it’s about applying them effectively to analyse texts and express your ideas clearly. This takes expert guidance and plenty of practice. Luckily, we can help.

At Dukes Plus, we offer one-on-one lessons from expert GCSE English tutors to boost your grades. Whether you’re looking to improve your essay writing, strengthen your analysis of literary texts, or build your confidence in exams, our expert tutors are here to support you.

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