LITERATURE B Paper 2A Texts and
Genres: Elements of Crime.
Type CORRECT ANSWERThe type of the crime text itself, whether it is detective fiction, a post-modern
novel, a revenge tragedy, an account of a life lost to crime.
Setting CORRECT ANSWERThe settings that are created as backdrops for criminal action and for the
pursuit of the perpetrators of crime: both places and times will be significant here.
Nature of the crime/criminal CORRECT ANSWERThe nature of the crimes and the criminals, the
criminals' motives and actions.
violence, murder CORRECT ANSWERThe inclusion of violence, murder, theft, betrayal.
detection and investigation CORRECT ANSWERThe detection of the criminal and the investigation that
leads to his or her capture or punishment.
moral purpose/order CORRECT ANSWERHow far there is a moral purpose and restoration of order.
Guilt and Confession CORRECT ANSWERGuilt and remorse, confession and the desire for forgiveness.
Detective/Criminal CORRECT ANSWERThe creation of the criminal and their nemesis, the typical
detective hero.
, Resolution and punishment CORRECT ANSWERThe sense that there will be a resolution and the criminal
will be punished.
Suffering CORRECT ANSWERThe victims of crime and the inclusion of suffering.
motifs CORRECT ANSWERThe central motifs of love, money, danger and death.
Punishment and the legal system CORRECT ANSWERPunishment, justice, retribution, injustice,
accusation, the legal system, criminal trials and courtroom dramas, imprisonment, death.
Structure CORRECT ANSWERThe structural patterning of the text as it moves through a series of crises to
some sense of order.
Plotting CORRECT ANSWERThe specific focus on plotting.
Language CORRECT ANSWERThe way that language is used in the world that is created; there may be
use of a criminal register, legal register, police register.
Society CORRECT ANSWERThe way that crime writing is used to comment on society, particularly the
representation of society at particular historical periods.
Audience/Readers CORRECT ANSWERUltimately, how crime stories affect audiences and readers,
creating sWhat are the features of crime writing? CORRECT ANSWERMotive, victim, specified social
context, concealment, detection, punishment, moral dimension, villain, guilt, intertextuality, significance
of place, criminal as victim, isolation of the criminal, detectives, omniscient narrator, focalizer and poetic
justice.
What are the elements of crime? CORRECT ANSWER- type of crime text
- settings
- nature of the crime(s), criminal(s), the criminals' motives and actions
- violence, murder, theft, betrayal
- detection