How long is this exam? 2 hours

How many sections? 2: Section A tests for Reading; Section B, for writing

Am I assessed for QWC? Yes, in Section B

How many marks is this unit worth? 80 marks (120

UMS; 40% of GCSE English Language)

Section A: Information and Ideas (The Reading Part)

Timing: Spend 1hr, 10 minutes on this section (you need some reading time) Marks available: 40 (60 UMS; 20% of GCSE English Language)

Before The Exam: Getting Organised

Purchase a pack of highlighters – you will need a variety of colours for different questions or grouping answers

Check through the paper carefully so you know what’s there! Sounds silly but pupils have missed whole sections of texts before now.

Read the question carefully – make sure you use the text prescribed for the question. It’s usually the same text for Q1&2 (but not always) and the other text for Q3.

Independent Revision Tips

Read articles and opinion pieces from the broadsheets and practice the 3 question types (retrieval, presentation,

viewpoint) on them The more past papers and practice answers you can do the better. The way to

revise English is to actually use it – even reading through this on its own won’t be enough!

When you practise, stick to the timings (approx 20, 25, 25mins) otherwise it is meaningless! Also, work in silence.

Timing: 20 mins (5 mins prepping/reading time included) This

question will be

A680 ReviSection A: Information

and Ideas

Question 1: Retrieving Information

Check carefully to check what you should be summarising, e.g. the arguments made. There may in some questions be two focuses which you should treat equally – 6 points each.

A* = 67/80A = 56/80

worth between 10-14 marks and this tells you how many points you should be making.

Example Question

THE TO THIS QUESTION IS UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT REQUIRES!

THE REASON THAT THERE IS THIS QUESTION AND ALSO THE PRESENTATION QUESTION (Q2) MEANS THAT YOU MUST NOT USE QUOTES OR REFER TO METHODS, STRATEGY OR TONE IN THIS QUESTION. ALL THEY WANT YOU TO DO IS INFER THE KEY POINTS OF INFORMATION.

SIMILARLY, AVOID INCLUDING A PERSONAL REPONSE – THAT’S WHY THERE IS A WRITING SECTION TOO! ALSO, REFRAIN FROM USING THE WRITER’S SURNAME AS YOU WILL END UP WRITING ABOUT MEHTOD AND STRATEGY.

This questions tests for the following:

Your ability to give an overview to the text (must be done for A*) Your ability to RETRIEVE information from across a text (up to 14 points) and you

will need to write at least a SIDE OF A4 in typical handwriting; Your ability to GROUP information into paragraphs – the points you group may

come from anywhere in the text; Similarly, your ability to PRIORITISE information is important: start with the most

important group and use connectives like Most importantly, Significantly, etc Within each group, are your points LINKED? For example, one point may be a

consequence of another so use connectives like Consequently, to do this Your ability to not rely on the text: do not quote and do not paraphrase. You are

aiming for what the information INFERS, e.g.

Quoting: Uniform is the ‘great leveller’; however, it ‘costs £280’ for many people

Paraphrasing: Uniform costs nearly £300 even though it is meant to be fair and equal.

Effective retrieval: Uniform’s frequent unaffordability prompts criticism on just the price but also that this contravenes the equality and fairness it should encourage.

As you can see, paraphrasing is replacing like for like phrasing and doesn’t show understanding, just that you know similar words. The £280 reference instead prompts us to understand that the uniform is often unaffordable – that’s the inference!

Finally, and once again: IT DOES NOT TEST FOR YOUR PERSONAL OPINIONS OR THE WRITER’S PURPOSE! Got it? Good!

Exam Strategy

1. READ the text, NUMBERing key points (enough for the answer)2. Highlight the points with a COLOUR-CODE using three/four

highlighters so you know how to group them. Remember, there could easily be some points scattered right across the text for some of your groups

3. Briefly summarise the content in a one sentence INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW then work through the three/four sections

4. The three/four sections should begin with a TOPIC SENTENCE and use CONNECTIVES/ADVERBIALS to link the points

Have a look at this A* answer based on the exam example at the back. Why not label where the above strategy has been applied?

Primarily, school uniform limits the freedom of students and conversely doesn’t improve behavioural standards.

Firstly, uniform fails to offer pupils the choice and opportunity to determine their own identity. Worse still, it can be perceived as a punishment and a bone of contention for those that must wear it. It contradicts what the education system is supposed to encourage: diversity. This of course carries social arguments with all pupils expected to wear the same despite their class and this can mean deliberate absence from school and exclusion when the correct uniform cannot be purchased or kept to standard

Psychologically, the esteem that is supposed to be held by attending school and the by-products of excellent behaviour and achievement seem more hypocritical when uniform is insisted upon. While schools with great leadership no doubt insist upon uniform, it would seem unlikely it is the sole reason for improvement when the uniform itself serves to limit not push students.

Furthermore, pragmatically uniforms are irritating, unflattering and unfashionable. The quality of the material is often unsatisfactory too. Parents suffer too as they carry the responsibility for ensuring uniform is well-presented. Similarly, teachers spend their time checking uniforms diverting time from their educatory purpose.

Timing: 25 mins (5 mins prepping/reading time included) This question will be worth between 12-14 marks and you should be writing about

6-7 main points.

Example Question

Decisions, decisions!

Question 2: Presentation of Meaning

PAF

The desired purpose and the effect of a text can be conveyed in the following ways:

o Language and word choiceo The structural organisation of the language (which order does it appear in at

a sentence/paragraph/whole text level)o The use of presentational devices (no language but will anchor/reinforce

language) such as images, fonts, bullets, font size, etc

NB: Sometimes there will be no requirement to write about presentational devices – it depends on the text – so read the question carefully

It is important you balance the answer well – I would always write more about language and consider structure within this. If a text has one image on it (like the example paper at the back) then focus on it but make the rest about language. At most make four points on language and two on presentational devices. Remember though, the best analysis focuses on how these features work together as a ‘machine’ to construct meaning.

Exam Strategy

Typically, this question will be on the text you used in Q1 – you know WHAT the text is about from that question but Q2 is about the text’s PURPOSE, INTENDED EFFECT and HOW it transmits that to the reader.

Consider the PAF: what’s the purpose (more than one?), who is the audience (what are they interested in and what might be the reason they need to be convinced). By the way: YOU are NEVER the AUDIENCE: the example paper at the back may be about school uniform (a topic prominent in your life) but it’s appealing to parents and other educational professionals. Finally, what is the form – this may help you with the purpose of presentational features and the MODE OF RECEPTION (e.g. what do people see first and why)

Work through with a different colour highlighter and pen, feature-spotting! You know what to look for but consider the following:

Language Structure Presentational Features Emotive language Modal verbs Metaphor Simile Personification Alliteration Facts Opinions Superlatives

Sentence: Imperatives Rhetorical questions

or other interrogatives Declaratives Repetition Parallel phrasing exclamations

Paragraph:

Key images Ratio Positioning Font type Font size Camera angles Camera position Colour Bullets

ACTION!

Comparatives Adverbs Plosive verbs Irony Antithesis Hyperbole Oxymoron Pun Portmanteau Jargon Cliché Euphemism

The list is endless though!

Positioning of topic sentence in paragraph – at start or built-up too?

Length? Whole Text:

Introductions and conclusions

Discourse markers

Remember: this column is about how the language is organised to create effects

Fact boxes Titles

Remember: None of this column relates to word choice

NB: If you forget the name of something, don’t ignore it if you think it’s important. Writing about the intended effect is most important! It’s also important to remember that techniques typical of certain purposes of writing often appear in other types but for different reasons.

Get your ‘verb’ on!

Writers control their text and everything that is included will be there for a reason. Therefore, verbs (doing words) will show you understand that TEXTS ARE CONSTRUCTED. Writers use features in their writing for the following reasons so use this list of verbs effectively:

To reinforce, to validate, to humour, to shock, to challenge, to inspire, to visualise, etc.

How PURPOSE actually works.

It’s very important that you understand that the effect achieved by a text is part of a two-way relationship between reader and writer:

The way a writer tries to ‘win over’ the reader (particularly in persuade/argue) varies. In the example at the back, Millar begins by appealing to the shared horrible memories adults will have of school uniform how it limited their freedom to express themselves but now these adults. She then moves on to appealing to their concerns as parents who obviously want their children to grow up into well-rounded individuals and also appeals to frequent complaints over price, etc. Finally, Millar realises that the issue extends to schools who have to be shown to show no hypocrisy on such issues. Basically, SHE HAS A STRATEGY AND A PLAN JUST LIKE YOU NEED TO USE IN THE WRITING SECTION OF THE PAPER!

What each paragraph should include: Structuring your analysis

Start with the intended audience strategy (WRITER + VERB) and general method. If you work chronologically, then the strategy will come through in your writing. Then quote language features/sentence types to support this

Explain each feature with the INTENDED IMPACT from the writer and the FELT EFFECT (this is a great tip for Lit too)

Where possible, show how this is further shown with other short embedded language features or how this anchored/reinforced by presentational features

Your paragraphs will be ridiculously detailed but over about four of them (a side and a half of A4 in typical writing) you will cover a massive range of techniques, analysed for intended purpose, felt effects and all within the framework of the writer’s planned strategy!

A Few Tips on Presentational Devices.

Often pupils write about these, particularly images too broadly. Here’s a few tips:

Don’t just write about what is in an image although it’s a great place to start but be detailed. What are we being allowed to see? Images are framed in certain ways with some features more predominant than others. The image on the example paper

Consider also camera angle, and the ratio of the image – what is our central focus? Consider the positioning and ratio of images on the page – typically the key image

will be the dominant feature on a text – are you able to avoid it? When do you see it? How does it position the reader (do you feel part of the picture?) What ideas does it introduce, validate or anchor?

When looking at titles – you must consider font types and sizes alongside the language

Fact boxes and stickers give predominance

This is an A* paragraph of analysis of the image on this Red Cross text:

The content of the British Red Cross advert is persuasive because it outlines how many people in this country and overseas are helped by the charity. It indicates that the British Red Cross intervene in situations of emergency or crisis and outlines how reliant they are on donations from the public: this would persuade readers of the importance of helping the charity. Pronouns such as “we” and “your”, personalise the issue and make it hard for the reader to turn away without donating: the emphasis is firmly on the role of individuals. The use of emotive black and white photographs illustrate that the British Red Cross help in Africa and the UK; the photographs give a real life context to the content of the article and the fixed gaze of the young boy is hard to ignore. The ripped edges of the photographs reinforce the message of the content, that the issues are urgent and immediate. The heading “HELP” is in red which has connotations of danger but also is a symbolic colour for the organisation. The single word has multiple persuasive meanings for the reader: it could be a verb to describe the actions of the British Red Cross; a cry for help from the people in the images or an imperative to readers at home.

Putting it all together: A* Response for Q2

Millar makes her views convincing immediately by her use of irony in the headline. Immediately, the imperative ‘Be superior’, which appeals to our egos and indeed the parents and practitioners who want the best for pupils, is contradicted by the need for us to sacrifice something for it – our comfort or bank balance ultimately. Her use of declaratives and emotive language create outrage in the reader as it implies schools ‘deny choice’.

Anecdotally, Millar appeals to the memories of the adult readers – she seeks to create memories of their childhood to reinforce how archaic the notion of uniform is; her sardonic tone captures how uniform still fails to be ‘liberating’ just like every adult-once child has experienced. Sensory memories such as ‘itchy’ are designed to aggravate those memories and immediately ensure the reader is looking to seek agreement with Millar as they read on. Indeed the sole image of the backs of school children in very generic uniform reinforces how pupils’ identity is removed by it and that they are still encouraged to accept ideas from the past – the photo could be anytime, any place.

Of course, most things we don’t like are there for a reason and Millar’s use of rhetorical questions challenges the possible purposes of the uniform and ironically highlights how it failed to achieve any of them including making us ‘stylishly dressed’. She uses dashes to reinforce the idea that the uniform wasn’t just unnecessary but also deliberately the ‘least likely to flatter’.

She reinforces her argument by showing she can argue from the perspectives of students and as a parent, validating her opinions with empirical evidence. She uses humour through hyperbole as she empathises with the ‘dread’ other parents would feel. The argument is also given relevance through facts and the insistence that it is the metaphorical ‘deadening hand of uniformity’ that leads to success according the government. Millar shows that uniformity, in her opinion, contradicts diversity and again the irony highlights that uniform must be ineffective. Indeed the use of inverted commas round ‘theories’ dismisses government research suggesting it is experience of the issues that matters. Her argument here does become slightly undermined though as she moves towards modal verbs like ‘would’ to apply to imagined research and the answers she believes would occur. She presents her opinions declaratively and with tripling to highlight the multiple benefits of ‘improved leadership, better, more consistent behaviour management and higher aspirations’: a tripartite way of showing and truly believing that the effects of no uniform would be much better for everyone. Emotive language highlights the current reasoning as ‘absurd’ or ‘dubious’ and forces the audience to question what they’ve always accepted to be the reality of school expectations and the timelessness of school uniform. Millar chooses to conclude appealing to the experiences of teachers and parents and juxtaposes language effectively like ‘wastes’ and ‘progressive’ to remind the audience that the shared value we all strive for is what betters pupils, preferably without the uniform.

Finally, something is never ‘eye-catching’ or makes you want to ‘read on’ – these phrases are signs of lower responses as neither consider purpose or effect.

Asking yourself ‘HOW’ meaning is conveyed and ‘WHY’ it has been is the only way to succeed on this question.

Timing: 25 mins (5 mins prepping/reading time included) This question will be worth between 12-14 marks and you should be writing about

6-7 main points.

Example Question

This question is not dissimilar to Q2 but will be about the other text (you’ve covered everything now from the first one anyway) and focuses just on LANGUAGE and how it is used for PURPOSE, considering the VIEWPOINT and TONE adopted too.

Exam Strategy

Read the text, highlighting key language that suggests the tone (the first two columns from the chart in Q2 will help you again)

Establish the purpose of the writing quickly and note sub-purposes too, e.g. one can ARGUE by a number of means. The writer will have an agenda.

Aim for the same length answer as in Q2 too so find 6-7 features of language to write about which exemplify a method behind conveying their views.

As you write, aim to analyse once again the INTENDED IMPACT and the DESIRED EFFECT the writer aims for. VERBS will of course be useful again.

So what is ‘tone’?

You know what we mean by tone of voice, well writing has a voice itself and that is conveyed by language (and the punctuation and sentence types used to construct it). It can be humorous, ironic, informative, knowledgeable, satirical, critical, accusatory, empathetic, etc and will aim to suit the overall PURPOSE or AGENDA of the writing. As you know, we adapt our tone according to different situations and different purposes can achieved in different ways!

Some language techniques are better to convey tone with than others!

Question 3: Viewpoint and Tone

Really search for emotive language, hyperbole, metaphor, puns, irony, etc but do consider how they are used and the VOICE/TONE they are helping to create.

Necessity!

This is a tricky one but important! Sometimes words are not necessary grammatically but necessary for tone, for example:

Tripling: Smoking is bad for you is grammatically fine but to say Smoking is damaging, detrimental and disastrous for your health create a more shocking tone which implies smoking is a weakness. The extra words aren’t necessary but affect the tone.

The example below has some ‘unnecessary words’ too such as in the final sentence ‘walls all cracked’ doesn’t require the ‘all’ in it but serves to exaggerate and shock with the level of devastation.

Figurative language is likely to appear and the example below shows many examples of personification and metaphor such as ’seething’ to emphasise the anger or relentlessness of the quake.

Of course, literal references can convey tone too – we are moved by the news so we shouldn’t be surprised. The example below is shocking and relays devastation through the literal descriptions as much as the figurative ones.

Person and tense can also make a difference too. But overall, ask yourself WHY a word or phrase has been used – I’ve tried to ‘simplify’ my advice in this guide so you can access it independently. However, imagine if I had said it was ‘dumbed-down’? You’d be less impressed! Don’t worry though, this guide is still one of sophistication; it’s just easy to use too!

Example A* Answer for ‘Dressing Down’

The writer’s purpose with this piece is to acknowledge the time-old issue/grievance of school uniform but to ultimately dismiss such concerns as a ‘phase’ one must experience and accept the long term ‘positive’ effects of uniform against these timeless and ‘old fashioned’ criticisms’ relating to fashion.

The writer’s use of parenthesis in the title highlights this difference and her declarative statement is simplistic and immediately dismissive of ‘what your children may say’. The use of the modal ‘may’ and the condition ‘despite’ acknowledge the challenge but critique it immediately. This is furthered with the accusatory ‘claim’ in the first sentence. Similarly, the pun on ‘dressing down’ highlights the strength and ruthlessness of her agenda – to dismiss this teenage dispute.

The writer criticises the lack of focus and accuracy pupils apply to what they dislike and the alliteration of ‘discipline to detention’ shows this to be a teenage reaction to any rules rather than a well-founded concern. Humour reinforces this and exaggerates the idea of the stereotype that teenagers are designed to moan rather that be full of ‘joy and effervescence’. In spite of this, there is empathy and not ‘blame’ attached to the issue of school uniform (hence the need for this extensive argumentative piece) and anecdotes are used to humorous effect to reinforce this with the deliberately ironic use of the word ‘fancy’. Indeed, the freedom to dress individually and in a ‘vaguely’ fashionable manner is a time-honoured tradition yet one that its implied will live to be one of regret rather than one that matters.

Beyond the humour, the writer anecdotally introduces her argument by highlighting not what uniform does but what it prevents. She remembers also a main reason for ‘fashion’ in that it matters because of judgements on ‘wealth’ it tries to suggest. It is not a criticism that we cannot tell whose uniform was ‘hand-me downs’ and she juxtaposes this against the priority of teenagers who remain obsessed with the more trivial and exaggerated ‘ghastly’ nature of the clothes. Clearly the writer sees ‘prejudice’ as the more ‘ghastly’ issue in her adulthood. She mocks the envy once felt for the ‘non-uniform’ schools and depicts them as monstrous, ‘strutting’, ‘flaunting’ and ‘primped’ and with a ‘whiff’. These concerns become ‘old-fashioned’ in adulthood. These derogatory descriptions once again highlight the irony of our childhood obsessions yet begin to consider the more emotional issues attached with extra meaning placed on ‘sick’ and ‘intimidated’ to highlight the lurking social issues that lay beneath the fashion. Furthermore, the adverb ‘impossibly’ highlights the fact that the self-image teenagers seek to promote is often never achieved and is uncontrollable as exaggerated by the idea of the ‘teachers’ even seeming ‘fashionable.

The writer challenges us though because in spite of these issues, uniform is considered a ‘good thing’. She juxtaposes adult ‘wisdom’ against the previous childish ‘claims’ as she does ‘hatred’ and ‘positive’. The metaphorical ‘straight-jacket’ becomes a ‘bond’. She promotes an empathetic and ‘sympathetic’ attitude to her children and fairly seeks to balance ‘conformity’ and ‘individuality’. The issues with uniform are understandable initially but their purpose becomes clear in hindsight.

Q1

Q2

Q3

National Examiners Report: January 2012

General comments

Only a very small number failed to produce responses of at least satisfactory length to all four questions; Responses to the reading tasks in Section A indicated that almost all candidates had a clear understanding of the

main points of the two reading passages although there was also evidence that a full understanding of the requirements of the questions was less secure;

It was encouraging to note that despite the requirement to answer two questions on the first passage (with the obvious implications for time allocation), most candidates produced full length answers to the third question too;

It should also be noted that the writing responses were generally better focused and more tightly structured than in the past; candidates and their teachers have clearly taken notice of the advice given in last summer’s report to spend no more than 50 minutes on this section of the paper.

Question 1

It is important for candidates to remember that this is a summary question and is, therefore, primarily a test of retrieval skills.

Most candidates showed a good understanding of the content of the passage but only a small number focused their responses clearly on the specific topics stated in the rubric to the question, with the result that they did not illustrate the overview of the subject matter required to access the highest mark bands that their understanding suggested was within their reach.

The most successful responses to this task were sub-divided to focus on the two key aspects of the task (what is learnt about bears and the thoughts and feelings of the writer as the question stated), avoided the inclusion of irrelevant details and unnecessary comment and showed clearly that the passage had been understood through a judicious use of the candidates’ own words.

Less successful responses tended to write at length, without clear focus on the requirements of the task, and to include unnecessary comment about the writer’s use of language and the effects of the photograph which were more appropriate to an answer to Question 2. Such responses usually gave evidence that the passage had been

A star* Mark Schemes

understood although they seldom contained sufficient overview of the material and the task to achieve a mark any higher than in Band 4 (C).

In general, Assessors were of the opinion that although there were some very good answers indeed, this was the question that offers most scope for improvement in the performance of candidates.

As mentioned above, this is a summary question and candidates are encouraged to acquire a reliable summary-writing method. In future papers, as in this one, Question 1 will always identify a specific area or areas of the passage for candidates to summarise. A recommended approach to answering it successfully is to read the passage carefully, focusing on and making notes of the points directly relating to the elements identified in the question, ensuring that the full range of these elements is covered and then reorganising these points into an appropriate order. Once this has been done, then candidates should attempt to write their own version of the specific required aspects of the topic, using their own words sufficiently to show that they have understood the original but not attempting to find substitute words of their own for every expression in the original, as this approach can result in a distortion of the points originally made.

Thoughtful and thorough note-making is very much the key to success in this task (and Assessors noted that candidates who scored most highly had usually taken the time to make such notes). Candidates should not be over-concerned about this being a time-consuming process. Section A tests reading and it is, therefore, important that time is spent in practising this important skill. A fully successful response to Question 1 in this paper could have been written in no more than 200 words, to include about a dozen focused points, as long as these were evenly distributed between the two elements of the question. If candidates have made sufficiently detailed preparatory notes (and, therefore, have a clear idea of what they are going to include in their final response) it should not take them very long to write it.

Question 2

Whereas the key word in Question 1 is what, that in Question 2 is how, and it is important that candidates keep this clearly in mind when writing their responses.

This particular question required a specific consideration of how the writer’s use of language made his experience with the bear so terrifying. The most successful responses focused consistently on these two aspects of the question, identifying appropriate quotations from the passage and then explaining how the writer’s choice of words succeeded in conveying the terrifying nature of his experience. An example of this was the candidate who selected the phrase ’70-stone killing machine’ and then went on to comment that the phrase suggested that the bear was ‘devoid of emotion, and completely intent on its purpose’. Such a comment shows a clear appreciation of the effect of the imagery used by the writer.

Less successful responses tended to identify appropriate examples of language use, for which they were credited, but did little more than attempt to analyse at best, with comments such as ‘the writer is terrified here and we know this as he repeats the word 'terrified'. This shows that he is terrified.'

The least successful concentrated mainly on identifying figures of speech such as alliteration and the rule of three in ‘slowly, sedately, stealthily’ and then making pre-prepared comments such as ‘and this draws the reader in and makes them want to read on’ without making any reference to the requirements of the question.

Centres should also be reassured that although the question referred candidates to the writer’s use of language in particular, full credit was given to those candidates who made convincing analytical comments about the contribution of the photograph and also of the information (’70- stone’) and other presentational features contained in the passage.

Question 3

Much of what has been said about Task 2 – especially the comments about focusing clearly on the wording of the question – applies equally to candidates’ performance in response to Task 3.

Overall, candidates responded well to the Bryson extract. Many appreciated the humour contained in the account and it is a comment on their responses to the passage that most candidates scored as well or better on this question than on Question 2.

Although there were some questionable interpretations of what made it entertaining (it is unlikely, for example, that the author’s reference to the weather being warm enough for him to sleep in his underwear was intended as nothing more than a piece of circumstantial detail) most candidates clearly appreciated the contrast in the reactions of the writer and his companion.

The most successful responses clearly depicted the humorous contrast between Bryson’s mounting hysteria and Katz’s laconic and increasingly sarcastic ripostes. Similarly, there were convincing explanations as to how the tension of the account was emphasised by the use of the single word paragraph, ‘Bear!’ and how this was effectively undercut both by the writer’s reference to the occasion when a skunk had sounded like a stegosaurus and his description of the inadequacies of his knife and torch and how this strand of the account was reduced to absurdity by Katz’s offer of nail clippers as a weapon followed by Bryson’s witheringly sarcastic comment about pedicures which was finally capped by his companion’s insouciant response.

Although not all candidates explained their reaction to the episode in quite such detail there was clear evidence that many appreciated the entertaining nature of the account and how this was achieved both through structure and language; as one candidate perceptively commented about the writer’s language towards the unknown creature: "'Please withdraw'; this suggests that Bryson is an alien in the wilderness as he uses the language of a scholar to a dumb creature, assuming it has knowledge of human etiquette."

As a footnote, it was interesting that no candidate commented that one of the key factors contributing to the enjoyable nature of the account was that, from the very fact that it was written in the first person and in the past tense, the readers were aware from the start that, whatever the mysterious beast was, both characters survived the encounter!

Practice Examples

Section B: Writing Styles

Timing: Spend 50 minutes on this section (as advised by OCR too)

Marks available: 40 (60 UMS; 20% of GCSE English Language)

Independent Revision Tips

Read articles and opinion pieces from the broadsheets as well as magazines and even junk mail leaflets to study style;

As with reading, practice makes perfect! See below for all the past questions.

You need to research famous quotes on Google – consider themes like charity, responsibility, humour, school, behaviour, family, work, injustice/justice, growing-up, sport, modern technology, fun, boredom, trust, parents and teenagers. This should cover all you need for parody

The November 2012

Section B: The Writing Paper

Make sure you have practised the key sentence structures for punctuation types – you must use the full range so be ready to!

Jan 2011

June 2011

Jan 2012

June 2012

Past QuestionsDo this type of question:

No specific form required just a developed argument.

Avoid writing to describe at all costs.

Informative/advisory articles/guides are the next

best choice of task.

Avoid personal writing especially when the form is confusing, e.g. this requires a non-fiction account with local interest not just a story.

Nov 2012

This guide will focus on Writing to Argue and Writing to Inform/Explain/Advise for the above reasons. I am not limiting your choices for no reason – certain question types have many more disastrous problems than others – trust me!

How to Plan

The beauty of the Writing to Argue tasks above is that you simply write your views down, sounding like an intelligent teenager who can write both formally but emotively. If you opt for the more advisory/explanatory tasks, you must consider your AUDIENCE.

Advise is softer than argue – you have to win-over and empathise with the person who has sought your help – they are struggling without you. Imagine what they are going through and the problems or hurdles they need to overcome. Even with argue/persuade, there will be factors that are preventing them seeing things the same way as you – financial reasons are often the reason many cannot always give to charity rather than being heartless.

Also consider what type of text it is – hopefully it will be an article so it will again be a formal opinion piece but be prepared that it may be a letter, an article in a local rather than a national newspaper. Really take time to consider what this means for your writing. Speeches need to sound like they are being spoken with acknowledgement of the fact you are stood in front of those people in the same room and environment. Play on these things: ripping up a letter may mean ripping up dreams; it takes bravery to stand in front of a

Avoid personal writing – it can end up lacking structure and impressive technical features and vocabulary.

room – do your audience need to show some bravery to fight an important issue too?

Consider LOGOS, PATHOS, ETHOS used since the Ancient Greeks (thanks Aristotle) in successful rhetoric:

o Ethos (Credibility), or ethical appeal, means convincing by the character of the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.

o Pathos (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. o Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning.

Include checklists in your planning: make them for sentence types and punctuation. List conventions typical of the writing and any other A* skills you want to show.

Plan your parody and motif from the start – how will you refer to it? Learn from this section how to structure a decent argument or piece of advice and

note down where you plan to go with it. OCR tell you to plan on the exam paper – if it takes 10 minutes, that’s fine. The

better your planning, the quicker you write anyway. Never write more than 2 ½ sides or typical handwriting because you will lose focus.

Use the questions above to ‘nail’ your planning style – whatever suits you will work the best.

The Conventions of Writing

Argue and Persuade

• Rhetorical questions• Statistics (21-99)• Emotive language• Repetition• Personal pronouns – ‘we’ and ‘our’ • Tripling: horrific, devastating and catastrophic• Imperatives• Irony – no time but watch Corrie five times a week• Counter-arguments: You are probably thinking, “ “• Quotes from experts • Parallel phrasing or anadiplosis for emphasis

Inform and Explain• Similes and metaphors or analogies• Facts and maybe statistics• Topic sentences are really important• Connectives to link• Colons add the explanation for statements • Anecdotes • Imperatives to instruct• The odd definition ( ) or – • Complex sentences to follow simple topic sentences.• A one sentence paragraph to suggest you are moving on.

Advise• Rhetorical questions

• Emotive language• Repetition• Personal pronouns – ‘you’ and ‘I’ • Imperatives• Counter-arguments: You are probably thinking, “ “• Quotes from experts• Compassionate tone but expertise• Modal verbs: ‘should’, ‘would’ and ‘could’• Some forceful phrases: I would urge you

The Importance of a Great Start

You have no hope of an A* if your writing begins in a boring way. Absolutely never state your purpose in the first line and make sure you are forming a clear voice from the start! Remember, you have two sides of A4 to get across that you are interesting – this writing is a reflection of you and your ability. No pressure then!

Ways to Begin and therefore End

Your writing must be planned and there needs to be a sense that you know your conclusion as your write your introduction. You must make the link semantic – use the same key words. Look at these examples from an explanatory text for parents about social networking:

Chatty StyleINTRO: Social networking. “What’s that?” I hear you ask. Well basically, it’s the new letter or postcard; believe me, stamps are ‘out’!

CONC: So, it’s time to ‘stamp-out’ the stamps and get tweeting!

ImageryINTRO: Imagine a world where nobody speaks; texting is the new writing; letters are a thing of the past and nobody even remembers the price of a stamp! Well, actually this sounds a lot like the twenty-first century world of social networking!

CONC: So, step into the world of social networking! Who needs stamps anyway!

The Ultimate Method: Parodied QuotesINTRO: “Young hearts, run free, never be lonely... Just like my Blackberry and me!” Yes, that’s right face-to-face conversation is ‘out’ and social networking is ‘in’!

CONC: So it’s time for you to join the world of social networking; you’ll never “run free” without your Blackberry again!

The reason that these intros work well is that the quotes are often that memorable that they introduce an idea for a motif so that you can make further structural links to show complete control of your writing. A motif is a recurring reference through a text. It is used professionally is this example from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/opinion/sunday/educations-hungry-hearts.html?_r=0

These are the references to the motif that stem from the original parody.

While you are likely to do the ‘Argue’ question, it’s worth noting that you may

want to leave the parody in advisory writing at the end of the opening paragraph just because it would be a strange way to advise (you have to build-up some empathy first with who you are helping):

Write an article explaining to and advising parents on how to monitor their children’s use of social networking.INTRO: So here you are, facing another mountain of adolescence; another peak to conquer. You are torn between the easy route to remain oblivious but perhaps the more heroic route – the route you should take – is the one you need to follow. That’s right: I think you should broach the subject of discussing your teenager’s secret social networking life and hopefully this guide will show you how! As Edmund Hillary himself resolutely stated, ‘It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’ and indeed I hope you will find yourself a stronger more knowledgeable and aware parent than you were before. 

Later on in this piece, I may references reaching the summit, looking at the view (wider perspective) or planting a flag when the parents succeed. I love this mountain motif for explanatory or advisory writing as it links very well to overcoming problems!

Overall Structure

Argue Advise and Explain (Inform too)

Parodied IntroP1: Context of issue and your perspectiveOne Line Paragraph (RQ) to introduce reasonsP2: Reason for perspective developed 1P3: Reason for perspective developed 2P4: Conclusion linked to opening parody

Show expertise, empathy and align problem with the parodied quote (see above)P1: Understanding of how they feel and encouragement of how to address problem reasonsOne Line Paragraph to inform them that they are now about to address the first hurdleP2: Help them tackle first hurdleP3: Help them tackle consequential problemsP4: Conclusion that makes them believe that they can succeed and the rewards of succeeding despite it seeming difficult. Link back to parody.

Types Of Paragraphs To Use

Most main body paragraphs will require you to show detail so will need 4-5 sentences all related to that paragraph’s topic sentence: if you are writing a paragraph about uniform needing to be banned because it’s unfashionable then your whole paragraph should be on it.

You can position the topic sentence in places other than the first sentence of a main body paragraph for effect. Why not build up to your point by forcing the reader to imagine the situation before you reveal your purpose, e.g. describe a lifeless, ugly world before you hit home it’s a consequence of pollution.

Your intro and conclusion may well be shorter and therefore snappier. What is massively important is that you use a one sentence paragraph in the middle of the text to move you on from the contextualisation part to then giving your reasons/specific support. A rhetorical question or simply a chatty ‘So let’s address this issue now’ will be fine.

Sentences

It’s important you use a range of sentence types – you will find you use many anyway as a consequence of employing a range of punctuation but you need to be aware that you are varying sentences too. Here’s the lowdown:

Declaratives: a statement (opinion or fact). Interrogatives: questions. Rhetorical questions are the most likely type you will

use. Obviously requires a question mark. Exclamations: a highly expressive declarative that requires an exclamation mark. Imperatives: a command. The verb (or maybe the supporting adverb) begins the

sentence.

Simple: One piece of information, e.g. ‘Smoking is damaging, devastating and disgusting’. Great for emphasis. You should take it down to a one word sentence once too: typically, the subject (in this instance ‘Smoking’) on its own followed by a full stop leaves time to pause. Or an imperative such as ‘Think.’

Compound: Two simple sentences linked with a conjunction such as ‘and’, ‘so’ or ‘but’, e.g. ‘Smoking is damaging, devastating and disgusting and the quicker you quit the better’. The great think about compound sentences is that if you replace the ‘and’ with a semi-colon it always works because you will definitely end up with a simple sentence that makes sense either side of it!

Complex: These sentences also have two pieces of information but both don’t make sense as a full sentence – this is because one is the main clause and the other is subordinate, e.g. ‘Smoking, a damaging, devastating and disgusting habit, should be quit sooner rather than later.’

As you can see, it’s like a bit of extra info is slotted into the original main clause (the simple sentence) and has been surrounded by commas. Often the word after the first comma will be who (when writing about a person), which (when writing about an object/issue/quality) or that (when writing about something living but not human).

You can also begin sentences in different ways. The main ones are: Verb/adverb: when using imperatives, e.g. Think about it! Adjectives (pair): Damaging and disgusting, smoking is a bizarre habit to have. Adverbials (-ly words); Eventually, the cravings will subside. Prepositions (where something is): Above all else, the health benefits are

exceptional.

Punctuation Guide

Don’t be scared – it’s easier than you think! Learn these sentence structures and you cannot go wrong. I have opted not to included capital letters, full stops, speech marks (unlikely to be needed anyway) and question marks in fear of sounding patronising and have just focused on common errors/issues:

‘ APOSTROPHES: For omission, they simply go where you remove the letters: it is becomes it’s; I am becomes I’m and would have becomes would’ve. IF IN DOUBT, WRITE THE FULL PHRASE AND USE ONE LATER ON INSTEAD. For possession, add ‘s unless the word ends in s where you should just use an apostrophe at the end. Never use for plurals unless something belongs to the group such as in children’s rights, people’s beliefs or smokers’ health.

, COMMA: Use after an adverbial, connective or paired adjectives at the beginning of a sentence; use to separate clauses in a complex sentence (see above) or in a list of words.

! EXCLAMATION MARK: Do not over-use these. Save them for a very emotive declarative statement (not just humour either).

: COLON: Great for introducing evidence or proof and means ‘for example’ or ‘here’s the proof’

Smoking is dangerous: it can cause numerous health issues.

A really good trick is to check that the first half of the sentence begins with the subject (‘Smoking’) and the first word after the colon is the matching pronoun (it). Check this and you can’t go wrong!They also introduce lists – you may use them perhaps to introduce a list of parallel phrases (see A* flair section). Why not use them after an imperative? Think about it: what have you got to lose?

; SEMI-COLON: Used to link two related sentences. IT BASICALLY REPLACES ‘AND’ IN A COMPOUND SENTENCE! For example,

Mountains can be difficult to overcome; problems can seem to never end.

You should also use them before ‘however’, ‘therefore’, ‘as a result’, ‘for example’ and ‘consequently’ (transitional phrases) in the middle of a sentence to help move it on. Still use the commas after it too:

I missed the early plane; however, I still made the meeting.

The paper is stuck in the lift; consequently, we cannot finish the printing.

Sarah's guest was turned away by the doorman; as a result, she left before the presentations.

They can also separate parallel phrases (see A* flair section).

- HYPHEN: Used to link words to clear up meaning. It’s best to just know some key examples; such as:

Anti- Pro- Up-and-coming Numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine (obviously not thirty, forty, etc) Co-operate/co-operative/co-operation Hyphenated Compound Adjectives, e.g. breath-taking, spine-tingling Well- as in ‘well-received’ Highly- as in ‘highly-regarded’

– DASH: Absolutely nothing to do with hyphens although they do just look like a longer one. These can be used to add extra information into a sentence (as with commas in complex sentences) but they should be used specifically for opinions (great for giving voice to your writing) or for emphasis:

Homework – teachers’ accursed means to torture us on a daily basis – must be limited to no more than three pieces a week.

You are torn between the easy route to remain oblivious but perhaps the more heroic route – the route you should take – is the one you need to follow.

( ) BRACKETS/PARENTHESIS: technically you can simply use these just like the commas and dashes you’ve seen in complex sentences. Use them for definitions or clarification though:

Smoking (a highly-addictive habit which causes many deaths each year) is a concern of governments, health professional and relatives.

‘ ‘ INVERTED COMMAS: Great for surrounding a phrase which is a label or that you know is not the formal reference, e.g. these ‘hoodies’. Also are a way of referencing direct speech such as ‘We’ve all heard the arguments: ‘like why should get well loads of homework’ or ‘my life is over’ but kids need to realise they’re not always the experts.’ Why not use them for irony too: Our children see ‘normal’ as dressing like some alien species. This idea of ‘freedom’ is completely quetionnable. They work well with synecdoches too (groups) such as The ‘geniuses’ believe that profits matter more than the effects of pollution but that Ozone layer will never be able to replace itself.

SpellingsNever be scared to try amazing vocab – it will earn you more marks than to limit it and know the spelling is correct. Follow the OED, etc to get ‘Words of the Day’. I learn new words all the time so if you come across a word you don’t know, look it up and LEARN! After all, why be giving when you could be benevolent or altruistic!

Here are the most common GCSE spelling errors for your reference:

1. accommodation2. analysis3. argument4. beautiful5. beginning

6. believe7. business8. definitely9. development10. disappearance

11. disappoint12. embarrassment13. environment14. fulfil15. happened

16. interesting17. necessary18. possession19. preparation20. receive21. separate

22. sincerely23. skilful24. surprise25. tomorrow

Also avoid silly mistake such as their/there and they’re; where/were/we’re; our/are; practise (v)/practice(n); affect(v)/effect (n). A lot is two words while into is one.

Vocabulary: Words and Phrases to Persuade and Argue

Remember: word choice matters! Whatever you do, do not use words like ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘horrible, etc. Anything you thought was impressive at the age of five won’t cut-it at fifteen.

Why not learn the meaning of these 80, super-succinct words to ensure your meaning doesn’t get lost in poor vocabulary:

A* Flair

Irony, Satire and Parody

Parallel Phrasing, Antimetabole, and Repetition: Stephen Fry Example

Repetition of simple sentence structures for emphasis.

Parallel phrasing with two verbs at start of each phrase

and repeated

Repetition of key word to increase seriousness of tone

(antimetabole). Another example is: "If you fail to plan,

Irony• "It is a fitting irony that under Richard Nixon, launder became a dirty word."

(William Zinsser)• "I'm aware of the irony of appearing on TV in order to decry it, so don't bother pointing

that out."(Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons)

Satire• “The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”• “In times like these it is difficult not to write satire”• “Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.”• “The nations morals are like its teeth, the more decayed they are the more it hurts to

touch them”Parody

• See section on introductions

It’s a brilliant answer. I love the idea of dance. It so happens my legs were not equipped ever to be able to do it

but I love the idea of people going to clubs and having a good time. This mostly is not about clubs being a bad idea. This mostly is not about dance music being bad. This music is not about the idea that classical music is superior to any other kind of music. It celebrates the fact that there is difference, that you can love two different things at once and not explode or be a hypocrite.

Surely if education in a university is about anything, it is about the fact that we can accept and absorb all kinds of ideas and celebrate and love all kinds and modes of human expression. You can make anything sound pretentious only if you are yourself pretentious.

plan on failing."

AnadiplosisBeginning a sentence/phrase with the word that ended the previous one. Check Old Major’s speech out in Animal Farm where he attacks Man vehemently:

Or: "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." —Yoda, Star Wars

There are loads of ways to use rhetoric and promote your views: for even more ideas, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_(linguistics) although it is a bit heavy-going and more than what you need is here!

Writing to Argue Example

Here is it all put together (in timed conditions may I add):

Does academic achievement really matter? Give your thoughts on this matter.

‘Examinations, sir, are pure humbug from beginning to end. If a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough’ as was once suggested by the great Oscar Wilde. And indeed – as Wilde always is - he is right. While education is supposed to promise us all the worldly delights of the sweetshop in terms of prospects, finance and lifestyle, I feel that maybe this sugary coating is unfair.

I’m sat here now watching my peers endlessly producing reams and reams of A4; showing-off their use of semi-colons; parodying famous quotes and checking their use of connectives. But for what? I’m sure I’ll survive if I write sentences without a range of punctuation and does it really matter where each adverb goes? No, of course not because it’s not my academic skills, it’s my charming, delightful, sugary-sweet demeanour that will be an improvement on humbugs any day!

So why do I believe that personality is more important than exam results?

In a world where we all strive to succeed, the margins in performance between students are slim: every year newspapers comment on ‘easier exams’ and ‘rising performance’.

So how do people really secure their dreams? Personality. Imagine the scene. You walk into a job interview and glimpse at the similarly presented CVs, the well-dressed candidates and the looks of expectation. It won’t be the number of GCSEs you have that will help you achieve that job, it will be your manners, your charm and your ability to make people warm to you. People want to work with those they respect; they don’t want their company to be soured.

You are probably thinking that I would suggest we shouldn’t go to school at all. Yet, I don’t. Education provides us with so much more: it is where we get to practise and develop relationships with others, trialling the skills we will need for the future. Novels and drama inspire us to reflect on our own character; art and music allows us to be creative and maths and science ensure we can be logical. School is the sweet box we need and it doesn’t take long to find the sweet we desire: the wrapped-up joy of a well-rounded individual, great grades or not- so-great grades.

So, as previously mentioned, ‘Examinations, sir, are pure humbug from beginning to end’. I’ve now reached my end, let’s hope for a new beginning in our attitude to what school can provide.

The Mark Scheme

Examiners Report There was little evidence of rushed final answers. All candidates should be encouraged to adopt the effective planning strategies evident in many of the more

successful responses. In these, candidates had taken time to produce a plan, usually in the form of a bulleted list or mind map. It was noticeable that these candidates went on to produce writing which was on the whole clearly and engagingly expressed and also carefully-structured. There was often a purposeful introduction and interesting development leading to a satisfying conclusion.

Those who did not plan tended to produce writing that was rambling and repetitive, with little focus on the actual question. It was not surprising that those who wrote at excessive length often made the greatest number of spelling and punctuation errors. Among the latter were the inability to mark the ends of sentences with full stops and also the random use of capital letters. The pronoun ‘I’ was very often written in lower case, and there were some instances of ‘ur’ (instead of ‘your’). Numerals were routinely used instead of the words in expressions such as ‘in 5 mins’ or ‘8 GCSEs’.

Candidates should not feel they have to use all the space available for their response just because it is there. They should use some time towards the end of the examination to proof-read their answers, and make necessary amendments.

Finally, this article below validates all I’ve been saying for years…just in case you thought I was making it all up!

http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/2009/03/ten-things-good-writers-do.html

T U E S D A Y , M A R C H 1 7 , 2 0 0 9

Ten Things Good Writers Do I was asked to write the following for a local high school that wanted to provide some writing guidelines for its students. This might be of use to you, too. I hope so.

Ten things good writers do…

1. Good writers make a good first impression. They put extra effort into their introductions and first paragraphs because they want readers to read on. Consider this wonderful opener from E. B. White: “When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son was born, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse.” That simple sentence took a lot of work, but it sure makes you want to find out about Mrs. Little’s mouse-sized son.

2. Good writers make their endings strong, too. No one wants to read a piece that doesn’t leave them feeling fulfilled and satisfied at the end, and good writers usually pull everything together with a rewarding climax or a thoughtful summary.

3. Good writers organize their articles and stories so that readers can follow along without getting lost or confused. That might mean that a good writer writes stories with clear beginnings, middles, and ends, or that they use an understandable logical plan in their science essays. For some kinds of writing it is a good idea to tell the reader right up front what is going to follow.

4. Good writers rewrite. In fact, someone once even said that good writing is bad writing that has been rewritten. It is very difficult to write something that another person can understand and enjoy, so good writers make a real effort to polish their work. Once they have a draft of what they want to say, they go back several times to add, delete, or change it so that it will be just right. Rarely are good writers happy with the first words they come up with, so good writing is rewriting.

5. Good writers don’t just tell something, they show it. A good writer doesn’t just state an opinion without real examples that reveal why he or she holds that opinion. Similarly, a good story writer doesn’t tell you that a character is unhappy, he/she shows it (maybe the character punches a pillow or kicks over a garbage can – anything that reveals the feeling without the writer just telling it).

6. Good writers use sentences that are varied and interesting. No one wants to read a paper that says, “A nanotube is very small. A nanotube can be used to make a little radio. A nanotube uses carbon. A nanotube….” Boring! Repetition can be effective in some instances, but in this case it doesn’t work. This is better: “Nanotubes are so tiny they can’t be seen by the naked eye. And, yet, it is possible to make a radio from one. Imagine listening to hip-hop on a radio that no one can see!”

7. Good writers write for the ear, not the eye. That is, a good writer tries to make sure the text would sound good if someone were to read it aloud (in fact, good writers often read their stuff aloud when they are revising just to make sure it sounds like it should).

8. Good writers elaborate; they try to share a lot of information and detail. It helps to be analytical, to be able to break a topic into its parts and then to tell about the parts. In a science class that might mean writing about a structure of an organism and then connecting the structure to the processes that the organism is involved in. Or, in a social studies class it might mean describing an involved chain of events that led to a particular historical outcome.

9. Good writers get their facts right, even when they are writing fiction. It isn’t enough to sound right, it has to be right. In a report, that means checking that your facts are correct (and, if facts are in dispute, that fact should end up in the report, too). Truth in fiction is a little trickier, but it matters as well; even in far out science-fiction writing the imaginary worlds have to make sense (if an imaginary universe has no gravity, it can’t just magically have gravity later in the story—maybe something changed it so that it did, but the change has to be plausible).

10. Good writers should know when to quit. When you’ve said what you wanted to say it’s time to stop. And, since I set out to tell 10 things that good writers do, I think this would be a good place to end! And Geoff Barton, a key speaker at many GCSE English conferences, suggests:

How to get an A* in English Writing

1. A* writers are fluent, assured, confident and often quirky. They take risks in their writing.

2. Most importantly, A* writers use a variety of simple and complex sentences. Sentence variety is the key. They may start a paragraph with a short, simple sentence. They may use some sentences which coordinate ideas with “and”, “but” or “or”. They will also use complex sentences. But the key is variety – no single style dominates.

3. A* writers use vocabulary which is descriptive (but not too flowery), precise, visual and occasionally unexpected. They use simple, familiar words as well as more complex ones. Their writing helps us to see what they are describing or to understand the ideas they are explaining.

Good Luck!