Approaching GCSE Language Paper 1: A Student Guide

The below is a guide written for students and is intended to outline the core information necessary to do well on Language Paper 1 (the one dealing with fiction) as well as various helpful and effective strategies and tips.

Question 1

• This question assesses your ability to read a passage and then identify explicit information.
• You will be directed to a specific part of the passage: ensure that your answer comes from this passage. If the answer you provide is taken from outside of this passage, then you will not get a mark.
• You will then be asked to select 4 pieces of information.
• The key to success is to make sure the information that you select is explicit, something that is factual and can be pointed to, and an idea that is only being implied.

Question 2

• In this question you will be provided with a short extract from the passage and you will be asked to analyse how the writer uses language to describe something.  
• Thus, move through the specified passage chronologically and analyse how the writer is using language to shape meaning: consider why certain words and images have been selected and examine the effect they have on the reader.
• You might want to think about:
  • Literary devices: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, emotive language, pathetic fallacy, lexical field, syntax, etc.
  • Sentence forms and types of word: nouns, adjectives, verbs, clauses, complex / simple sentences, adverbs, etc.
  • Imagery: look at key words and phrases. Associations and connotations?

Success Criteria

• Get to the language: Begin with the following: ‘When considering how the writer uses language to describe X one is immediately struck by…’
• Effect: Always link to the effect being created and always link to the question. If in doubt: ‘This is effective / significant because’
• Three language rich images: The analysis is centred around three images about which you could say multiple things
• Explorative language: One might suggest, This is richly suggestive of, Perhaps this means, One could press upon this further by suggesting etc
• Transition sentences: This is compounded by, reinforced, underlined, stressed, accentuated, cemented, crystalized, etc
• Consider the wider message that the language helps to convey
• Conclude: Fundamentally / Ultimately, address the overall tone that is created

Question 3

• In this question you will be asked to look at the whole source and to analyse how the writer uses structure in order to shape meaning.
• It will usually be focused on interest
  • Begin by looking at what the writer directs your attention towards: ‘When considering structure, one notices the writer directs one’s attention to X. This is interesting because…’
  • Then move through the passage and comment on selected perspective shifts
  • This includes:
    • Big to small
    • Zoom in and zoom out
    • One object or character to another
    • One POV to another
    • Comment on the effect: how does this develop the passage? Why shift perspective to X? What effect does it have? How does it maintain interest?
  • Then conclude by looking at the cliff-hanger. So, your essay ends with the end of the passage itself.
• One really, really important thing to keep in mind is this: you can’t just make a list of all the different perspective shifts.
• You need to say why they are significant or interesting. In order to say why they are interesting you may very well need to discuss language, but only in passing.
• Always ask yourself: What is the effect of the specific structural choice that you are discussing?
• Fundamentally, this question is about two things:
  • What are you being shown?
  • Why are you being shown it?

Success Criteria

• Begin by discussing what the writer immediately draws the reader’s attention to and the effect this has. What does the writer direct your attention to and why?
• Begin with the following sentence or a variation of it: ‘When considering structure, one notices the writer directs one’s attention to X’
• Analyse the way in which the passage develops through perspective shifts, specifically examining three divable perspective shifts from a range of points in the text
• Always focus on effect: how do the perspective shifts provoke interest? How does this help the narrative to progress? How does the story unfold?
• Focus on the cliff-hanger and its effect

Question 4

• In this question you are directed towards a substantial portion of the passage.
• This question assesses your ability to evaluate texts critically and to support this with relevant textual references.
• Get your timing right: it is worth Q1, Q2, Q3 combined.
• It will typically present you with a statement with which you can then agree or disagree. There is no right answer to this question
• Use first person as you are offering your personal view, albeit one supported with detailed reference and analysis.
• It is important to have a very clear thread of argument and to adopt a clear position from the very start. Begin your answer with: ‘Having thought about the extract I agree / disagree with the claim that X…’ This is called a thesis statement.
• The aim is then to support and substantiate your position with detailed reference to the text and analysis.
• There will be a very clear conclusion that reasserts the reason for holding the given position.
• In essence:
  • What do you think?
  • Why do you think it?

Success Criteria

• The student adopts a very clear position from the start, whether that is one of agreement, disagreement or indeed a little of both.
• The student uses first person as they are offering their personal view.
• The reason for holding the position is explained and substantiated through close and detailed reference to the text
• The response will begin with some variation of the following: ‘Having thought about the extract I agree / disagree with the claim that X…’
• The close and detailed reference to the text will involve analysing it.
• The answer will cover five or six divable images or key moments in the passage, with each linked to why the student thinks what they do.
• There is a clear conclusion.

Question 5 (Creative Writing)

• You are being assessed on your ability to manipulate language for effect and to make conscious, crafted choices.
• As such, the examiners are far, far more interested in quality of response rather than quantity. Your answer does not need to be long, but it does need to be crafted and consciously constructed.
• One way to think of how to approach this question is a crossing out mindset:
  • If you are approaching this question in the right way you will naturally cross things out
  • This is because you should constantly be searching for and thinking about the best possible word to use
  • Does the chosen word convey what you want it to convey? Have you chosen the most appropriate and effective metaphor? What tone are you creating?
  • If you are reflecting on your work as you write, then you will cross things out because you would have thought about a better word or image to use
• Planning is essential.
• There are two styles of writing that are covered in this question and you will typically, but not always, be presented with a choice between the two: descriptive and narrative.

• For the descriptive task you will typically be presented with a picture and asked to write a description based on it.
• The first task of the planning stage is to decide an appropriate point of view.
• Once you have done this, ask yourself whether your chosen point of view is happy or sad and why. This provides a way to think about what is happening and the narrative voice, as well as the tone you will adopt.
• Decide on an appropriate cluster of images that will be threaded throughout the piece.
• Now outline the structure using DROP, ZOOM, FLASH, END:
  • Drop: Drop the reader into the action. There should be something happening, some movement, something that makes the reader want to read on
  • Zoom: Zoom into one specific element of drop section and describe this in detail
  • Flash: Transition into a flashback. The flashback should be the opposite tone to the one thus far established
  • End: Return to the beginning of the piece to create a cyclical structure
• There should also be some narrative propulsion even though it is not a story. This means having some movement from A to B. Your chosen point of view should be doing something or going somewhere or there should be an end point, even if very trivial
• Include a motif related to time or distance.
• Aim to include a variation of sentence structures.

• For the narrative task you will be typically be asked to write a portion of a story.
• The first task of the planning stage is to decide an appropriate point of view.
• Once you have done this, ask yourself whether your chosen point of view is happy or sad and why. This provides a way to think about what is happening and the narrative voice, as well as the tone you will adopt.
• Decide on an appropriate cluster of images that will be threaded throughout the piece.
• Now outline a clear and obvious plot, which will usually follow a triangular structure:
  • Exposition: You establish a problem that needs to be solved or an issue that the characters need to confront
  • Conflict: The characters attempt to solve the issue, but it is ambiguous as to whether they will
  • Resolution: The characters either do or not do solve the issue, but the resolution should return the reader to the start of the story in some way
• There will need to be two characters.
• There ought to be some dialogue between the two, but not a lot.
• Include a motif related to time or distance.

Success Criteria

• There should be evidence that the piece has been consciously crafted, with the student clearly making deliberate choices about the words and images being chosen
• Written communication should be at all times clear: the reader should never need to try to work out what you are trying to say
• There should be an appropriate structure
• Syntax ought to be manipulated for effect
• There should be a clear point of view
• The narrative voice should be appropriate and consistent
• There should be an appropriate amount of narrative propulsion
• There should be a motif related to time or distance
• A cluster of images ought to be stretched throughout the piece