Year 8 vocabulary glossary

context

The circumstances — historical, social or personal — surrounding when and why a text was written, which can shape its meaning.

evaluate

To judge how successful or effective a text or a writer's choices are, supporting your judgement with evidence.

rhetoric

Language used deliberately to persuade or influence an audience.

rhetorical technique

A specific method used to persuade an audience, such as a rhetorical question, repetition or emotive language.

literary movement

A style or approach to writing shared by a group of writers during a particular period, such as Romanticism or Gothic fiction.

semantic field

A group of words related in meaning that a writer uses throughout a text to build a particular idea or atmosphere, such as words linked to war or decay.

review

A piece of writing that gives an opinion on and evaluation of something, such as a book, film or product.

transactional writing

Writing produced for a specific practical purpose and audience, such as a letter, article or speech.

word origin

The language or source a word originally came from before entering English.

idiom

A phrase whose overall meaning is different from the literal meaning of its individual words.