This document provides definitions and examples of key literary terms found in the plays All My Sons and A Doll's House. It defines terms like imagery, simile, metaphor, symbolism, and figurative language. For each term, it provides examples from both plays to illustrate how the techniques are used. The document also analyzes elements like diction, tone, motifs, and the use of pronouns, verbs, and dialogue between characters. Overall, the summary concisely outlines and compares various literary devices in the two source texts.

1. All My Sons and A Doll’sHouse
Glossary of key Terms (created by year 13 class)
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Imagery
Simile
Simile - a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a
different kind.
 “The wind… It was like the roaring of his engine” (Kate talking about the storm, Act
1)
 “..they’re cracked as coconuts.” (Jim talking about his patients, Act 3, p.73)
 “..he was crying like a child.” (Kate about Joe,Act 3, p.74)
 “Just like a woman” (Torvald to Nora,p.3, Act 1)
 “Oh, you think and talk like a stupid child.” (Torvald to Nora, p.84, Act 3)
 KrogstadwhenMrs. Linde lefthimforanotherman:‘whenI lostyou,itwas justas if the
groundhad slippedawayfromundermyfeet.’
Symbol- A character of object in a piece that represents something else. e.g. A panda
representing the WWF.
 All My Sons- Larry’s tree 'She was standing right here when it cracked'- Chris
 A Dolls House- The Christmas Tree 'The Christmas tree, stripped, bedraggled and
with its candles burnt out'
Figurative language- Describing something by going beyond the actual meanings of
the words e.g. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
 All My sons- ‘I went to work with Dad, and that rat race again”- Chris
 “What ice doesthat cut?” (Joe to Kate,Act3, p.76)
 A Dolls House- 'Your skylark would chirp about every room'- Torvald

2. Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is comparable to something else.
In A Doll’s house a metaphor is used, which is a collaborated one which shared between
Krogstad and Miss Linde “you said you were like a broken man clinging to the wreck of his
life” … “And I am like a broken woman clinging to the wreck of her life”, this is a metaphor
for their shared seemingly helpless situation. Similarly, to Ibsen Miller uses a metaphor for
example when he includes the fallen tree in the garden of the Keller’s which is a metaphor for
Kate’s hope for Larry being alive, when it falls it represents her hope is dying.
 “All me can do issave the bitsand piecesfromthe wreck…”(TorvaldtoNora,p.76, Act3)
 “..whatwas Larry to you?A stone that fell intothe water?”(ChristoKate,Act3, p.84)
Extended Metaphor
 “..everymandoeshave a star. The star of one’shonesty….justwantedtobe alone towatch
hisstar go out.” (JimtalkingaboutChris,Act3, p.74)
 “..myfrightenedlittle songbird…youare safe andsoundundermywing..likeahunteddove
I have rescuedunscathedfromthe cruel talonsof the hawk.”(Torvaldto Nora,p.78, Act 3)
Motif
 Repeatedimage/idea–the characters referencesto‘hearts’in‘All MySons’ – “breakhis
heart..dryuphisheart..inyourheart…”
 The repeatedmotif of birdsanddollsin‘A Doll’sHouse’.
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Diction - the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.
Torvald’s character in A Doll’s House is very conscious about his reputation and the way his
is viewed upon in society. One way in which Torvald can withstand his status, is by
controlling and manipulating his wife, Nora. An example of this is:
Torvald: “Is that my Skylark twittering out there?”
Nora: “Yes it is”
Torvald: “Scampering around like a little squirrel?”
Nora: “Yes”
Both characters represent their common traits in this example. Torvald uses the lexical field
of animals and birds, whilst Nora responds only with one word utterances, being very
submissive of Torvalds remarks.

3. George’s character in All My Sons uses many interrogatives when approaching Chris and
Keller. This represents him as a character which is unsure of the situation surrounding him. In
addition to that, George believes he knows what is right, and that Keller did send out the
faulty parts, this represents to the audience that the questions George is asking, he already
knows the answers to. For example “Or are you afraid of the answer”, “Annie, why isn’t his
name on it?” and “What’d expect him to think of you?”
Tragic Flaw - the character defect that causes the downfall of the protagonist of a
tragedy. Joe’s pride? Nora’s naivety? Chris’ idealism?
Personal Pronoun - each of the pronouns in English
(I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them) comprising a set that shows
contrasts of person, gender, number, and case.
A Doll’s House – Nora often uses ‘I’ in her sentences, but not in a way that represents her as
self-centred. Instead it represents her as maybe feeling as if she doesn’t get spoken about
enough or respected enough in her relationship, so she compensates for that by using ‘I’ to
express her opinion.
All My Sons – On page 14, Chris uses the pronoun ‘she’ which represents his as showing a
lack of emotion towards the character. For example “She will come over here and beat your
brains out”, “She saw it”, “She was out here when it broke”.
Turn Taking - refers to the process by which people in a conversation decide who is
to speak next.
Antithesis Givingtwo
opposite/contrasting
ideasinone sentence
“His sufferingand
lonelinessseemed
almostto provide a
backdgroundof drak
cloudto the sunshine
of ourlives..”
(Torvaldabout
Dr.Rank,Act 3)
Foreshadowing Somethingwhich
givesanideaof what
isto come lateronin
the play
“I’m hisfatherand
he’smyson, andif
there’ssomething
biggerthanthat I’ll
put a bulletinmy
head.”
Torvald’swishto
‘save’Nora.
Protagonist The leadingcharacter Joe Keller Nora Helmer
Imperative A command “Tell him!” “Don’t be so silly!”

4. Questions A sentence inan
interrogative form-
addressedto
someone inorderto
getinformationin
reply
“What’s itto you?
Why…?”
“What? I don’t
understand…”
Contraction A shortenedformof
twowords,withthe
omittedlettersoften
replacedwithan
apostrophe
“You can’t readher
mind.”
“I’ve spokentohim”
Emotive
language
The deliberate choice
of wordsto elicit
emotion
“Yes sir.Larry. That
was a boywe lost.
Larry. Larry.”
“Goodbye,Torvald.I
don’twant tosee the
children.Iknow they
are inbetterhands
than mine.”
Tone
Definition: attitude or approach that the author takes toward the work’s central theme or
subject usually through character’s voice
Example: In A Doll’s House, Helmer’s tone is consistently dominant
Monologue
Definition: a long speech in which only one person talks
Example: In A Doll’s House, at the beginning of the play, Nora speaks in large paragraphs
resembling monologues. This is because she is proud of her success and is showing off to
Mrs Linde about her husband, money and family because Mrs Linde is a widow with no
children and is very poor. A key moment within the play is at the end of Act One when she
says “Corrupt my children…! Poison my home? It’s not true! It could never, never be true!”
when she is alone. This use of monologue represents the turning point that this scene holds.
In All My Sons, it is typical of Kate’s language to consist of large monologues, both when she
is alone and also when she is around others. I believe she does this so as to distract herself
from the truth, it makes her day-to-day life seem more surreal as if she is convincing herself
that Larry is still alive. For example of page 20, she is describing her dream about Larry’s tree
in great detail and gets absorbed into this imagination. However, towards the end of the
play, it is Joe Keller’s speech that begins to consist of monologues more, and this may be
because he is trying to justify his crime and defend himself against George and his son and
from the truth. He is desperately trying to convince not only those around him but also
himself that he is not a guilty man.

5. Verb
Definition: a word used to describe an action
Example: In A Doll’s House, it is Helmer who uses verbs frequently in his speech. For
example, “acted”, “going”, “writes”, “hiding”. This is because he is fairly emotionally
detached – e.g. he doesn’t show much sadness when Dr Rank dies – so much of his speech
consists of actions rather than feelings/emotions.
In All My Sons, Chris’ speech consists of lots of verbs e.g. “talking”, “accomplish” and
“waiting”. And this is because he is ready to move on from Larry’s death and he wishes that
his family will forget and move on also so that he can get married to Ann. Therefore his
speech is very practical and based on actions.
Reactive
Definition: acting in response to a situation rather than creating or controlling it.
Example: In A Doll’s House, Helmer is a very reactive character. For example, he reacts to
finding out about the loan, he reacts to Nora deciding to leave and to Krogstad wanting a
position at the bank – but he is never the creator of the situation, only the reactor.
In All My Sons, Joe is a fairly reactive character – he never creates the situations but is
obliged to react. Such as when Chris proposes to Ann and asks for his permission or when
George accuses himof murder etc. This is because I think he wants to leave the past in the
past and so instead of creating these situations he attempts to diffuse them.
Filler
Definition: a pause or hesitation in speech indicating spontaneous speech
Example: In A Doll’s House, Nora uses fillers at the beginning of the play to indicate her
confusion and uncertainty towards how she feels e.g. “no”, “ah”, “hm” etc. However
towards the end of the play when she realises how she truly feels, her clear thoughts are
projected through her fluency of speech and there are no fillers present.

6. Mood
Mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional situation
that surrounds the readers. Mood is developed in a literary piece through various methods. It
can be developed through setting, theme, tone and diction.
For example the mood at the end of both plays is tense and dramatic.
Soliloquy- a character speaking their thoughts aloud when alone. Soliloquy is used by
Ibsen through the portrayal of Nora to project her thoughts to the audience. For example she
says “Five. Seven hours to midnight. Then twenty-four hours till the next midnight. Then the
tarantella will be over. Twenty-four and seven? Thirty-one hours to live”.
Joe’s soliloquy on page 32. Which can be interpreted as a monologue to himself to reinforce
that sending off the faulty airplane cylinders was the right thing to do, to try and the rid the
guilt he evidently feels.
Noun- used to identify any object, places, or things common, A Doll’s House – “Italy” All
My Sons “Columbus” these are examples of proper nouns.
Provocative- Provocative language is when anger or other strong reaction is caused
deliberately. This is used by both playwrights as a form of heightened language to raise the
tensions within the two plays. An example in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is, “I realised tonight
you’re not the man I thought you were” this signifies the Helmer’s marriage coming to an
end.
An example of provocative language used in All My Sons, is George’s provocative
declarative to raise the tension within the play; “Because his Father destroyed your Family”
Discourse Marker- Discourse Markers are used to shape the direction of the
conversation. Which are used through particles such as – so, well, you know, actually, I
mean. An example of a discourse marker being used in a Doll’s House is “I mean… to do me
a tremendous favour…” This is used to emphasise Nora trying to ask Rank a favour, it
reflects Nora’s confusions and problems.
An example of Discourse Markers conveyed by Miller in All My Sons is “Well, No one told
me it was Labor Day” Chris Keller.
Register- Register helps to indicate the degree of formality in language use. For example
the register that the writer projects helps to define the purpose, occasion and audience.
The register used by Ibsen is a formal middle class register to emphasise the context of the
play which was a 19th century middle class Norwegian household, although Ibsen wanted it
to represent the typical middle class family across Europe.

7. In Comparison, to All My Sons where Miller projects the register of a dialect typical to Mid-
Western families in 1940’s America exemplified through “I aint Clever” Joe Keller.
Climax- The point of the story where the protagonist’s life is dramatically changed.
All My Sons- 'He hasn’t been laid up in 15 years'- Kate
A Dolls House- 'Now you must read your letters Torvald'- Nora
Adjective- A describing word e.g. Beautiful
All My Sons- 'Honorable profession'- Frank
A Dolls House- 'Little' - Torvald
The use of adjectives in much more prominent in A Dolls house as Torvald is constantly
addressing Nora with different childish names such as 'Skylark' or 'Songbird' which means
that he uses adjectives before them to make it sound even more immature.
Repetition- Repeating the same word or phrase over and over again.
All My Sons- 'Larry, Larry'- Chris repeats Larry’s name to try and reinforce the fact that he’s
dead.
A Dolls House- 'Little girl'- Torvald constantly puts Nora down by using derogatory terms.
Rhetorical language- Used to convey a meaning or persuade someone. It can also
be used as a way of provoking the audience.
All My Sons- 'What the hell is the matter with you?'- Keller
A Dolls House- 'And leave your home, your husband and your Children?'- Torvald

8. Idiolect- An individual’s distinct and unique way of speaking.
All My Sons- 'Every Sunday ought to be like this'- Frank
A Doll’s House- 'But for the present I must ask you to excuse me'- Torvald.
Lexical Field
A groupof wordswithsome connection
There isa lexical fieldof religionatthe endof the play“..sacred..moral..miracle..”
Krogstadoftenuseswordsrelatingtofinance andlaw.
Irony
Definition - The expressionof one'smeaningbyusinglanguage that normallysignifiesthe opposite,
typicallyforhumorousoremphaticeffect.
In A DollsHouse ironyisusedwhenTorvaldstatesthathe pretendsNoraisinsome kindof trouble
and he awaitsthe momenthe can rescue her.Whenin fact the truthcomesout and Torvaldhas
beengivenhisopportunitytorescue Nora,all he isconcernedwithishisreputation.He yellsat
Nora.He insultsherbycallingherfeatherbrain.He screamsat her,tellinghertogo to herroom. He
isnot interestedinhowhe canrescue Nora.He isinterestedinhow he canget outof thismess
withoutruininghisgoodname.
ThenwhenKrogstadreturnsthe IOU document,Torvaldexclaimsthathe issavedandthat he has
forgivenNora.WhenNoraasksif she is saved,Torvaldexclaimsthatshe is,of course.Onlymoments
earlier,he wasfuriouswithNora.Ironically,he didnotevenconsiderthatshe hadborrowedthe
moneytoin fact save him.
In All My SonsIronyis usedwhen Irony whenthe apple tree fallsdown.Kellersays,"He’dbeen27
thismonth.Andhistree blowsdown."Ironichow itmeansso little toKeller.He readsthe
newspaperwhile saying,"Isn'titawful?The windmust've gotitlastnight.You heardthe wind,didn't
you?"The fallingsymbolisesthatLarry isindeedmissingordead.
Dialogue
Definition - A conversationbetweentwoormore people asa feature of a book,play,or film.
In A DollsHouse Noraismost engagedwithotherCharactersindialogue,she ismostfrequentlyin
conversation.Withothercharacterslike Mrs.Linde,Helmer,Krogstad,andDr.Rank,she is the only
character inthe playthat hasdialogue witheveryothercharacter,evenwiththe children.Thiscan

9. emphasise whatrole she hasinthe play,she isthe protagonistandeverycharacterinteractswith
her,thiscan buildan empatheticbondwiththe audience andNora,meaningwe empathisewithher
and that the audience are ‘onherside’.
She isalso the dominantspeaker,especiallywithMrs.Linde,she inActOne portrays herdominance
by presentingherspeechwithhighprolixity,Mrs.Linde saysverylittle butNoraspeaksalot.She is
alsodominantinthe conversation,bychangingthe topicsthroughoute.g.‘toenjoyyourself over
Christmas,of course!’
Adverb
Definition - A wordor phrase that modifiesthe meaningof anadjective,verb,orotheradverb,
expressingmanner,place,time,ordegree (e.g.gently,here,now,very).
In A DollsHouse Norausesplentyof adverbs,examplesbeing‘really’,‘passionately’and‘terribly’.
She usesadverbsthe mostbecause she isconstantwithherspeechandprolixityanddescribesalot
of whatshe describesandsaysto the othercharacters.That she usesadverbscanportray herguilt
of lyingtoTorvald,thatshe describesthingsinsuchdetail sothatit makes up forlyingtohim about
otherthings.
In All My Sons Annusesadverbsthe most,withexamplesof ‘hardly’‘knowingly’and‘awfully’.These
can emphasise thatshe isinthe past and isconstantlyreferringtoit,andthiscan be due to her
knowingthe truthaboutLarry. It can alsoact as irony,because she isverydescriptiveinherspeech
but intruth,she isn’tdescribingthe truthto the Familyanddoesn’tsayanythingaboutthatto them.
Collaborative
Definition - Producedbyorinvolvingtwoormore partiesworkingtogether.
In A DollsHouse collaborative conversationoccurswhenKrogstadandMrs. Linde discourse about
theirfuture relationship,(‘Mrs.Linde - Ineedsomeone tomother,andyourchildrenneedamother.
We needeachother.Krogstad – ‘Thankyou…ill soonhave everybodylookinguptome.’) Thisproves
that Nora andKrogstadare trulyin love andthat theydifferfromNoraandTorvaldbecause they
agree on eachother’smorals,valuesandfuture intentions.
In All My Sons,collaborative conversationtakesplace whenChrisandAnnconfessabouteach
other’slove forone another.Anexample being(Ann –‘Ialmostgot marriedtwoyearsago’ Chris –
‘youfeltthe same back’Ann – ‘everydaysince!’) the wayinwhichexcitedtonesare portrayedshow
howAnnand Chrishave beenpreventingtheirtrue feelingsforalongtime.The exclamationmark
presentsAnnashappy,overwhelmedandrelieved,whichiswhatChrissoundslike throughoutthe
full discourse section.

10. Phatic Language
Definition - denotingorrelatingtolanguage usedforgeneral purposesof social interaction,rather
than to conveyinformationoraskquestions.
Andin All My SonsphatictalkhappensinAct One,withthe example ‘justwalkingoff my
breakfast…’looksup tothe sky’isn’tit beautiful?’thisemphasisesthatFrankistalkingaboutnon
importantsubjectslike the weather,hisbreakfastetc.andthiscan foreshadow thattheyall know
aboutwhat Kellerhasdone,thattheymusttalkaboutnonsense inorderfor it to be civil orfor their
societytobe ‘backto normal’.
That Kellerreplieswithminimal speech(‘yeah,nice’) canforeshadow thathe himself knowsthathe
has sinned,andthathe is guilty.Byhimreplyingwithlittlespeechshowsthathe doesn’twantto
talkabout nonsense,thattalkingaboutthe skyandbreakfastshowsthatpeople know whathe’s
done that theyare tryingto be civil,sohe stopsthe conversationstraightaway.
Phaticlanguage transpiresinA DollsHouse whenDr.Rank andMrs. Linde firstexchange
conversation,(Rank –‘I suppose youhave come downtotownfor a good rest – doingthe roundsof
the parties?Mrs. Linde – ‘I have come to lookfor work’) thisexamplegivesagoodinsightintohow
awkwardand specialisedRankandLinde’s relationshipis,andthatRankuseshisprofessiontostarta
conversationwithher,andthatMrs. Linde usesthe fact that she isunemployedwithinherfirst
chance to talk to Rankallowsusto see that she isdesperate.