CROSS-CUTTING • BOTH PAPERS • AO2 + AO5/6
Linguistic & Literary Terminology
The consolidated toolkit. Every term you analyse with — language, structure, sentence forms, rhetoric — pulled into one reference, plus the single principle that governs how to use all of them.
Accurate, Not Extensive
This is the principle that matters more than any individual term. Examiners reward terminology used accurately — not terminology used extensively.
A student who correctly identifies three techniques scores higher than a student who scatters fifteen labels, half of them wrong.
Why It Matters
The descriptors for P1 Q2, P1 Q3 and P2 Q3 require accurate use of subject terminology — and, at Level 4, sophisticated and accurate use. Accurate terminology also strengthens P2 Q4 methods analysis and your Q5 writing, even where it isn't a named criterion. The safest move: name a technique only if you are sure it is that technique.
How This Toolkit Is Organised
The terms below are grouped into three tiers by difficulty, so you can build vocabulary in stages rather than memorising flat lists.
ExamRizz Scaffold
The tier system is an ExamRizz teaching tool. The AQA specification does not categorise terms this way — it's a way of pacing your learning, not an AQA rule.
Tier 1
The floor for any grade
Tier 2
Distinguishes Grade 6+
Tier 3
Differentiator at Grades 8–9
Language — Tier 1
The must-know floor. These appear in P1 Q2, P2 Q3 and the methods part of P2 Q4.
Tier 1 · Any Grade
similemetaphorpersonificationalliterationrepetitionlistingimageryadjectiveadverbverbnoun
_Plus the four sentence types
declarativeinterrogativeexclamativeimperative
The Simile/Metaphor Test
A simile compares using like or as ("darted like flames"). A metaphor states the comparison directly, without those words ("the desert was a furnace"). If like/as are absent, it's a metaphor — check before you label.
Language — Tier 2
Grade 6 and above. Accurate use of two or three of these lifts a response above feature-spotting.
Tier 2 · Grade 6+
semantic fieldsibilanceonomatopoeiahyperbolejuxtapositionpathetic fallacytriadic listingsyndetic listingasyndetic listingfronted adverbialsubordinate clause
TermWhat it means
Semantic fieldA group of words from the same area of meaning (a field of violence : beat, struck, militarised)
JuxtapositionPlacing two contrasting things next to each other for effect
Asyndetic / syndeticAsyndetic omits and ("red, blue, emerald"); syndetic keeps it ("red and blue and emerald")
Language — Tier 3
The Grade 8–9 differentiators. Only reach for these if you can deploy them with precision.
Tier 3 · Grade 8–9
extended metaphormotifpolysemysemantic shiftregisterconnotationmodalityanaphora
TermWhat it means
Extended metaphorA metaphor that runs across multiple sentences or paragraphs
ConnotationThe implied meaning beyond the dictionary definition ( home connotes warmth and belonging, not just a building)
ModalityWords like might, could, should that express degrees of certainty
AnaphoraRepetition of an opening phrase across successive sentences
Structure — Tier 1
The choices you analyse in P1 Q3. Structure is about how the writer orders and sequences the whole text — not individual words.
Tier 1 · Any Grade
openingendingparagraphdialoguefocus shift
Focus Shift
A focus shift is when the writer moves the reader's attention from one thing to another within the source — for example, from a wide landscape to a single object, or from one character to another.
Structure — Tier 2
Tier 2 · Grade 6+
time shiftperspective shiftzoom inzoom outforeshadowingflashbackcyclical structureanti-climaxtonal shift
TermWhat it means
Cyclical structureEnds where it began, often with the meaning changed by what's happened in between
ForeshadowingPlants information whose significance only becomes clear later
Zoom in / zoom outZoom in moves from wide setting to close detail; zoom out reverses this
Structure — Tier 3
Tier 3 · Grade 8–9
in medias resfractured chronologynarrative framefree indirect discourseembedded narrative
TermWhat it means
In medias resStarting in the middle of the action rather than with backstory
Free indirect discourseThird-person narration takes on a character's voice or attitude without direct dialogue ("She had had enough of the heat" — the thought is hers, the narration the writer's)
Sentence Forms
Used in language analysis (P1 Q2, P2 Q3) and in your own writing (Q5 of both papers). This is the single most under-used toolkit — most students never address sentence forms at all.
Tier 1
Simple — one main clause · Compound — two main clauses joined by and, but, or, so · Complex — one main clause + at least one subordinate clause
Tier 2
Minor — no main verb, a fragment for effect ("Silence.") · Cumulative — piles on subordinate clauses · Periodic — delays its main verb until the end · Imperative — a command · Exclamatory
Tier 3
Anastrophe — inverted word order · Polysyndeton — excessive conjunctions · Asyndeton — omitted conjunctions · Hypotaxis — heavy subordination · Parataxis — clauses side-by-side without subordination
Rhetorical & Persuasive
Used in P2 Q4 (analysing methods in non-fiction) and in your own writing for P2 Q5.
Tier 1
rhetorical questionrepetitionlistpersuasive language
Tier 2
antithesisparenthesisanaphoratricolondirect addresshyperbolestatisticanecdote
Spec-Named (Green)
Only three persuasive devices are named individually in the AQA specification: rhetorical question, antithesis, parenthesis. Mastering these three accurately is more useful than learning Tier 3 rhetorical names — examiners are formally trained to recognise them.
Form-Specific Terms
Used when writing for P2 Q5 and when identifying the conventions of non-fiction forms.
FormConventions to name
Articleheadline · by-line · sub-heading · lead paragraph · pull-quote
Speechsalutation · address · peroration · call to action
Lettersalutation · sign-off ( Yours sincerely vs Yours faithfully )
Sign-Off Rule
Named recipient → Yours sincerely. Unnamed ("Dear Sir/Madam") → Yours faithfully. Getting this right signals control of form to the examiner.
Three Rules For Using Terminology
1
Name Then Explain
"The writer uses an asyndetic list" is fine — but only if you follow it with what the asyndetic listing achieves. A name without an effect is a label, not analysis.
2
Don't Name What You Can't Analyse
Identifying a technique without saying what it does is feature-spotting. "The writer uses anaphora" earns nothing on its own.
3
Variety Beats Density
Three different terms used accurately is stronger than the same term hammered across five paragraphs.
Worked Example
An original ExamRizz extract. Same techniques, two responses — see how name-then-explain outperforms feature-spotting.
Extract
"The market roared — a thousand voices braided into one, and the smell of frying onions, ripe peaches, diesel pressed in from every side."
Feature-Spotting
"The writer uses personification and a list. This makes it interesting. There is also imagery."
Name Then Explain
"The writer personifies the market — it 'roared' — granting the crowd a single animal voice that overwhelms the individual. The asyndetic list of smells ('onions, peaches, diesel') omits and, so the details pile up without pause, mirroring how the narrator is engulfed all at once."
Examiner Alert
Inaccuracy Costs More Than Omission
This is the rule that catches students out most: inaccurate terminology hurts you more than missing terminology. A student who calls every comparison a "metaphor" when half are similes is actively losing marks. Missing labels are tolerated; wrong labels are penalised.
What To Do Instead
If you can't tell which technique a phrase is, name only what you're sure of and analyse that well. A correctly named, well-analysed simile beats a confidently mislabelled "metaphor" every time.
Four Common Errors
ErrorWhy it costs marks
Metaphor-for-everythingOften the accurate term is simile, personification, semantic field or extended metaphor — check for like / as first
Misusing "juxtaposition"It means contrast through placement; two similar things side by side is not juxtaposition
Adjective-as-technique"The writer uses adjectives" is true of any description — it tells the examiner nothing
Tier 3 reachingUsing rare terminology you can't actually deploy with precision exposes the gap
How To Build This Vocabulary
Don't memorise the lists cold. There's a more efficient route.
Mine The Mark Schemes
Past papers' indicative content notes tell you, for each year, which techniques the source actually uses. That's the most efficient list to prioritise — it's the terminology the examiner expected to see.
Build Outward From Tier 1
Be solid on Tier 1 before adding Tier 2; be solid on Tier 2 before reaching for Tier 3. A Grade 7 student deploying ten Tier 1–2 terms accurately scores higher than the same student deploying three Tier 3 terms inaccurately.
Checkpoint
By the end of this lesson you should be able to:
Name the techniques in each tier across language, structure, sentence forms and rhetoric
Deploy at least five Tier 2 terms accurately in your own analytical writing
Recognise terminology inaccuracy in worked examples
Pick the right level of vocabulary for the grade you're targeting
The One Thing
If you remember nothing else: accurate beats extensive. Name only what you're sure of, then explain what it does.
Next: Accurate, Not Extensive