HSC Chinese and Literature key terms

A text's central idea or message, the point the author most wants readers to take away. Identifying it requires weighing the whole text rather than one striking detail.

The broader issue or concept a text explores, such as family loyalty, migration, or social change. A single work may carry several themes that interlock.

The controlling idea that unifies a passage, usually statable in one or two sentences. In examination answers it is often paired with supporting evidence from the text.

The purpose an author pursues in composing a text, such as persuading, commemorating, warning, or entertaining. Naming it helps explain why particular language choices were made.

A claim advanced and defended within an argumentative text. Strong responses distinguish the main contention from subordinate points that merely support it.

The evidence offered to support a claim, including statistics, examples, testimony, and reasoning. Evaluating whether evidence is relevant and sufficient is a common reading task.

The process of linking evidence to a claim so that the conclusion follows. Comment on whether the reasoning is logical, complete, and free of obvious gaps.

Deliberate language techniques used for effect, such as metaphor, parallelism, rhetorical questions, and repetition. Analysis should name the device and explain its impact on meaning.

A figure of speech that describes one thing in terms of another sharing a resemblance, as in simile and metaphor. It shapes how readers feel about the subject rather than merely decorating it.

An object, person, or event that carries meaning beyond its literal sense, often pointing to an abstract idea. Symbols usually gain force from repetition and context within the work.

Vivid sensory description, or a recurring image pattern, that evokes feeling and reinforces theme. Tracking imagery across a text often reveals development in mood or character.

The fused atmosphere and meaning created by description, especially in poetry and lyrical prose. Discussion of it usually combines scene, emotion, and the reader's imaginative response.

The attitude conveyed through a speaker's or writer's choice of words, such as ironic, urgent, tender, or detached. It differs from mood, which concerns the feeling produced in the reader.

The particular audience a text addresses or assumes, whose knowledge and expectations shape its style. Identifying the intended readers helps explain register, vocabulary, and what is left unsaid.

The variety of language suited to a situation, ranging from formal written prose to casual conversation. Consistency of register is a criterion in both comprehension and production tasks.

The links that tie sentences and paragraphs together, achieved through connectives, pronouns, and repeated key words. Cohesive writing reads as a continuous argument rather than a list of points.

The overall logical flow of a text, so that each part follows understandably from what precedes it. Cohesion supplies the surface links; coherence concerns whether the whole makes sense.

The arrangement of a text's parts, such as introduction, development, climax, and conclusion. Commenting on structure means explaining how organisation serves the writer's purpose.

A group of sentences developing one point or stage of a discussion, usually marked by indentation. Effective paragraphs open with a controlling idea and close with a link forward.

A text that recounts events, typically with characters, setting, complication, and resolution. Assessment often focuses on whether narrative detail is selective and purposeful.

Writing whose main aim is to explain how something works or what something is, using orderly factual presentation. Clarity, accuracy, and logical sequencing matter more than emotional effect.

Writing that takes a position and defends it with reasons and evidence, often anticipating counterarguments. A clear thesis and consistent line of reasoning are essential.

Detailed depiction of people, places, or sensations so that readers can picture them. In narrative and expressive writing it should advance character, mood, or theme rather than stall the action.

Writing that foregrounds personal feeling, often through imagery, rhythm, and direct address. Overuse of emotion words without concrete detail tends to weaken the effect.

The constructed personality and presence of a character, built from action, speech, appearance, and others' reactions. Analysis should trace change and consider the character's function in the work.

The techniques an author uses to create and develop characters, whether by direct description or by showing behaviour and dialogue. Noticing which method dominates supports interpretation.

The sequence of events and the causal chain connecting them, including conflict, turning point, and resolution. Plot differs from story in emphasising why events follow from one another.

The tension between opposing forces, whether person against person, society, nature, or self. Conflict drives plot forward and often exposes a work's central values.

The standpoint from which a story is told, such as first person, third-person limited, or omniscient. The choice controls what readers can know and how they judge events.

The voice that tells a narrative, who may or may not be identical with the author. Distinguishing narrator from author is essential when reliability is in question.

A narrator whose account readers have reason to doubt, through self-interest, limited understanding, or deliberate distortion. Detecting gaps between claim and evidence is a core critical skill.

Specific words, phrases, or incidents from a prescribed text used to support an interpretation. Quotations should be brief, accurately recalled, and explicitly connected to the point made.

A passage quoted directly from a text, set off by quotation marks or indentation. In examinations, short embedded quotations usually serve analysis better than long block quotations.

Sustained critical writing that interprets a literary work and justifies its judgments with evidence. It requires a clear line of argument rather than summary of the plot.

The surrounding circumstances that shape meaning, including adjacent sentences, the wider work, and the historical setting. Words and actions are interpreted differently depending on context.

The social, historical, and traditional setting that informs a text's assumptions and references. Knowledge of it helps explain customs, allusions, and values that may otherwise seem puzzling.

The beliefs about what matters, such as duty to family, individual freedom, or loyalty to community, that a text endorses, questions, or exposes. Comparing values across texts supports cultural discussion.

A candidate's own considered reaction to a text, including agreement, resistance, or recognition of personal experience. It earns credit when reasoned and anchored in textual detail rather than asserted baldly.

Brief notes taken while listening to recorded material, recording key facts, names, numbers, and the speaker's stance. Effective notes use abbreviations and leave space for corrections on a second hearing.

The details in a spoken or written text that a question depends on, such as times, reasons, and stated opinions. Separating these from supporting chatter is central to accurate comprehension.