English Language Paper 1 Section A: reading fiction texts, Study notes of English Language

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English Language Paper 1 Section

A: reading fiction texts

Student name:___________________

Teacher:________________________

Overview of English Language Paper 1 Section A

• You will have 1 hour to read the text and answer the four

questions in this section.

• You do not need to read the whole text to answer questions 1 and

2, so save your 10 minutes of reading time for Q3 and Q4.

Question What we’re being asked to do Marks

available

Minutes per

question?

1 List four things

• Put a box around the lines from the text
• Highlight all possible answers
• Select your top 4 and quote them directly
• Keep your quotes short

2 Analyse language from part of a text

• Read and annotate the boxed extract fully
• Focus on the effects of language and layers of meaning
• Identify specific techniques and word types used
• Write your answer fully (minimum of 3 quotes should be analysed)

3 Analyse the structure of a whole text

• Read the whole text and note in the margins what each section is about
• Focus on ‘what, where, why’
• Do not analyse language
• In your answer, clearly explain the effects of the writer’s structural choices.

4 Write a mini-essay – ‘to what extent do

you agree?’

• Re-read from the line number given
• You can analyse language and structure
• Make sure your analysis links to the focus of the statement
• Your answer should include a range of points, evidence and detailed analysis
• Top level answers will be thesis-led and argue a particular view.

Step two: put a box around the lines you need to read. Step three: read through the text and highlight all possible answers The extract: It was a cold grey day in late November. The weather had changed overnight, when a backing wind brought a granite sky and a mizzling rain with it, and although it was now only a little after two o’clock in the afternoon the pallor of a winter evening seemed to have closed upon the hills, cloaking them in mist. It would be dark by four. The air was clammy cold, and for all the tightly closed windows it penetrated the interior of the coach. The leather seats felt damp to the hands, and there must have been a small crack in the roof, because now and again little drips of rain fell softly through, smudging the leather and leaving a dark-blue stain like a splodge of ink. Step four: select your top 4 answers and write them out exactly as they appear (quotes should be fewer than 6 words where possible)

Write your answers here:

1._________________________________________________________

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2._________________________________________________________

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3._________________________________________________________

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4._________________________________________________________

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You do:

There are three sample questions below. Work your way through the process for each of the questions. We will go through the answers together afterwards.

Q1: read again the first part of the Source from lines 1 to 8.

List four things from this part of the Source about the boy.

One evening, the boy was crouched on top of the mound making a new town out of a heap of broken glass. He liked this time of day best – after tea, before bed. The air seemed to get grainy as its colour changed from vinegary yellow to candyfloss blue. He could rub it between his fingers like dust and slow time down. At the top of the mound he was in charge and he didn't want to go home to bed. He collected green glass shards and broken brown bottle necks. He tumbled fragments of old window in his hands like shattered marbles. He pushed the glass into the mound, making house, balancing roofs on them, building towers.

1._________________________________________________________

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2._________________________________________________________

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3._________________________________________________________

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4._________________________________________________________

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Q1: read again the first part of the Source from lines 1 to 5.

List four things about the bird in Alex’s nightmare from this part of the

source.

Alexander Cold awakened at dawn, startled by a nightmare. He had been dreaming that an enormous black bird had crashed against the window with a clatter of shattered glass, flown into the house, and carried off his mother. In the dream, he

4._________________________________________________________

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Consolidation: in your exercise book, write a detailed set of instructions

explaining how to answer Question 1. You should write the instructions

as though you were teaching a new student.

Understanding Question 2

Learning intention: to understand what we need to do in order to be successful with question 2. We will also practise writing an answer.

What will the question look like?

How does the writer use language here to describe the effects

of the weather?

Task: write down a definition for each of the linguistic devices in the table below. Try to write at least one example of each technique in the final column. You should use full sentences. Technique/device Definition Example Simile Metaphor Personification Repetition Hyperbole Imagery Alliteration Sensory language (the 5 senses) ‘How’ means you need to be able to identify the specific linguistic devices and word types that the writer has used. This is a language analysis question so you should not analyse the structure. You will need to analyse language in detail. This question will ask you to focus on a specific ‘thing’ so make sure that all of your analysis is tied to this idea.

Task: before we write our answer to the question, we need to know what to do in order to be successful. Read through the mark scheme below and try to create your own success criteria: what are the skills we need to include to be successful? Success criteria: What is the difference between a ‘clear’ understanding and a ‘perceptive, detailed’ understanding?

Task: read through the example paragraph below. Where has it met the success criteria? What mark would you give this paragraph? Why? The writer has used language to show that Zoe feels excited. The simile “clear and as pure as ice” suggests that Zoe is enjoying this moment and it is a beautiful experience for her. The word “pure” implies that it is perfect, almost untouched by anything else in the world. This is also seen in the repetition of the phrase “snow and silence.” This sounds soothing and makes the situation seem like a relaxing, appealing place to be which supports the fact Zoe is excited. Task: read through the example paragraph below. Where has it met the success criteria? What mark would you give this paragraph? The writer uses the extended metaphor of an “eagle” to imply that Zoe feels free and powerful at the top of the mountain. An eagle is a bird of prey that is considered to be a strong, successful hunter, which emphasises the power that Zoe feels in the moment before she skis down the mountain. This is emphasised by the noun “talons” which has connotations of power but also of control; the skis have become a part of her, inseparable and essential to her survival. However, the mention of an eagle is deeply ironic because the feelings of power and control are juxtaposed by the foreshadowing of death: the “pre-echo of death” and repetition of “silence” imply that death may occur on the mountainside. Ironically, Zoe’s feelings of power and characterisation as a bird of prey proves to be misplaced – rather than her being the one to “swoop” and hunt, it is the mountain that will hunt her. In your exercise book: answer the question “how does the writer use language here to describe Zoe’s feelings?” If there are few moments in life that come as clear and as pure as ice, when the mountain breathed back at her, Zoe knew that she had trapped one such moment and that it could never be taken away. Everywhere was snow and silence. Snow and silence; the complete arrest of life; a rehearsal and a pre-echo of death. She pointed her skis down the hill. They looked like weird talons of brilliant red and gold in the powder snow as she waited, ready to swoop. I am alive. I am an eagle. Success criteria:

• Clear/perceptive points
• Range of evidence
• Explains evidence
• Fine-grained analysis
• Accurate use of terminology

• language features and techniques
• sentence forms. [8 marks] Task: re-read the question and underline the ‘thing’ of the question. Once you have done that, re-read and annotate the extract fully, looking for layers of meaning. In your exercise book: write a full answer to the question in 10 minutes, just as you would have in the exam. Whilst this is a potentially difficult extract, there are plenty of ideas and quotations that we could have analysed. We are going to look at the example paragraph below and identify what went well within the paragraph and offer a next step for improvement. Example paragraph: The writer uses language in this extract to show the woman to have an almost unfathomable amount of evil readable from only her facial expression. The first thing seen by the narrator was her ‘ravaged face’ – we can say that being ravaged presents her face as being distorted or deformed or her expression showing intense emotions being illustrated so that her face becomes distorted or extremely pained. WWW:_______________________________________________________________

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Next step: ____________________________________________________________

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When analysing language, we are completing a number of steps. In our minds, we are reminding ourselves what the word literally means, how it links to the rest of the sentence and we are also making connections to synonyms (similar words) and any concepts (ideas) that are linked to the word. We then have to break this process down when writing our analysis. To analyse layers of meaning, you should explain what the whole quotation means on an implied level and, where appropriate, you can identify specific words or phrases to ‘zoom in’ on and analyse in even more detail. These words or phrases will have multiple possible interpretations and you will be able to offer at least one interpretation. If you are able to, and you have time, it is always worth trying to consider whether a word or phrase links to other parts of the text and whether there are other interpretations that would be worth exploring.

You may like to think of language analysis as being a bit like an onion: there are lots of layers and our job as skilled, critical readers is to explore those layers of meaning in our own analysis. Exploring layers of meaning: “ravaged face” Which word(s) could you zoom in on?

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What do they literally mean? What do they imply?

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Can you give a second layer of interpretation here?

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“her eyes…were burning with the concentration of passionate emotion” Which word(s) could you zoom in on?

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How does the writer use language here to describe the man and his injuries? You could include the writer’s choice of:

• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms. [8 marks] Task: re-read the question and underline the ‘thing’ of the question. Once you have done that, re-read and annotate the extract fully, looking for layers of meaning. In your exercise book: write a full answer to the question in 10 minutes, just as you would have in the exam. The House example Question 2: How does the writer use language to describe the house? 8 marks The house stared down menacingly at Adam. In its bleak shadow, he felt dwarfed: insignificant; vulnerable; terrified. The black front door hung off rusting hinges at a precarious angle, like a huge rotten tooth. Sprouting tangles of dark thorns grew from the gutters, splitting loose roof tiles. Adam’s fingers tingled with apprehension. Two upstairs windows had been smashed and the jagged glass threatened like knives. Adam imagined the cold edge of the glass on his pale skin. Instinctively, he shivered and pulled himself further into his coat. The house repulsed him and yet enticed him with a macabre magnetism. He took a single step forward. Task: re-read the question and underline the ‘thing’ of the question. Once you have done that, re-read and annotate the extract fully, looking for layers of meaning. In your exercise book: write a full answer to the question in 10 minutes, just as you would have in the exam.

Mr Dale example Question 2: How does the writer use language to describe Mr Dale? 8 marks As Mr Dale sat across the desk watching me, I was filled with an overwhelming urge to laugh. His little eyes fixed on me, like drill holes in a wall. When I looked into them, though, they were, indeed, empty. His thin, light hands played with the slender gold pen, spinning it with deliberate care. For a moment, I pictured him in a circus and had to bite my lip. His nose was slender; sharp even. But, from one nostril, there curled a small, secretive wire of hair, which danced to the gentle rhythm of his breath. After each question, he sucked in a hiss of air and his soft, pink lips pulled back over a row of mint teeth. Momentarily, the hair hovered into the black of his nostril. Task: re-read the question and underline the ‘thing’ of the question. Once you have done that, re-read and annotate the extract fully, looking for layers of meaning. In your exercise book: write a full answer to the question in 10 minutes, just as you would have in the exam.

Introduction to Question 3 – ‘structure’

Learning intention: to understand what we need to do in order to be successful with question 3. We will also practise writing an answer.

What will the question look like?

Key things to note from the question:

• It will always be about the whole of the source
• The examiner doesn’t really care if you are interested; they want you to explore effects on the reader (which we will explain later) Task: think back to the work we did on structure for Question 5. From memory, note down definitions for the structural devices/techniques in the table below.

Where – where did the writer choose to place this moment, character or action? Why – why did the writer choose to place this moment, character or action here? What effect does it have? Questions to consider as you prepare your answer to question 3:

• Look at the beginning and the end of the extract. How have things changed? Why? Does the ending repeat, reflect or echo anything else that happened in the extract?
• What are the most important moments in the extract? Why? Effect on the reader?
• When are new ideas, characters or settings introduced? Why?
• Are there any significant shifts in focus? Dramatic events? Why did the writer choose the moment they did to do this? We do: we will read a short extract from The Woman in Black and plan a response to the question. Step one: read through the extract and note what each ‘section’ is about. We should be able to come up with at least 5 annotations from this extract. Extract from ‘The Woman in Black’ by Susan Hill How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader? [8 marks] Baffled I stood and waited, straining to listen through the mist. What I heard next chilled and horrified me, even though I could neither understand nor account for it. The noise of the pony and trap grew fainter and then stopped abruptly and away on the marsh was a curious draining, sucking, churning sound, which went on, together with the shrill neighing and whinnying of a horse in panic, and then I heard another cry, a shout, a terrified sobbing – it was hard to decipher – but with horror I realised that it came from a child. I stood absolutely helpless in the mist that clouded me and everything from my sight, almost weeping in an agony of fear and frustration, and I knew that I was hearing, beyond any doubt, the appalling last noises of a pony and trap, carrying a child in it, as well as whatever adult – presumably Keckwick – was driving and was even now struggling desperately. It had somehow lost the causeway path and fallen into the marshes and was being dragged under by the quicksand and the pull of the incoming tide. Step two: read through your notes and consider the questions we looked at previously (in the box at the top of this page). Step three: plan our three or four points to write about:

Point 1_______________________________________________________________ Point 2_______________________________________________________________ Point 3_______________________________________________________________ We should also open our answer with a general statement about how the writer has structured the text overall (this is similar to the thesis statement that we use in English Literature).

Everybody writes: carefully craft a single sentence that explains the overall effect

of the structure of the extract:

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How to write an effective answer to Question 3 The mark scheme focuses on the following skills:

• Clear points about how the text is structured
• Range of well-chosen examples
• Analysis of the effect of structural features
• Accurate use of subject terminology Task: read through the example answer below. Annotate or highlight where it has met the success criteria. Overall, the writer has structured the extract to steadily increase the tension for the reader. The extract begins with the writer focusing on the setting and the narrator’s confusion. The reference to the ‘mist’ and the fact that the main character was ‘straining to listen’ has been placed at the start of the extract to reflect both the character’s confusion and to create fear and tension for the reader. The tension is then built in the middle of the extract as the writer focuses on what the narrator could hear, with the description of ‘shrill neighing’, ‘a terrified sobbing’ and a ‘cry.’ This series of terrifying sounds has been listed in quick succession by the writer to emphasise the horror of the narrator’s experience; we feel scared both for the narrator and for the cry of the ‘child’ who we have not been able to see so far. Finally, the extract finishes by focusing on the sound of the ‘pony and trap’ as it ‘was being dragged under’. Despite not being able to see anything throughout the extract, the reader is presented with a potentially fatal death of a child and feels