English Language Paper 2

Close Language Analysis Tasks

Year 11
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS : Newspaper article – Jack the Ripper, 1888

How does the author use language London lies to-day under the spell of a great
here to convey his opinions about Jack the Ripper? terror. A nameless reprobate - half beast, half
THREE man - is at large, who is daily gratifying his
details you murderous instincts on the most miserable
have and defenceless classes of the community.
identified There can be no shadow of a doubt now that
our original theory was correct, and that the
What? (is Whitechapel murderer, who has now four, if
the point not five, victims to his knife, is one man, and
the writer is that man a murderous maniac. There is a
trying to murderer in our midst. Hideous malice,
make?)
deadly cunning, insatiable thirst for blood - all
these are the marks of the mad homicide. The
How? (What ghoul-like creature who stalks through the
method or
technique streets of London, stalking down his victim
does the like a Pawnee Indian, is simply drunk with
writer blood, and he will have more. The question is,
employ?) what are the people of London to do?
Why?
Whitechapel is garrisoned with police and
stocked with plain-clothes men. Nothing
(What comes of it. The police have not even a clue.
impressions They are in despair at their utter failure to get
is the writer so much as a scent of the criminal.
trying to
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS: a 19th C eyewitness account of a prison hanging

How does the author use language here to convey Marwood -

the executioner’s - attitude to the death penalty? As we filed into the yard, I noticed that we were being one
by one saluted by a somewhat diminutive man clothed in
THREE brown cloth, who raised his hat and greeted each arrival
details you with a “good morning, gentlemen.” To my horror, the man in
have the brown coat proved to be no stranger wandering about,
identified but the designer of the horrible structure on the right, and
the official most closely connected with that and the open
grave. William Marwood it was who thus bade us welcome,
What? (is and the straps on his arms were nothing less than his
the point “tackle”.
the writer is
trying to I confess to a shudder as I looked upon the girdle and arm
pieces that had done duty on so many a struggling wretch,
make?) and half expected that the man who carried them would
have attempted to hide them. But no such thing! To him
How? (What they were implements of high merit, and together with the
method or gallows formed what he now confidentially informed his
technique hearers was “an excellent arrangement”. It was evident that
does the in the gallows and the tackle too he had more than a little
writer pride.
employ?)
“That rope that you see there,” said he, as he gazed
Why? admiringly at the crossbar of black wood, “is two and a half
inches round. I’ve hung nine with it, and it’s the same I used
(What yesterday.” Nor does he manifest the quaver of a muscle as
he went on to point to certain peculiarities of design in his
impressions machinery of death. Had he been exhibiting a cooking
is the writer apparatus, a patent incubator, or a corn mill, he could not
trying to have been more pleased or more calm. To Marwood the
convey? whole thing evidently seemed a triumph of art.
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS: 21 st C newspaper article on animal cruelty
How does the author use language here to convey With each repeated blow, the pitchfork makes a
the cruelty suffered by Anne, the circus elephant? sickening thwack as it slams into Anne the
elephant's hide. She flinches, at one point even
THREE appearing to lose her footing under the weight of
details you
have a particularly savage strike. The disturbing
identified images come from a secretly shot video which
campaigners say lays bare the cruel reality of her
life as Britain's last circus elephant.
What? (is
the point In secretly shot video, a worker swings a vicious
the writer is kick into the belly of 58-year-old Anne the
trying to elephant. Animal Defenders International
make?) planted the device because of concerns about
how Anne was being treated at Bobby Roberts's
How? (What Super Circus. It shows Anne enduring the abuse
method or at the hands of her so-called ‘carers’ while
technique shackled in a dingy barn during the circus' winter
does the break.
writer
employ?) As well as being repeatedly hit with a pitchfork
by one worker employed to feed and look after
Why? her, the 58-year-old elephant also appears to be
stabbed in the face with the tool's metal prongs
(What during one attack. A total of 48 strikes, including
impressions kicks to her body and head, were recorded as she
is the writer was left chained to the spot by her legs.
trying to
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS – 20th C newspaper article about a new American prison

How does the author use language

here to convey his opinions of this prison? Florence is meant to inspire fear and deter criminals
from causing trouble. The prisoners will have to
THREE endure three years of rugged isolation, without
details you incident, to gain release to a gentler prison. They
have are confined alone in their cell for 23 hours a day of
identified relentless tedium. There is no recreation, no
socialising, no work, no communal meals. The
potential for trouble is reduced by severely limiting
What? (is prisoners’ movement. The accommodation is basic,
the point
the writer is with bed, desk, bookcase and stool made from
trying to vandal-proof, reinforced concrete, anchored to the
make?) floor. Matches and lighters are banned. An electric
device gives smokers a light when they push
cigarettes through a hole in the wall.
How? (What
method or Florence believes in sensory deprivation. Cells are
technique built on a staggered system to prevent eye contact
does the between prisoners. A steel door thwarts any
writer
employ?) conversation. Perhaps cruellest of all, the TV is in
black & white and shows only religious and
educational programmes. Prisoners get one ten-
Why? minute long phone call a month. No visits are
allowed.While the trend towards tougher prisons
(What has much public support, critics argue that it simply
impressions toughens criminals while others complain it is
is the writer inhumane and criminals still commit crimes.
trying to
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS – a 21st C newspaper article about Christmas
How does the author use language here to describe the The planet is burning in front of our eyes but we're still going to
environmental damage caused by consumerism? buy those gifts, damn it! Because the world's a grim and
depressing place, so shut up and let me do this for strangers, as
THREE well as friends and family. I want to make them smile. Don't
judge me!
details you
have But I am going to judge you, and judge you hard. Strap yourself
identified in.

If you're not consciously thinking about this stuff, then you're

What? (is part of the problem. Study after study shows that consumption
now dwarfs population as the main environmental threat on
the point earth. Indeed, most of the extra consumption has so far been -
the writer is but is rapidly changing - in wealthy countries that have long
trying to since stopped adding substantial numbers to their population.
make?) Like us.

Moreover, is it making anybody happy? Will those carefully

How? (What wrapped presents in all their plastic glory keep anyone deeply
method or delighted for more than an hour or two? Let's be honest with
technique ourselves. Sure, I get that you want to please your kids but,
does the really? Is this the way to go? Is there not an argument for opting
writer out of this madness and telling them why? I'm sure that most
Secret Santa fans (and many bog-standard Xmas worshippers)
employ?) are sane, rational human beings. They're among the first to
jump on social media and lament the loss of hundreds of
Why? species a day, or the vast inequality and poverty we see in our
own country and around the world.
(What Except ironically, there appears to be this huge disconnect
impressions about what causes these events. Capitalism will literally be the
is the writer death of us, our children, and humanity. But still we turn away,
trying to avert our eyes and do little to change the perfect storm bearing
convey? down on us. It's getting beyond urgent but, hey, let's all have a
cutesy cultural norm of a festive season.
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS – 21st C online BBC news report on child labour in India
How does the author use language here to convey As the police and counsellors question her, Lakshmi
her attitude to child labour in India? breaks down. She tells the police that she was sexually
assaulted by the men who kidnapped her. She was
THREE threatened that if she told anyone about it, they would
details you tell everyone back home in her village and her honour
have would be destroyed. And then, when she started
identified working the agent who arranged her work withheld all
her wages leaving her with nothing.

What? (is Her uncle is just relieved to have found her. A tea
the point garden worker from Assam, he says her parents died
the writer is when she was young and her grandmother is worried
trying to sick about the young girl. He is also angry about the
make?) abduction. "What can we really do? We are poor people
- I didn't have enough money to come to Delhi to look
for my missing niece. Unscrupulous agents and
How? (What middlemen just come into our homes when parents are
method or away working at the tea gardens and lure young girls
technique with new clothes and sweets. Before they know it, they
does the are on a train to a big city at the mercy of these greedy
writer men."
employ?)
He is not alone. One child goes missing every eight
Why? minutes in India and nearly half of them are never
found. Kidnapped children are often forced into the sex
(What trade. But many here feel that children are increasingly
impressions pushed into domestic labour - hidden from public view
is the writer within the four walls of a home. The government
trying to estimates half a million children are in this position.
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS: Charlotte Bronte describes a visit to the Great Exhibition, 1851

How does the author use language Yesterday I went for the second time to the Crystal
here to convey her impressions of the Great Exhibition? Palace. We remained in it about three hours, and I must
say I was more struck with it on this occasion than at my
THREE first visit. It is a wonderful place—vast, strange, new,
details you and impossible to describe. Its grandeur does not
have consist in one thing, but in the unique assemblage of all
identified things. Whatever human industry has created, you find
there, from the great compartments filled with railway
engines and boilers, with mill-machinery in full work,
What? (is with splendid carriages of all kinds, with harness of
the point every description—to the glass-covered and velvet-
the writer is spread stands loaded with the most gorgeous work of
trying to the goldsmith and silversmith, and the carefully guarded
make?) caskets full of real diamonds and pearls worth hundreds
of thousands of pounds.
How? (What It may be called a bazaar or a fair, but it is such a bazaar
method or or fair as Eastern genii might have created. It seems as
technique if magic only could have gathered this mass of wealth
does the from all the ends of the earth—as if none but
writer supernatural hands could have arranged it thus, with
employ?) such a blaze and contrast of colours and marvellous
power of effect. The multitude filling the great aisles
Why? seems ruled and subdued by some invisible influence.
Amongst the thirty thousand souls that peopled it the
(What day I was there, not one loud noise was to be heard, not
impressions one irregular movement seen—the living tide rolls on
is the writer quietly, with a deep hum like the sea heard from the
trying to distance.
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS: a French woman, Flora Tristan, visits London in 1839.
How does the author use language Above the monster city a dense fog combines with
here to describe the pollution in London? the volume of smoke and soot belching from
thousands of chimneys to wrap London in a black
THREE cloud which allows only the dimmest light to
details you penetrate and shrouds everything in a funeral veil.
have
identified
In London, misery is in the very air you breathe and
enters in at every pore. There is nothing more
What? (is gloomy or disquieting than the aspect of the city on
the point a day of fog or rain or black frost. Only succumb to
the writer is its influence and your head becomes painfully
trying to heavy, your digestion sluggish, your breathing
make?) laboured for lack of fresh air, and your whole body is
overcome by fatigue. Then you are in the grip of
what the English call “spleen”: a profound despair,
How? (What
method or
unaccountable anguish, cantankerous hatred for
technique those one loves the best, disgust with everything,
does the and an irresistible desire to end one’s life by suicide.
writer On days like this, London has a terrifying face: you
employ?) seem to be lost in the necropolis of the world,
breathing its sepulchral air. The light is wan, the cold
Why? humid; the long rows of identical sombre houses,
each with its black iron grilles and narrow windows,
(What resembles nothing so much as tombs stretching to
impressions infinity, whilst between them wander corpses
is the writer awaiting the hour of burial.
trying to
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS: A survivor of the Titanic gives an account of the disaster
How does the author use language
here to convey her feelings about this event? Now only pale faces, each form strapped about
with those white bars. So gruesome a scene. We
THREE passed on. The awful good-byes. The quiet look
details you
have of hope in the brave men's eyes as their wives
identified were put into the lifeboats. Nothing escaped one
at this fearful moment. We left from the sun
deck, seventy-five feet above the water. Mr Case
What? (is and Mr Roebling, brave American men, saw us to
the point the lifeboat, made no effort to save themselves,
the writer is but stepped back on deck. Later they went to an
trying to honoured grave.
make?)
Our lifeboat, with thirty-six in it, began lowering
How? (What to the sea. This was done amid the greatest
method or confusion. Rough seamen all giving different
technique
does the orders. No officer aboard. As only one side of the
writer ropes worked, the lifeboat at one time was in
employ?) such a position that it seemed we must capsize in
mid-air. At last the ropes worked together, and
Why? we drew nearer and nearer the black, oily water.
The first touch of our lifeboat on that black sea
(What came to me as a last good-bye to life, and so we
impressions put off - a tiny boat on a great sea - rowed away
is the writer from what had been a safe home for five days.
trying to
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)
 English Language Paper 2: Q3 – LANGUAGE FOCUS: Henry Morley’s description of a typhoon in China, 1851

How does the author use language here to Since a typhoon occurs not much oftener than once in about
describe his experiences of a typhoon (a tropical storm)? three years, it would be odd if we should sail immediately
into one; but we are fairly in the China seas, which are the
THREE typhoon’s own peculiar sporting ground, and it is
details you desperately sultry, and those clouds are full of night and
have lightning, to say nothing of a fitful gale and angry sea. Look
identified out! There is the coast of China.
Now for telescope to see the barren, dingy hills, with clay
and granite peeping out, with a few miserable trees and
What? (is stunted firs. That is our first sight of the flowery land, and we
the point shall not get another yet, for the spray begins to blind us; it
the writer is is quite as much as we can do to see each other. Now the
trying to wind howls and tears the water up, as if it would extract the
make?) waves by their roots, like so many Ocean’s teeth; but he
kicks sadly at the operation. We are driven by the wild blast
that snaps our voices short off at the lips and carries them
How? (What away; no words are audible. We are among a mass of spars
method or and men wild as the storm on drifting broken junks; a vessel
technique founders in our sight, and we are cast, with dead and living,
does the upon half a dozen wrecks entangled in a mass, upon the
writer shore of Hong Kong; — ourselves safe, of course, for left at
employ?) home whatever could be bruised upon the journey.
How many houses have been blown away like hats, how
Why? many rivers have been driven back to swell canals and flood
the fields, (whose harvest has been prematurely cropped on
(What the first warning of the typhoon’s intended visit,) we decline
impressions investigating.
is the writer
trying to
convey?
What do we
think? What
do we feel?)