Paper 1: Reading - Answering Question 3

Section A: Creative Reading - Question 3

In Section A of Paper 1, you will be given a 40-50 line extract from a modern piece of fiction. Unless you are very lucky and have already read the text, this extract will be unseen.

Question 3

Question 3 is worth eight marks. You should spend around two minutes reading and around 8 minutes writing.
In this question, you will be asked to read the whole source and answer: How has the text been structured by the writer to grab the reader's interest?
You MUST talk about the STRUCTURE in this question – answers about language will not get any marks.

Use varied information from the text

You must carefully select quotations because they are important to the point you have made. They should prove your ideas really well.
It should be clear that your point and evidence work perfectly together. You should not just choose any quotation at random and try to make a point around it – you should choose an excellent quotation to match your point perfectly.
You should explain how your quotation links to your point.

Analyse language focusing on structure

You should explain how the writer has STRUCTURED their writing and the effect that is created.
You should select a quotation which links perfectly to the question, and you should explain why the writer has chosen to use this particular quotation/idea.
You should explain the effect of the structural technique you have highlighted – so NOT just label the techniques, but explain their effect.

Analyse language (cont.)

To get the top marks, your ideas must be original, showing that you are thinking outside the box and picking up on small details in the text.

Section A, Question 3 - Tips for Dealing with Structure

Looking at structure is about looking at how the text is put together and considering why the writer chose to say/do something at that particular point in the text. Some aspects of the structure you could explore are:

Changing depth

Zooming in on small details.
- E.g. Moving from describing New York City, to the items in the protagonist's New York apartment.
Zooming out to look at the whole picture.
- E.g. Moving from looking at different characters' perspectives on an event to the omniscient narrator's overview of the scene.
Changing from a small focus to a big focus.
- E.g. Changing from how one character feels to the actions of a whole group of characters or the description of a place.

Narrative shifts

Shifts of perspective.
- E.g. Shifting from the point of view of one character to another.
Shifts in time.
- E.g. A flashback or flashforward.
Shifts in place.
- E.g. Switching between characters in different locations.
Shifts in topic.
- E.g. The narrator moves from discussing a couple's relationship to describing the action.
Shifts from internal to external.
- E.g. Moving from a character’s internal thoughts to external actions.

Repetition and cycles

Repetition.
- E.g. Jane Eyre repeatedly fleeing from men (Rochester and St John).
Cyclical structures (events happening in cycles).
- E.g. The opening setting of Of Mice and Men also featuring as the closing setting.
Foreshadowing.
- E.g. A writer using lots of gun imagery to warn about an upcoming murder.

Developments

How characters/events develop throughout the text.
- E.g. How Harry Potter develops from being the boy under the stairs to a hero at Hogwarts.

1Key Terms

1.1Key Terms

1.1.1Nouns

1.1.2Verbs

1.1.3Sentence Types

1.1.4Words

1.1.5Sound

1.1.6Language

1.1.7Images & Symbols

1.1.8Phrases

1.1.9Mood

1.1.10Key Terms - Other Techniques

1.1.11End of Topic Test - Key Terms

2Language Techniques

3Paper 1: Reading

3.1Paper 1: Reading - Section A

3.1.1Paper 1: Reading - Overview - Section A

3.1.2Paper 1: Reading - Answering Question 1

3.1.3Paper 1: Reading - Answering Question 2

3.1.4Exam-Style Questions - Paper 1: Reading

3.1.5Paper 1: Reading - Answering Question 3

3.1.6Paper 1: Reading - Answering Question 4

3.1.7End of Topic Test - Section A

3.1.8Exam-Style Questions - Paper 1: Reading

3.1.9Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q1

3.1.10Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q2

3.1.11Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q3

3.1.12Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q4 1

3.1.13Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q4 2

4Paper 1: Writing

4.1Paper 1: Writing - Structuring Your Answer

4.1.1Paper 1: Writing - Overview - Section B

4.1.2Paper 1: Writing - Descriptive Writing

4.1.3Paper 1: Writing - Narrative Writing

4.1.4Paper 1: Writing - Answering Section B (option 1)

4.1.5Paper 1: Writing - Answering Section B (option 2)

4.1.6Paper 1: Writing - Answering Section B - Checklist

4.1.7End of Topic Test - Writing Section

4.1.8Exam-Style Questions - Paper 1: Writing

4.1.9Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q5 1

4.1.10Diagnostic Misconceptions - P1 Q5 2

5Paper 2: Reading

5.1Paper 2: Reading - DAFORESTER

5.1.1Paper 2: Reading - Direct Address

5.1.2Paper 2: Reading - Alliteration

5.1.3Paper 2: Reading - Facts

5.1.4Paper 2: Reading - Opinions

5.1.5Paper 2: Reading - Repetition

5.1.6Paper 2: Reading - Exaggeration (Hyperbole)

5.1.7Paper 2: Reading - Statistics

5.1.8Paper 2: Reading - Triples (Rule of 3)

5.1.9Paper 2: Reading - Emotive Language

5.1.10Paper 2: Reading - Rhetorical Questions

5.1.11End of Topic Test - DAFORESTER

5.2Paper 2: Reading - Structuring Your Answer

5.2.1Paper 2: Reading - Overview - Section A

5.2.2Paper 2: Reading - Answering Question 1

5.2.3Paper 2: Reading - Answering Question 2

5.2.4Paper 2: Reading - Answering Question 3

5.2.5Exam-Style Questions - Paper 2: Reading

5.2.6Paper 2: Reading - Answering Question 4

5.2.7End of Topic Test - Section A

5.2.8Exam-Style Questions - Paper 2: Reading

5.2.9Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q1

5.2.10Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q2 1

5.2.11Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q2 2

5.2.12Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q4

6Paper 2: Writing

6.1Paper 2: Writing - Structuring Your Answer

6.1.1Paper 2: Writing - Overview - Section B

6.1.2Paper 2: Writing - Answering Section B

6.1.3Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q5 1

6.1.4Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q5 2

6.1.5Diagnostic Misconceptions - P2 Q5 3

6.2Types of Writing

6.2.1Paper 2: Writing - Article

6.2.2Paper 2: Writing - Essay

6.2.3Paper 2: Writing - Leaflet

6.2.4Paper 2: Writing - Letter

6.2.5Paper 2: Writing - Speech

6.2.6Paper 2: Writing - Review

6.2.7Paper 2: Writing - Travel Writing

6.2.8Paper 2: Writing - Diaries & Journals

6.2.9End of Topic Test - Types of Writing

6.3Writing to...

6.3.1Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Inform

6.3.2Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Inform - Example

6.3.3Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Explain

6.3.4Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Explain - Example

6.3.5Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Persuade

6.3.6Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Persuade - Example

6.3.7Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Argue

6.3.8Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Argue - Example

6.3.9Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Persuade vs Writing

6.3.10Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Advise

6.3.11Paper 2: Writing - Writing to Advise - Example

6.3.12End of Topic Test - Writing to...

6.3.13Exam-Style Questions - Paper 2: Writing

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