Is Context Part of Subject Terminology
August 23, 2025 |
Subject Terminology
Today we are sorting out a common confusion: does context count as subject terminology?
The short answer: No. Context and subject terminology are not the same thing. They live in different boxes on the mark scheme. Let me show you.
What Context Actually Is
Context is about the world outside the text — the historical, social, and cultural background that shaped it.
Examples:
What Subject Terminology Is
Subject terminology, on the other hand, are the terms you use to analyse the crafting of the text.
Examples:
Metaphor, personification, enjambment
Narrative viewpoint, stage directions, juxtaposition
They are usually assessed separately — but together they make your essay stronger. Note that nearly every analytical essay will need subject terminology, but most essays are not assessed on their use of context.
How They Work Together
A top-level essay often blends the two:
“Dickens uses the metaphor of Scrooge being a ‘solitary oyster’ to show his isolation. This reflects Victorian anxieties about selfishness in a society where community and charity were valued.”
Here you have subject terminology (metaphor) and context (Victorian society) working hand-in-hand. The skill that ties them together is analysis: subject terminology is a key part of stylistic analysis (analysing language, structure and form) while contextual analysis can often add to or deepen stylistic analysis.
The short answer: No. Context and subject terminology are not the same thing. They live in different boxes on the mark scheme. Let me show you.
What Context Actually Is
Context is about the world outside the text — the historical, social, and cultural background that shaped it.
Examples:
- Knowing that Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in Victorian London during the Industrial Revolution.
- Recognising that Shakespeare’s audiences would have viewed witches very differently to us today.
- Understanding the war background in the Power and Conflict poetry cluster.
What Subject Terminology Is
Subject terminology, on the other hand, are the terms you use to analyse the crafting of the text.
Examples:
Metaphor, personification, enjambment
Narrative viewpoint, stage directions, juxtaposition
They are usually assessed separately — but together they make your essay stronger. Note that nearly every analytical essay will need subject terminology, but most essays are not assessed on their use of context.
How They Work Together
A top-level essay often blends the two:
“Dickens uses the metaphor of Scrooge being a ‘solitary oyster’ to show his isolation. This reflects Victorian anxieties about selfishness in a society where community and charity were valued.”
Here you have subject terminology (metaphor) and context (Victorian society) working hand-in-hand. The skill that ties them together is analysis: subject terminology is a key part of stylistic analysis (analysing language, structure and form) while contextual analysis can often add to or deepen stylistic analysis.
