Art & Literary Criticism
Art & Literary Criticism — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, tricky words and four interactive exercises.
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson goal
Analyse a text or a work of art the way it is done in British schools 🎨. Twenty technical terms — imagery, juxtaposition, connotation — plus the verb convey, the key to every English literary commentary: not “the author says”, but “the author conveys”. 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
How to comment on a text in English · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
Many students are trained to summarise; English examiners want analysis. The difference lies in one verb: not *the author says*, but *the author* conveys.
Begin with what is on the page. Identify the narrator and ask whether we should trust them. Notice the tone, and above all notice where it changes. Then move to technique: the imagery the writer chooses, the symbolism attached to a recurring object, the juxtaposition of two scenes that would not normally sit together, the quiet allusion to an earlier text.
Finally, interpret. Say what the technique achieves: how a single word's connotation shifts our sympathy, how an early image can foreshadow the ending, how a description manages to evoke something the sentence never states. A commentary that lists devices without explaining their effect is derivative and scores badly. One that explains why the composition of a paragraph — or a painting — produces a particular feeling is the reason certain works remain timeless.
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words are learnt in pairs, not alone: memorise the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a recurring motif | an idea or image that keeps coming back | Water is a recurring motif. |
| bring the character to life | make the character feel real | The dialogue brings the character to life. |
| set the scene | describe the time and place at the start | The opening paragraph sets the scene. |
| stand the test of time | stay popular for many years | Few bestsellers stand the test of time. |
| draw on a tradition | use ideas from an earlier style | The poem draws on the pastoral tradition. |
| critically acclaimed | praised by reviewers | Her critically acclaimed debut. |
⚠️ Tricky words
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Watch out ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| romance | a love story; a medieval adventure tale | Not the same as novel (a long story book). |
| editor | a person who prepares a text for publication | Not the same as publisher (the company that publishes books). |
| argument | the main point an author argues | Not the same as subject matter (the topic). |
| sensible | assennato | Not the same as sensitive (= easily upset). |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| It's a great book. | informal | conversation, not a written commentary |
| The novel is highly effective. | neutral | acceptable but general |
| The author employs juxtaposition to unsettle the reader. | academic | the register expected at C1/C2 |
| Arguably, the text resists such a reading. | advanced critical | when you suggest a different reading |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| The author wants to say that… | The author suggests / implies that… |
| In this romance by Austen… | In this novel by Austen… |
| The book has been written from Orwell. | The book was written by Orwell. |
| This poetry is very beautiful. | This poem is remarkably powerful. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to train the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The 💡 hint helps you.
- The of light recurs throughout.💡 words that paint pictures
- The metaphor helps a sense of loss.💡 communicate a feeling or idea
- The word carries a negative .💡 the feeling a word suggests
- The of war and childhood is deliberate.💡 two opposites side by side
- The is deeply unreliable.💡 the person telling the story
- The never learns the truth.💡 the main character
- The storm is an obvious .💡 a trick to move the story on
- The opening lines the ending.💡 hint at what comes later
- The of the river is central.💡 objects standing for ideas
- There is a clear to Dante here.💡 an indirect reference