- Make sure you read through the full

texts before answering any questions

(context is important!)
- Text 1:
- VOICE & Viewpoint:
- Audience:
VARP the - Register & tone:
- Purpose:
texts - Text 2:
- VOICE & Viewpoint:
- Audience:
- Register & tone:
- Purpose:

Q1
- Check the line numbers &
box the section off.
- Read the command words
carefully (Does it need to be in
your own words? Do they want
a quotation? How many
points/quotations do I need to
make? How long should the
quotation be?)
• 1a. “Give one word” – they only
accepted a direct quotation, and only
one word.
• 1b. “Give one phrase” - they only
accepted direct quotations. What is a
phrase?
• 1c. “Explain two things” They did not
accept a student copying out the whole
sentence. They did accept a quotation
or an explanation in the candidate’s
own words (safer for ‘explain’!)
 • 1a. “large”/ “well-lighted”.
• 1b. “mountains of curious-looking
machinery on all sides”
• 1c. “(by snapping his fingers) creates
(instantaneously”)
or
Q1 “he holds it (calmly in his hands)”
The answers
 Using the mark scheme, mark the answer below with a WWW and
two targets.

Q2. Evidenced
Both are the famous people in these texts are men: Bill Gates is
comparison described with the pronoun, “he”, and Nikola Tesla is a “tall, thin,
- Make 3 true PERCEPTIVE young man”.
connections. Both men invent things or plan to invent things that seem
- Compare CONTENT and hard to believe: Gates is “wrapped up in the potential and
IDEAS. possibilities of the Information Age”, and Tesla has invented modern
- PEE & ensure your electricity, which he describes as “some daylight”.
quotations clearly support the Furthermore, both men are very confident: Gates is
comparative point you’re “arrogantly certain [that he has] got it right”.
making.
- No analysis
 Get the line references right!

You must explicitly link your analysis to the focus of the question (e.g. Gates’s vision of
the future)

Q3. Analysing You need to analyse about 10 words/phrases/structural points overall. You need a
balance of language and structure points. Make your PEAs crisp, concise and well-

language and
supported.

If you can, start with a concise overview sentence that answers the question. The best

structure answers often open with points about the shape of the extract (e.g. beginning, middle,
end or contrast, or building to a climax etc).

Don’t just identify features!

Provide close, word-level language analysis of different words/phrases (showing your

working i.e. meanings, connotations, sounds, effects on the reader). Go for the easy
ones: METAPHORS, SIMILES, IRONY.

You must use literary terms when explaining specific effects

 • “pioneering past”; “search for gold in
California”; “new frontier”; “wagon”
Q3. Pick the
• “childlike”
‘juiciest’ words to
• “prophecies extraordinary”
comment on.
• “wallet PC, a combination of credit
What can you say about card, entry tickets and best friend”
the following? • “littered”; “ludicrous”
How would you describe
the way Gates’s vision of
the future is presented for
each bullet point?
Q3. Structural
points
Which would
you pick?
Remember to show your
workings i.e. how effects
are created.
 L for a language point
Q3. Read the
full-mark S for a structure point
answer and
label it with OV for a clear sense of overview
the following:
Highlight any literary terms

Q for when it refers to the question

precisely
 PLAN: Which bits of Text 1 agree/disagree with the statement? Which bits of Text 2 agree/disagree
with the statement?

Introduction: say the extent to which you agree – give a brief precise overview saying which bits of
Text 1 agree with the statement, and which bits of Text 2 agree with the statement.

Q4. Evaluation Write 3 diamond comparative paragraphs. Your points should all link to the statement (yes I agree
because… However, I disagree because…Ultimately, the endings suggest that…)

& Comparison Support your points with well-chosen brief quotations and analysis. Consider the impact on the reader
with precise adjectives e.g. the reader feels that she is sceptical of Gates; the reader is impressed by ….

While your response should mostly be agreeing with the statement, you should also try to argue
against it/ problematise it a little too.

“In both texts,

You need to find some topics of comparison. Each one will form a comparative topic sentence for a
paragraph. Here are some things you could consider comparing:

• Voice and viewpoint (considering context)

the writers are •
•
Audience
Register Which work best
impressed by •
•
Purpose
Tone
for these texts?

the inventors •
•
Theme
Contrasts or tensions within texts

they describe.” •
•
Shifts in focus and perspective
Patterns/ imagery
• How they both open
• How they both end
 Write your introduction:

Q4. Evaluation
& Comparison
What would your comparative topic
“In both texts, sentences be?
the writers are
impressed by
the inventors
Write your conclusion: For me, I think that
they describe.” ultimately the writer of Text [1] is more
impressed by the inventor than the writer
of Text [2] because…
Section B: Non-Fiction Writing
Section B: Non-Fiction Writing

Additional advice from me, which applies to each text type

- VARP the question properly before your start.
- Clearly show you understand the specific form and audience and purpose in your introduction
- Plan your conclusion before you start.
- Write about three sides.
- Make sure your work is clear and coherent and consistent.
- For all, make sure you are using ambitious language in an imaginative way.
- PROOFREAD AT THE END FOR SPAG ERRORS!
- Link each paragraph very clearly with discourse markers.
- If it’s persuasive, you can use the LADYC structure.
- If it works for the specific task, you can often follow this structure:

- Paragraph 1: introduction
- Paragraph 2: address bullet point 1
- Paragraph 3: address bullet point 2
- Paragraph 4: address bullet point 3
- Paragraph 5: conclusion
Section B: Non-Fiction Writing
What features should you use for a SPEECH?

What features should you use for an ARTICLE?

What features should you use for a LETTER?

Section B: Giving a talk/speech
- Remember it’s meant to be to a live audience. In your introduction, mention the context of the speech: e.g.
the time and where the talk is happening, who you’re addressing.
- Address your audience directly at a number of points in your speech.
- Use 1st and 2nd person pronouns (though 3rd may also be appropriate if telling someone else’s anecdote or
referring to a researcher)
- Make references to shared knowledge of people and places.
- Show you know what your audience’s concerns are.
- Use the rhetorical persuasive techniques you know.
Section B: Writing an Article
- Have an attention-grabbing headline.
- Address the audience directly.
- Use literary devices and imagery.
- Consider where the article will be published and adapt the tone accordingly (e.g. on a website, or a school
magazine?)
- Think about what your point of view is. Are you being asked to provide a balanced view of a subject, or
something more biased towards a specific standpoint.
- An article might also be flavoured by the writer’s style. Depending on the purpose of your article, you might
use very direct informative language or more poetic language to create a sense of the subject matter.
- End by looking to the future.
Section B: Writing a Letter
- Mention the context you’re writing in in your introduction (Why write a letter at all? What are you
responding to? Etc)
- Use a suitable salutation (e.g. Dear Ms Orlans, Dearest Mum and Dad, Dear Sir/Madam) and valediction
(Best wishes, With lots of love, Yours faithfully)
- You don’t need to write an address at the top for the exam.
- Still remember to use rhetorical techniques, imagery, precise vocabulary etc.
- End by setting out your expectations.
What the examiners said for this past paper
What the examiners said for this past paper
What the examiners said for this past paper
Final tips:
• Read the texts in full first.
• Time yourself properly: leave enough time for Q4. Leave 45 minutes
for Section B.
• Get the line references right.
• Read the questions carefully.