ENGLISH LANGUAGE AQA EXAM

2 Hours 15 minutesSection A: Reading non-fiction textsSection B: Writing styles

ENGLISH LANGUAGE SECTION A

Reading non-fiction textsSpend approximately an hour on this section12 minutes on 8 mark questions, 24 minutes on 6 mark questions as a guideline

Question 1: Reading and understanding a text, selecting appropriate material from a text

Summarise the text as a whole to begin with

Use your own wordsUse inference, show

connections within textDon’t use technical vocabulary/

analyse language

Sample question: Question 1

Using the article on the following slide, what do we learn about the writer’s views on PE lessons?! [8 marks]

PE? It's a lesson in bad feeling

The latest research from the University of the Bleeding Obvious has revealed that school PE lessons put girls off exercise. Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs. In my school reports, my PE teacher gave me C for effort and B for attainment (the injustice, among a sea of As!), always presuming that "Katy could do better next year if only she applies herself". I was tall – mortifyingly, prematurely tall – so I was supposed to be good at sports. What she missed was that I was trying my damnedest; I was just rubbish. All PE taught me was to stop trying. You could, of course, say this about any lesson which teaches children that they are bad at it, but no other lesson teaches them this while they are standing in their underwear in front of bullies, which is a cast-iron way to make a bad feeling stick. Some girls at school are cut out for public displays of their physical prowess and perfect flesh, but those few are the blessed, who will thrive whatever life throws at them. It would surely be kinder, and more helpful in the long term, to leave the rest alone to play chess or read a book while PE lessons are going on.

Question 2: Explaining and evaluating Writers’ use of presentational and structural devices

Devices include: images, text (size, font, placing), general layout, colours, headings & sub headings

Relate the device you are evaluating back to the purpose and audience of text

Link with the subject of the textAlways say what colours connotateLink with what the reader will feel

Sample Question: Question 2

How do the colours and images on the advert seen on the following slide add to the effectiveness of the text? [8 marks]

Question 3: Finding reasons using inference skills and what is suggested in text

Refer to the most appropriate parts of the text

Embed quotes in your responseDon’t analyse languageUse inference skillsMake original comments about why

something could be effective and what you learn from it

Sample question: Question 3

Using the article on the following slide, what are the writer’s thoughts and opinions on “We will rock you!”? [8 marks]

We will rock you reviewThe much trumpeted Queen musical has arrived, and it would

be hard to imagine a less appropriate vehicle for the band's music - far less for the anti-corporate mes sage writer Ben Elton seeks to superimpose. Freddie Mercury's music demands a lush, grandiose setting. In Christopher Renshaw's production it is saddled with an expensively trashy video-game aesthetic, as a teenage rebel in the year 2302 seeks the Holy Axe and the Lost Riff in a world that has left real music behind. Elton's premise really is as sixth form as it sounds. On the one hand, it is good to see dramatised a concern with the increasing homogenisation of culture. In 2302 on Planet Mall, citizens are clones, Globalsoft rules, and all music is soullessly produced by manufactured pop groups. But it is hard to take seriously a story that invokes spirit and individuality when it is packaged in a spectacle as ruthlessly manufactured as this. Elton's definition of 'real' music, at a time when the most underground sounds are all electronic, is the height of stuffiness. The dissidents in this dystopia - they are called the Bohemians - are grungy, and named after 20th century rock icons. Oh, and Britney Spears. Elton's sometimes funny script makes easy play of the absurdity of classic rock lyrics, which our hero Galileo spouts involuntarily. He is the Dreamer, you see - the man chosen to revive the spirit of rock'n'roll. Before that he must escape the clutches of the Killer Queen, talk a lot about 'shagging' with his girlfriend, and devise more unlikely ways to wring out another Queen song as the plot grinds closer to a halt. There are compensations. Nigel Planer strikes the right note of self-irony as Pop, an ageing version of Neil the hippie. Mark Fisher's design uses mobile digital video screens creatively to depict the McCulture of the future. The songs are recreated meticulously. Diehard Queen fans may be satisfied, although Tony Vincent's soul rebel is something less than Mercurial. This hi-tech extravaganza perpetrates on Queen's tunes and the art of the musical precisely the crime Globalsoft has committed against music. You will find nothing bohemian, and precious little that's rhapsodic, here.

Question 4: Comparing and cross referencing texts, how writers use language to achieve effects

Analyse language and it’s effectUsing quotes is a MUST! Make them

interesting and vivid.Always link language features and

techniques used back to the audience and purpose of the text

Compare and contrast texts all the way through, not just one text and then the other- use comparison connectives such as: however, on the other hand, similarly

Question 4: Comparing and cross referencing texts, how writers use language to achieve effectsAlways comment on:

Purpose. Persuade? Inform? Describe? Advise? Entertain?

Audience. Young? Old? Male? Female? Specific to topic?

Formality. Formal and sophisticated? Informal and colloquial?

Tone. Serious? Sarcastic? Fun? Objectivity. Bias? Objective?

Sensationalised? 2x other language techniques.

Emotive language? Facts? Triplets? Rhetoric? Alliteration? Second person? Repetition?

Sample Question: Question 4Compare the language used

in the following 2 texts on “The Voice UK” and how the writers use language for certain effects. [16 marks]

As regular readers know, I love a good talent show - I have blogged about Over the Rainbow, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and I have been asked to do the same for the new Jesus Christ Superstar show. I always kick myself when I end up devoting months of my life to X Factor - but I still do it and for the first few weeks of the Voice UK - I was hooked. The concept alone had me applauding and then there is the reason I am writing about in the first place - the inclusion of West End stars such as Twinnie Lee Moore and Kerry Ellis. But then something happened......... I don't know about you but I feel the show has lost it's sparkle and there is so much wrong with it, it's hard to even begin. But here goes - let me explain why The Voice UK has lost it's mojo.The Concept Getting judges to listen is a great concept as then the image is forgotten. But once they have turned round and they begin working with 'the artist' (are they? Already?) they are clearly going to get rid of the one who will not look so great in a you tube clip. Not only that - some of the contestants are plain awful - The unmagic numbers couple - for starters - if you were in a pub - great. But on live TV, how did they get through? I know, the voices. But the voices are dated and do not fit in with the concept that this show is unearthing exciting artists. What then happens is the judges and public get rid of people they don't like the look of! So then, what are you left with? The X Factor with none of the mediation, manipulation, loud voiceovers, but a few easy pickings for the audience to laugh at. So remove all of the navel gazing and it's just the same old show.Only, it irritatiingly claims it's not.The Judges"The licks were good", "You need to flip it", "That was dope." It is hurting my ears typing some of this as I can hear it all again. It's one judge, really but the others are guilty of trying to be like him, as they believe he is the USP. will.i.am says nothing within his feedback to contestants, so they have nowhere to go. He'll say: "Like you were hot, then it went cold and then like, it was blazing and I got burnt." What? At home you are longing for a "That was not good. You need to work on...." Instead you get a middle class version of 'street' and it's embarrassing. As for the rest of the judges - everything seems to be so "fresh, vibrant and you made it your own" - I'm surprised anyone goes home. As Lady Gaga says "Show me your teeth."Ultimately The Voice UK is so pleased with itself and the ratings, that the show has no heart or soul and it's become like the equivalent of a Christopher Nolan film Vs The Avengers. One takes itself very seriously and the other one knows what it is and runs with it. This show is light entertainment but thinks it's Jules Et Jim. For those reasons, I'm turning into a Dragon in the Den and "I'm Out!"

Why I’m Ditching the Voice UK

The Voice UK Week 4We knew there were smiles in BBC boardrooms when The Voice was a ratings hit from the get-go. But they must have been

laughing themselves into a spasm knowing that actually, they’d saved all the best contestants for the last auditions. You’ve got to admire their nerve. This week there were at least four singers who would easily have been the strongest in any other episode.

For Voice-haters, though, the first 20 minutes were reassuringly bad. Emmy J Mac did Put Your Records On in a contrived nasal “soul” voice that veered between Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Macy Gray, Vic Reeves and a quiz-show buzzer (“Go ahead let your hair donnnnnnnnng”). Emmy got three yeses, giving Jessie J the chance to improvise a Blind Date spoof that proved The Voice doesn’t do comedy. “The decision is over to you!” was the punchline. Come on, everyone knows it was: “The decision i-hi-is yours!” Stop

getting Blind Date wrong! Jenny Jones had kicked off the week’s sob stories by telling us about her bout of meningitis. We also saw that she works in a pub called The Struggling Man, which was a nice touch. The landlord should look into employing more talent

show contestants. It could be the theme. Once a week there could be a special night where the staff don’t get up and sing.Ben Lake sang I Who Have Nothing opera-style and, while Tom Jones’ criticism that it was too “operatic” was strange, Ben did

sound like Harry Secombe doing a comedy voice. Not Harry Secombe testifying at the end of Highway; Harry Secombe in The Goon Show.

The act that told us we’d finally escaped from middling triers straining to sound authentic was Lindsey Butler. Her singing was straightforward and uncluttered: a bit soul, a bit country, but not pretending to be anyone else. Usually when the Voice judges say

“great tone” it’s about someone who sounds like Mariah Carey choking on a whistle. Lindsey really did have a great tone.She was the best of the series so far, by far. But there was more. Ruth Brown, 19, was a raw talent – usually that’s a euphemism for “unlistenably off-key”, but not here. Becky Hill, a Worcestershire 17-year-old with a lovely mix of cockiness and nerves, blasted out

John Legend’s Ordinary People like a pro. By now, though, we know The Voice’s odd format will always interfere. As the judges began to reach their maximum of ten acts, the auditions became more exciting, but also demonstrably unfair. Harriett Whitehead’s

version of What’s Up? by 4 Non Blondes – mannered, but with an effortless grasp of the big notes – would easily have got through in week one. It didn’t here. “This show kinda sucks that you can only pick 10,” said Jessie J. Well, no. It kinda sucks that once you’ve

picked them you are, like the tat-floggers on Four Rooms, unable to go back and change your mind – and that the end of the process had been loaded with good candidates to increase the drama. Not that I’m complaining: it was much better telly than the

past three weeks. It got worse/better. When only one place was left, we met two men backstage, both trying to become stars just as their partners were expecting a first child. Daniel Walker was on first, which told us he was doomed, because otherwise the other guy wouldn’t have sung at all. Somehow, fortunately, the unbriefed will.i.am decided not to pick him. “You’re an amazing talent,” Daniel was told, which he wasn’t - although again, he’d have sailed through earlier on. You wonder how people like him feel now

they realise everyone who didn’t make it was told the same thing. Anyway, the other guy was Jaz Ellington and he was superb – so good that, once will.i.am had selected him and ended the auditions, Jessie J insisted he do another song. Jaz’s back-up number was… Ordinary People! A stripped-down take on this rather beautiful song about relationships gone wrong left will.i.am, who co-

wrote the song with John Legend, quietly in bits. His unostentatious, believable tears – he really did look like his mind was miles or years away – made for a classy and unusually affecting emotional climax. It had been achieved through just the sort of Cowellesque

manipulation, complete with cruelty to those who missed out, that The Voice’s fans say they disapprove of. How they’ll react next week to BATTLE WEEKEND, when the singers are paired up and have to trill into each other’s faces in a boxing ring before their

own mentor fires one of them on the spot, I don’t know. But it sounds like what this week’s Voice was: terrific talent-show TV.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE SECTION B

Writing StylesSpend approximately 1 hour 15 minutes on this sectionSplit into two parts:-Shorter task: Writing to inform/explain-Longer task: Writing to argue/persuade

Shorter task: writing to inform/explain/describe

Structure:Paragraph 1: IntroductionParagraph 2: 1st Main PointParagraph 3: 2nd Main PointConclusion

Mark schemeCommunication and organization of ideas: /10Technical: /6

Writing to informIntroduce the topic in a lively and

clear way in your opening paragraph

Continue with well-structured paragraphs that provide “bite size chunks” of information

To be easily absorbed, information needs to be interesting- a lively tone and style will assure this

Using an anecdote can gain extra marks because it can illuminate information very clearly and in a compelling way

Sample question: Writing to inform

Your school is taking part in a student exchange with students from the USA. Write an unbiased introduction for potential students which informs them about what they can look forward to when they arrive. [16 marks]

Writing to explainExplanation has to be objective,

balanced and trustworthyNo one likes to read what they

already know, and by doing this you risk your reader feeling patronised

Include factual information rather than opinion

Reflect on own experiences of when you’ve read explanations or reviews

Sample questions: writing to explain

Teenage life can be fun but difficult too, write an article for a school magazine in which you explain what it is like to be a teenager. [16 marks]

Writing to describeBe specific. Don’t go into detail

about obvious things, it’s the quirks and oddities that paint a scene. Careful description makes it seem more believable

Use descriptions that move your piece forward, don’t just list things

Include techniques such as adjectives, adverbs, alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification and vivid imagery

Describe for each of the 5 senses

Sample question: Writing to describe

Imagine you’re on holiday in a personally, much-loved holiday destination, describe your favourite part of the area and how it makes you feel. [16 marks]

Longer task: Writing to argue/ persuade

Structure:Paragraph 1: introductionParagraph 2: 1st main pointParagraph 3: 2nd main pointParagraph 4: 3rd main pointParagraph 5: Counter argumentParagraph 6: Conclusion

Communication and organisation of ideas: /16Technical: /8

*ALWAYS REMEMBER… A FOREST

When arguing or persuading, include these great language techniques….

Alliteration/ AnecdoteFactsOpinionsRhetoric/ RepetitionEmotive languageSecond person/Statistics Triplets

Writing to argueIt’s crucial to find some common

ground between you and your “opponents”

Be tactful. Never show disrespect towards the opposing view. Avoid sounding superior or condescending, as this will lose you marks. Sound sincere, so that your writing feels authentic .

Acknowledge main opposing views and counter-act them, show why you are more reasonable, without dissing the reasonability of their argument

Sample question: Writing to argue

The world would be a happier place if cars/ tobacco/ television/ computers (you choose a topic) didn’t exist. Write the text of a speech to your year group in which you argue either for or against this proposition. [24 marks]

Writing to PersuadePersuasion works best when you

know your audience well, so consider your reader. Address them using 2nd person.

Persuasion is more one-sided and personal than arguing. You can be more passionate and emotional and rely more on language devices.

Appear trustworthy and convincing. Sound authentic and passionate, use a confident tone

Sample question: Writing to persuade

We have all seen “disaster” holidays on TV. Write a letter to a travel company persuading them you deserve compensation after your holiday was not up to standard. [24 marks]

*Effective and Interesting writing: advice

Vary your sentences! Minor for impact, simple to draw attention to an important point and complex to add extra information and detail.

Incorporate higher punctuation. For example colons, semi-colons, brackets and hyphens.

Link your paragraphs together by: asking a question at the end of the last paragraph and answer it at the beginning of the next; using connectives; repeating a phrase or comment in the last paragraph.

If you’ve made it through this PowerPoint…

CONGRATULATIONS! Either: Make a brew and treat yourself to a

biscuitWatch daytime TVCheck your facebook/ twitter/

Tumblr/ Instagram/ Pinterest/ other social media…

YOU DESERVE IT!!