Paper 1 Preparation

Question 1
General –
- Pay attention to make allocation
- Comment/critically comment/critically discuss – FIRST identify and explain/discuss
and THEN give opinion with explanation i.e. I think…because…
- Style = techniques used such as sentence types, diction, register, tone, figurative
language.
- Attitude – FIRST identify the attitude then EXPALIN. If you can’t think of an attitude
word, you can explain/describe the attitude.
LEARN THE FOLLOWING QUESTION WORDS AND WHAT THEY MEAN

 ANALYSE: you must break it down to its component parts and say how they work
 ACCOUNT FOR: give a reason for
 COMMENT ON/CRITICALLY COMMENT ON: you must explain HOW the
word/image/paragraph/etc works well; then you must give your opinion on whether
it works followed by the reasons why it works well, or does not work well.
 COMPARE: say what the two things have in common AND what is different about
them – there MUST be TWO parts in your answer: The first example shows this and
the second example shows that
 CONTRAST: say what is different between the two things (useful conjunctions:
whereas, on the other hand, while, alternatively) – there MUST be TWO parts in your
answer:
 DESCRIBE: tell about, e.g. ‘describe the scene’=say what it looks like
 DISCUSS: talk about all sides of an issue, looking at the differing ideas equally
 EFFECTIVENESS: say how well or badly it works with close reference to how it is
working/what it is doing.
 EVALUATE: say how well or badly it works
 EXPLAIN: give reasons
 GIVE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR ANSWER: give reasons for your answer
 IN YOUR OPINION: say what you think: you need to state what you think; then
explain (GIVE REASONS) why you think that way. NB Most often, there is no ‘right’ or
‘wrong’ answer for this type of question – the marks are all in how clearly you put
your case!
 IN YOUR VIEW: say what you think: you need to state what you think; then explain
(GIVE REASONS) why you think that way. NB Most often, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
answer for this type of question – the marks are all in how clearly you put your case!
 IRONY: any question dealing with irony must have two parts: “This is what it appears
to be, but that is what it really is.”
 JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWER: give reasons for your answer
 MOTIVATE YOUR ANSWER: give reasons for your answer
 PLACE IN CONTEXT: to put something in context means you must say what
happened before this that led to the incident/action in the passage; and what
happens as a result of the incident/action in the passage
 SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER: give reasons for your answer
 SUBSTANTIATE YOUR ANSWER: give reasons for your answer
 Comprehending questions
Question What to focus on
Comment on the In terms of the article as a whole why could the title be considered appropriate?
appropriateness of Link what is said in the title (break it down if appropriate) to what the content of
the title. the article consists of. Look for emotive words/rhetorical questions and figures
of speech/plays on words.
Discuss the Diction/word choice. Look for words that have particular connotations/emotive
effectiveness of words/figures of speech. Words that engage the reader/designed to elicit a
the word…in the response. Propaganda? Subjective/’objective’. Formal/informal/colloquial words.
context of the Why have they been chosen?
passage./Critically
evaluate the Always bear in mind the writer’s intention, purpose in writing the text and why
diction in the particular words were chosen/what purpose they serve in terms of reflecting
paragraph…. the writer’s purpose. Consider too the audience and what impact these words
are designed to have/feelings designed to evoke/attitudes they feed into.
Critically evaluate Identify the emotive word first
the purpose of the
emotive language
in paragraph…
Comment on the The following method may assist with a question like this which asks you to
writer’s attitude in comment on the writer’s attitude or tone,
line….
STOP!
State The Obvious Point
In this case, the obvious point is the writer’s tone/attitude.
First give the writer’s attitude
Then say how you determine this by the word choice and the way in which
something is said

What is the writer’s First, identify the writer’s intention and then show how what is said is a clear
intention in indication of that intention. Look at diction, emotive words.
referring to….
Do you agree Make an informed comment. Please do not write ‘yes I agree’ or ‘no, I don’t
with…. Justify your agree’. Make sure that you understand what the writer is saying and then
response. discuss why you agree with or disagree with the writer’s view. Justify means
To what extent do provide sensible, logical, coherent and relevant/pertinent reasons why you are
you share the saying what you write. Do not make superficial statements.
writer’s view that
….Justify your
response.

Account for the State what the writer’s view is and then give reasons as to why the writer has
writer’s view in this view. ‘Account for’ in this sense suggests that you give reasons as to why
paragraph…. the writer feels a particular way.
Briefly explain how Look for ’key’ words in the text and consider the connection between these and
the visual
Question 2
- Analyse the topic carefully before reading the text.
- Underline seven points in the text that directly relate to the topic.
- Write these points out in your own words BUT do not change the meaning.
- Go back to the topic after each point to ensure that it relates to the topic.
- Ensure each point provides a DIFFERENT perspective on the topic.
- Write your seven points as a single paragraph.
- Do a word count and if you are over 90 words go back and cross out unnecessary
words such as adjectives and adverbs.

Question 3
- Know the language of advertising techniques or just describe what the advertiser is
doing.
- Advertisers use techniques such as
Fonts – type and size
Bolding/highlighting
Centering in frame/decentering in frame
Zooming in/zooming out.
Restriction of frame
Imagery – think of connotations of imagery
Celebrities
Diction
Captions
Satire
Parody

NB You must be able to identify and describe these techniques and explain the implications
of these techniques.
Implications = the effect of the techniques.
You must also be able to justify why the techniques are used.
Justify = explain why the techniques are used. Relate to AIDA.

Question 4
- Again, know the techniques used by cartoonist and be able to discuss the
implications of the techniques and be able to justify why the techniques are used.
- Techniques
Satire
Diction
Speech bubble shapes
Font – type, size
Bolding
Facial Expression
 Body Language

NB Read the questions very carefully to ascertain whether you need to focus on the
generalities of the cartoonist’s techniques – all of the above – or specifics i.e. ONLY facial
expression/body language/ diction etc.
Also pay careful attention to which characters you need to focus your analysis on.

Question 5
- Do as many past paper Q5s as you can.
- Consider starting with Q5.
- These have been common language structures and conventions assessed in recent
years:
 Parts of speech – establish from context!
 Ambiguity – how language usage leads to a lack of clarity. Often is a result of word
order, comma errors or modal verbs. Explain what the sentence seems to be mean,
what it is meant to mean, and what needs to change to remove the ambiguity.
 Sentence types – simple, complex, compound, compound-complex
 Malapropisms/words incorrectly used
 Concord errors
 Errors of tense
 Tautology/redundancy
 Reported speech
 Changing to formal language
 Punctuation – dash, brackets, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, apostrophes.
Remember, account for the use of the … means explain why the punctuation mark
has been used