English Literature IGCSE
Foil
What Foil means in English Literature IGCSE, as defined for Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Foil
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
A character who contrasts with another character to highlight particular qualities of the other character.
A character who contrasts with another character to highlight specific qualities.
A character who contrasts with another character to highlight specific traits.
A character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) to highlight particular qualities of the other character.
A character who contrasts with another character to highlight particular qualities.
A character who contrasts with another to highlight particular qualities.
Topics that use Foil
- A Streetcar Named Desire (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- A Taste of Honey (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Blues for an Alabama Sky (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Fire on the Mountain (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Pride and Prejudice (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- The War of the Worlds (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Things Fall Apart (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Death and the King's Horseman (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- Pride and Prejudice (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- The Joy Luck Club (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- The Merchant of Venice (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- The Whale Rider (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- Western Lane (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
Related terms
- Motif
- Dramatic Irony
- Microcosm
- Free Indirect Discourse
- Anagnorisis
- Entailment
- Omniscient Narrator
- Patriarchy
Using Foil in the exam
Definition questions usually carry one or two marks, and examiners look for the precise wording. Write the definition from memory, check it against the version above, and then use the term in a longer answer on the same topic so it sticks.
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