AQA GCSE GUIDE –English Language Revision Guide

What you will need to know:

Key Terminology for analysis of texts

How to approach Unseen Language extracts
How to analyse
How to Compare
How to write creatively
How to write accurately
How to write with flair, engagingly and interestingly
How to write for a specific Purpose, Audience & Format &
Tone (NON-FICTION WRITING)
 English AQA Language and Literature GCSE at a glance guide
You will achieve 2 GCSEs in English. You have no coursework. Everything you learn over the two years will be
assessed by exams at the end of the two years.

Paper One Reading Section A Writing Section B

Language
1 hour 45 minutes One fiction text to read One fiction writing task -Creative writing
in total (extract from a piece of 20th 24 marks for communication 16 marks for technical
Century Literature) accuracy (40 marks)
50% of the 4 questions to answer
language GCSE 1 brief answer x 4 marks
2 x 8 marks
1 x 20 marks
(40 marks)

Paper Two Reading Section A Writing Section B

Language
1 hour 45 minutes Two linked non-fiction texts One non-fiction writing tasks (e.g, write a letter,
to read report, interview etc for a specific purpose, audience and
in total format)
4 questions to answer:
80 marks 1 multiple choice x 4 marks 24 marks for communication 16 marks for technical
50% of the 1 x 8 marks accuracy (40 marks)
1x 12 marks
Language GCSE 1 x 16 marks
(40 marks)

Paper One Section A Shakespeare Section B 19th Century Text

Literature
1 hour 45 minutes Shakespeare: 19th Century Text:
Extract bringing in whole play Extract bringing in knowledge of whole text
64 marks in total One Question
knowledge
40% of the 20% of the GCSE
One Question
Literature exam 20% of the GCSE

Paper Two Section A: Modern Section B: Section C: Unseen

Literature Prose or Drama Text Poetry Poetry 20%
Anthology
2 hours 15 One question on the text studied Comparative question: Two previously unseen poems
Closed book exam (no copies One copy of a poem Two questions
minutes allowed in the exam) from the anthology in Question one: Essay on poem
96 marks One question exam to compare with one
another example from Question two: Comparative
60% of overall the anthology but essay on poem one and the
Literature GCSE unseen in the exam. second unseen poem
One question
 Writer’s Techniques
 ***Alliteration: a series of words in a row which have the same first consonant sound.***
 Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds.
 Allegory: extended metaphor in which a symbolic story is told
 Anecdote: a short story using examples to support ideas
 Bias: inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair
 Cliché: overused phrase or theme
 Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse
 Caesura: a break in the middle of a line of poem which uses punctuation (any . , : ; etc…)
 ***Connotations: implied or suggested meanings of words or phrases***
 ***Dialogue: speech***
 ***Directive: using you we or use***
 ***Ellipsis:… using 3 dots as punctuation to express emotion or that something has been omitted from the
writing***
 Enjambment: incomplete sentences at the end of lines in poetry
 End-Stopping: punctuation at the end of a line of poetry
 ***Emotive Language: language which creates an emotion in the reader***
 ***Exclamation mark: ! punctuation used to express surprise, shock, shouting etc.***
 Extended Metaphor: a metaphor that continues into the sentence that follows or throughout the text
 ***Facts: information that can be proven***
 ***First Person: using I to tell the story***
 ***Humour: Provoking laughter and providing amusement***
 ***Hyperbole: use of exaggerated terms for emphasis***
 ***Imagery: creating a picture in the readers head***
 Juxtaposition: placing contrasting ideas close together in a text
 ***Metaphor: a comparison as if a thing is something else***
 Motif: a recurring set of words/phrases or imagery for effect
 Onomatopoeia: words that sound like their meaning
 ***Opinion: information that you can’t prove***
 Oxymoron: using two terms together, that normally contradict each other
 Pathetic Fallacy: ascribing human conduct and feelings to nature
 Protagonist: the main character who propels the action forward
 ***Personification: giving human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena***
 ***Repetition: when words or phrases are used more than once in a piece of writing***
 ***Rhetorical question: asking a question as a way of asserting something. Asking a question which already has
the answer hidden in it.***
 Sibilance: repetition of letter 's', it is a form of alliteration
 Second Person: using ‘you’ to tell a story
 Superlative: declaring something the best within its class i.e. the ugliest, the most precious
 Sensory detail imagery: sight, sound, taste, touch, smell
 ***Simile: comparison between two things using like or as***
 ***Statistics: facts and figures***
 Symbolism: the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities
 ***Third Person: using ‘he, she it & they’ to tell the story***
 Tense: writing which is in the past, present or future
 Triplets: repetition of three ideas, words or phrases close together
 ***Tone: the way a piece of text sounds e.g sarcastic etc.***

Sentence Structure information

Sentence structures: simple – a short sentence which uses capital letter at the start and full stop at the end and has only one
clause in it. Compound – two clauses joined by a connective (use the FANBOYS acronym), A complex sentence contains one
independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains
clauses which are not equal. Complex sentences are sometimes called a three part sentence and often use a variety of sentence
openings (use the PANIC acronym). Clause: a clause is one independent idea which forms part of a sentence
 Word Class Analysis
***Adjective: a word used to describe***
***Adverb – often ly words which describes how things are done***
***Modal verbs: verbs which offer a choice – could, should will etc.***
***Connotations: implied or suggested meanings of words or phrases***
***Noun: the name of something (Proper Noun: people, places, dates & months must have a capital letter at the
start)***
Pronoun: Pronouns are short words like 'it', 'she', 'he', 'you', 'we', 'they', 'us', and ‘them’, used instead of names
Preposition: A preposition is a word such as after, in, to, on, and with. Prepositions are usually used in front of nouns
or pronouns and they show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence
***Verb: a word used to describe an action***

A General Guide to Analysis

 Link to the question – explain briefly what you think
 Quote to support what you have said
 Explain fully the meaning – obvious and hidden meanings
 Link to the subject terminology (language or structure)
 Explore connotations of words or hidden meaning
 Explain the effect on the reader or the writers’ intentions
 Link to the question at some point in your answer
 Explore alternative meanings

A general guide to introductions in an essay

 Link to the question
 Explain a summary of the text (can be brief 1 – 2 sentences)
 State what you are going to cover in your essay
 If comparing make sure you have said what the similarities and differences are

A general guide to conclusion in an essay

 Link back to the question
 Summarise what you have said in you’re essay
 Explain what your point of view/opinion of the text is
 Explain what effect the text has had

A general guide to persuasive evaluation

 Give an overview of the text
 Make a point about what you think linked to the question
 Explain your opinion with a quote to support
 Offer an alternative opinion
 Use persuasive language to encourage the reader to agree with you
 Use connectives to link your argument/ideas
 Language Paper 1: Reading
AQA FICTION READING
What is it?

You'll be given one text and have to answer four different questions on that text.

Q1 - Select and list four pieces of information from a specific part of the text (4 marks) The skill you
are using is inference here (picking out obvious and hidden meanings)

Q2 - Use the ‘how to analyse’ guide to explore how language is used for effect (8 marks) You are
using analysis skills here

Q3 - Use the ‘how to analyse guide’ to explore how structure has been used for effect (8 marks) You
are again using analysis skills here but this time linked to structure

Q4 - Use ‘how to evaluate guide’ to persuade the reader of your understanding of the attitudes and
give opinions based on the text (20 marks) This is an evaluation question which still requires a range
of quotes from across the text to support your ideas

How to approach the 4 mark question?

You should:

Select information

Put the information into your own words as much as possible

How to approach the 8 mark analysis of language question?

Refer to the terminology guide and how to use PEA effectively, plus the How to approach a
language question poster on the General English Help page.

You should always:

Link to the question
Link to subject terminology
Use quotations - short and precise from the correct section of the text
Explain the meaning - explicit (obvious) and implicit (hidden)
Explain the effect on the reader or the writer's intentions

You could use some of these higher level skills:

Link quotations with similar meanings
Develop links to patterns in the language (lexical sets)
Offer comments which are pertinent and highly original

For an 8 mark question you need to work on your timing and ensure that you have selected and
explored/analysed enough quotes. Move on if you are running out of time...

How many quotes should you choose?

How to approach the 8 mark analysis of structure question?
Again you will be looking at the terminology guide, the how to approach a structure question poster
for tips and hints and revise using PEA effectively on the General English Help page.

However, here is what you should do, which is very much like language analysis:
Link to the question
Link to the subject terminology (structural links)
Use quotations - short and precise from the correct section of the text
Explore how the technique creates meaning
Explore how the technique creates an effect on the reader or the writer's intentions

You could use some of these higher level skills:

Link quotations with similar structural patterns
Develop links to patterns in the structure
Offer comments on the structure which are pertinent and highly original

Again, you need to keep an eye on your timing and ensure you have selected relevant structural
points from the correct place in the text. (8 marks)

Structure covers: changes in tone, changes in topics across the texts, narrative voice or perspective,
withholding of information, foreshadowing of future events, movement in the text from the general
idea to the more specific, introductions and the conclusion, repetition of ideas/words/phrases,
threads/motifs or patterns in the text, the sequence of events, specific structures in the sentences,
the use of certain punctuation to create a specific effect, brackets used to create asides in the text.

How to approach the 20 mark persuasive evaluation question?

Look at the and how to approach evaluation guide.

You should:
Link to the question
Use short specific quotations
Choose quotations from the whole text - think start, middle, end and choose a range of quotations
to support your argument
Be persuasive
Offer your opinion and explain why you think this about the quote/article
Explain what the quotation means with details about explicit (obvious) and (implicit) hidden
meanings Offer the effect on the reader or writer's intentions

You could use some of these higher level skills:

Link quotations with similar opinions or with a pattern
Develop links to opinions
Offer comments on the text which show original thought processes
Predict the opposition (anticipate what other people might suggest)
 Example of a Fiction Paper
Extract from The Time Machine –H.G. Wells
At this point, the narrator has just exited the time machine after its first journey.

‘The machine was standing on a sloping beach. The sea stretched away to the south-west, to 4
rise into a sharp bright horizon against the wan sky. There were no breakers and no waves,
for not a breath of wind was stirring. Only a slight oily swell rose and fell like a gentle
breathing, and showed that the eternal sea was still moving and living. And along the
margin where the water sometimes broke was a thick incrustation of salt—pink under the
lurid sky. There was a sense of oppression in my head, and I noticed that I was breathing
very fast. The sensation reminded me of my only experience of mountaineering, and from
that I judged the air to be more rarefied than it is now.
‘Far away up the desolate slope I heard a harsh scream, and saw a thing like a huge white 5
butterfly go slanting and flittering up into the sky and, circling, disappear over some low
hillocks beyond. The sound of its voice was so dismal that I shivered and seated myself
more firmly upon the machine. Looking round me again, I saw that, quite near, what I had
taken to be a reddish mass of rock was moving slowly towards me. Then I saw the thing
was really a monstrous crab-like creature. Can you imagine a crab as large as yonder table,
with its many legs moving slowly and uncertainly, its big claws swaying, its long antennæ,
like carters’ whips, waving and feeling, and its stalked eyes gleaming at you on either side
of its metallic front? Its back was corrugated and ornamented with ungainly bosses, and a
greenish incrustation blotched it here and there. I could see the many palps of its
complicated mouth flickering and feeling as it moved.
‘As I stared at this sinister apparition crawling towards me, I felt a tickling on my cheek as
though a fly had lighted there. I tried to brush it away with my hand, but in a moment it
returned, and almost immediately came another by my ear. I struck at this, and caught
something threadlike. It was drawn swiftly out of my hand. With a frightful qualm, I turned,
and I saw that I had grasped the antenna of another monster crab that stood just behind me.
Its evil eyes were wriggling on their stalks, its mouth was all alive with appetite, and its
vast ungainly claws, smeared with an algal slime, were descending upon me. In a moment
my hand was on the lever, and I had placed a month between myself and these monsters.
But I was still on the same beach, and I saw them distinctly now as soon as I stopped.
Dozens of them seemed to be crawling here and there, in the sombre light, among the
foliated sheets of intense green.
 Questions on The Time Machine
Q1 – List four things that you learn about the place in paragraph 1?

1
2
3
4

Q2 - Look carefully at this extract

‘Far away up the desolate slope I heard a harsh scream, and saw a thing like a huge white butterfly go
slanting and flittering up into the sky and, circling, disappear over some low hillocks beyond. The sound of
its voice was so dismal that I shivered and seated myself more firmly upon the machine. Looking round me
again, I saw that, quite near, what I had taken to be a reddish mass of rock was moving slowly towards me.
Then I saw the thing was really a monstrous crab-like creature. Can you imagine a crab as large as yonder
table, with its many legs moving slowly and uncertainly, its big claws swaying, its long antennæ, like
carters’ whips, waving and feeling, and its stalked eyes gleaming at you on either side of its metallic front?
Its back was corrugated and ornamented with ungainly bosses, and a greenish incrustation blotched it here
and there. I could see the many palps of its complicated mouth flickering and feeling as it moved.

Q2 - How does the writer use language here to describe the thoughts and feelings of the narrator?

You could include the writer’s choice of:

(8 marks)

Q3 You now need to think about the whole of the Source.

This text is from the opening of a novel.
How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?
You could write about:

that interest you.

(8 marks)

Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the Source from line 19 to the
end.
A student, having read this section of the text said: “The writer brings the characters fear and uncertainty to
life for the reader. It is as if you are at the same beach as them.”
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
n impressions of the character

[20 marks]
 THE Handmaid’S TALE
Read the extract carefully. It is taken from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood which was first published in
1985. This dystopian novel portrays the totalitarian society of Gilead, which has replaced the USA, where women’s
rights have been eroded. Handmaids exist solely for the purpose of reproduction, bearing children for elite barren
couples. They are forbidden to work, vote or read and are given a name which includes that of the man with whom
they are reproducing. Handmaids are only allowed to travel outside in pairs and, in this extract, Ofglen and Offred
are on a shopping trip.

Extract
1. A group of people is coming towards us. They’re tourists, from Japan it looks like, a trade delegation
perhaps, on a tour of the historic landmarks or out for local colour. They’re diminutive and neatly turned
out; each has his or her camera, his or her smile. They look around, bright-eyed, cocking their heads to one
side like robins, their very cheerfulness aggressive, and I can’t help staring. It’s been a long time since I’ve
seen skirts that short on women. The skirts reach just below the knee and the legs come out from beneath
them, nearly naked in their thin stockings, blatant, the high-heeled shoes with their straps attached to the
feet like delicate instruments of torture. The women teeter on their spiked feet as if on stilts, but off
balance; their backs arch at the waist, thrusting the buttocks out. Their heads are uncovered and their hair
too is exposed, in all its darkness and sexuality. They wear lipstick, red, outlining the damp cavities of their
mouths, like scrawls on a washroom wall, of the time before.
2. I stop walking. Ofglen stops beside me and I know that she too cannot take her eyes off these women. We
are fascinated, but also repelled. They seem undressed. It has taken so little time to change our minds, about
things like this.
3. Then I think: I used to dress like that. That was freedom.
4. Westernized, they used to call it.
5. The Japanese tourists come towards us, twittering, and we turn our heads away too late: our faces have
been seen.
6. There’s an interpreter, in the standard blue suit and red-patterned tie, with the winged-eye tie pin. He’s the
one who steps forward, out of the group, in front of us, blocking our way. The tourists bunch behind him;
one of them raises a camera.
7. “Excuse me,” he says to both of us, politely enough. “They’re asking if they can take your picture.”
8. I look down at the sidewalk, shake my head for No. What they must see is the white wings only, a scrap of
face, my chin and part of my mouth. Not the eyes. I know better than to look the interpreter in the face.
Most of the interpreters are Eyes, or so it’s said.
9. I also know better than to say Yes. Modesty is invisibility, said Aunt Lydia. Never forget it. To be seen – to be
seen – is to be – her voice trembled – penetrated. What you must be, girls, is impenetrable. She called us
girls.
10. Beside me, Ofglen is also silent. She’s tucked her red-gloved hands up into her sleeves, to hide them.
11. The interpreter turns back to the group, chatters at them in staccato. I know what he’ll be saying, I know the
line. He’ll be telling them that women here have different customs, that to stare at them through the lens of
a camera is, for them, an experience of violation.

Acknowledgement of copyright-holders and publishers: © From The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Published
by Jonathan Cape. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited.
 Questions on The Handmaid’s Tale
Q1 – List four things that you learn about the Japanese tourists in paragraph 1?

1
2
3
4

Q2 - Look carefully at this extract

A group of people is coming towards us. They’re tourists, from Japan it looks like, a trade delegation perhaps, on a
tour of the historic landmarks or out for local colour. They’re diminutive and neatly turned out; each has his or her
camera, his or her smile. They look around, bright-eyed, cocking their heads to one side like robins, their very
cheerfulness aggressive, and I can’t help staring. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen skirts that short on women. The
skirts reach just below the knee and the legs come out from beneath them, nearly naked in their thin stockings,
blatant, the high-heeled shoes with their straps attached to the feet like delicate instruments of torture. The women
teeter on their spiked feet as if on stilts, but off balance; their backs arch at the waist, thrusting the buttocks out.
Their heads are uncovered and their hair too is exposed, in all its darkness and sexuality. They wear lipstick, red,
outlining the damp cavities of their mouths, like scrawls on a washroom wall, of the time before.
I stop walking. Ofglen stops beside me and I know that she too cannot take her eyes off these women. We are
fascinated, but also repelled. They seem undressed. It has taken so little time to change our minds, about things like
this.
Then I think: I used to dress like that. That was freedom.
Westernized, they used to call it.
The Japanese tourists come towards us, twittering, and we turn our heads away too late: our faces have been seen.

Q2 - How does the writer use language here to describe the thoughts and feelings of the narrator?

You could include the writer’s choice of:

(8 marks)

Q3 You now need to think about the whole of the Source.

This text is from the opening of a novel.
How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?
You could write about:

(8 marks)

Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the Source from paragraph 2 to the
end.
A student, having read this section of the text said: “The writer brings the characters dislike of their situation
to life for the reader. It is as if you are feeling the emotions at the same time as them.”
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
n impressions of the character

[20 marks]
 Fiction Writing Paper

Revision Titles and Stimulus Pictures for descriptive and creative

writing (1B) AQA
GOOD ANSWERS FOR DESCRIPTIVE WRITING WILL:
 Maintain the same tense –Past is easier but present is fine too.
 Vary sentence starts and lengths - Short sentences can be as powerful as long ones!
 Ambitious vocabulary & a range of techniques –Similes, Metaphor, Personification etc
 Start high up-weather, then start to zoom in and look at different details – think camera
techniques!
 Include a range of punctuation for effect – meaning is shaped well with commas, semi colons etc.
 Beginning links in some way with the end – perhaps consider how the scene changes
 Clear and coherent and uses paragraphs – Paragraph links if you’re really looking to impress

Some things you could focus on for the picture part of the task – descriptive writing:

Set the scene, describe the weather, birds, outside of the place – objects
Look at the scene as a whole – What are people in general doing?
Zoom in on a particular group/image
Zoom in on a particular person/part of the image within the group
Zoom in on another group
Zoom in on a couple of people within the group
Return to the scene and look at how it changes as the day draws to a close –
link back to something at the beginning

GOOD ANSWERS FOR THE CREATIVE WRITING WILL:

Success Criteria
 Imaginative and interesting
 Follow the narrative structure of: opening, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution
 Use varied sentence structures
 Use TIPTOP paragraphing
 Use punctuation for effect
 PANIC to open sentences
 Interesting vocabulary
 Good spelling
 Make sure it is clear and you have checked it makes sense
 Story Titles
1. Write the opening of a story about a war-torn country
2. Write the opening of a story about an avoidable accident
3. Write the opening of a story about an ordinary town centre
4. Write the opening of a story about a spectacular event (such as Rio Carnival)

Write a description suggested by these pictures:

Or, choose a picture you have copy and paste it and then write a description inspired by the picture.

Language 1B: Writing improvement tasks

Task 1: revise the structure of an essay – see below
Exposition; introduction The exposition is the part of a story that introduces important background
information to the audience; for example, information about the setting, events occurring before the main
plot, characters' back stories, etc. Exposition can be conveyed through dialogues, flashbacks, character's
thoughts, background details or the narrator telling a back-story.

Rising action In the rising action, a series of events build toward the point of greatest interest. The rising
action of a story is the series of events that begin immediately after the introduction of the story and builds
up to the climax. These events are generally the most important parts of the story since the entire plot
depends on them to set up the climax and ultimately the satisfactory resolution of the story itself.

Climax The climax is the turning point, which changes the main characters fate. This is normally a high
point of action, tension or drama.

Falling action During the falling action, the conflict between the main character and the other characters
unravels.. The falling action may contain a moment of final suspense, in which the final outcome of the
conflict is in doubt.

Dénouement; Ending This means that events from the end of the falling action to the actual ending
scene of the drama or narrative. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and the release
of tension and anxiety, for the reader.

Task 2: create vocabulary word banks for some of the titles

Task 3: practice writing examples of similes, metaphors and personification
Simile – uses like or as to compare

Metaphor – compares as if something is something else

Personification – compares something as if it has human characteristics

Task 4: find examples of short stories online and read these – decide whether they are good or bad
examples – peer assess them
WWW
EBI
Give reasons for your thoughts and ideas
Improve the story if you don’t like it

Task 5: develop your vocabulary by seeking out unusual words and creating your own wonderful word
wall

Task 6: learn the spellings of words that you know you often get wrong
Use the following spelling strategies to help you:

Task 7: create a guide to writing an interesting, engaging and well-structured story

Task 8: Log onto http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/english and do some of the grammar tests to
help you with the rules, or log onto your SAMLEARNING account and practice some of the tests on their for
grammar, spelling, punctuation etc.

Task 9: practice using the following punctuation in your writing

The Punctuation Guide

. The full stop used at the end of a sentence to indicate a strong pause in the writing.
Without this your writing does not make sense

, The comma is generally used in four ways 1 – to separate items in a list. 2 – before a
connective. 3 – After an introductory phrase at the start of a sentence. 4 – in a complex
sentence to separate clauses.

! An exclamation mark is used to indicate someone is shouting, show emotion and to show
surprise. You should only ever use one in your work.

? A question mark comes at the end of a question, which usually begins with; who, what,
where, when, which, why, can, how etc.

: This colon can be used to show that two ideas in a sentence are related and to introduce a
list

; The semi-colon is used to show a break in the sentence if there are two closely related
ideas and to show an idea that is related to the sentence, but is too short for an extra
sentence.

… Ellipsis is used to indicate that something is missed out or to show it is a cliff-hanger

Task 10: practice writing short stories or introductions to short stories

Task 11: practice your sentence structures and varying these for effect:
The Structure of a Sentence – Simple, Compound and Complex

A simple sentence contains only a single clause (idea), whereas compound and complex sentence can contains at least two clauses.

The Simple Sentence

The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word:
Run!

Usually, however, the sentence is a little longer than this. All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause:
Melt!
Ice melts.
The ice melts quickly.
The ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.
Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long -- it is a mistake to think that you can tell a simple sentence from a compound sentence
or a complex sentence simply by its length.

The Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses(or simple sentences) joined by connectives: for, and, nor, but, or, yet,
so.:
Simple
Canada is a rich country.
Simple
Still, it has many poor people.
Compound
Canada is a rich country, but still it has many poor people.

They are used to connect ideas and to avoid pausing:

Today at school Mr. Moore brought in his pet rabbit, and he showed it to the class.

A compound sentence is most effective when you use it to create a sense of balance or contrast between two (or more) equally-important
pieces of information:
Montréal has better clubs, but Toronto has better cinemas.

The Complex Sentence

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex
sentence contains clauses which are not equal. Consider the following examples:
Simple
The boy was cold. He had been playing football.
Compound
The boy was cold, as he had been playing football.
Complex
The boy, who had been playing football, was cold.

In the first example, there are two separate simple sentences: "The boy was cold" and "He had been playing football." The second example
joins them together into a single sentence with the co-ordinating conjunction "as”; clauses that could still stand as independent sentences,
they are entirely equal, and the reader cannot tell which is most important. In the third example, however, the sentence has changed quite
a bit: the first clause, "who had been playing football," has become incomplete, or a dependent clause.

A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or a compound sentence because it makes clear which ideas are most
important.
 NON-FICTION READING PAPER TWO LANGUAGE
What does it involve?

You have two non-fiction source texts to read, analyse and answer questions on.

Q1 - Source A only select four true statements from a specific listof information (skill - selecting
information - inference)
Q2 - Source A & B both texts summarising skills - the question directs you to what you need to
summarise
Q3 - Source B only examine the effect of the language
Q4 - Source A & B whole texts comparison question with three bullet points to guide you on what
elements of the text to compare

Q1 – Selecting Information
You will be given a selection of ideas to choose from

Q2 – Summarising
How to write a summary?

You should:
Select information which is relevant
Use quotes from both texts
Information that links to the question
Use your own words to explain what the quote means
Select a range of words or phrases that support your points

Q3 – Language Analysis
Refer to the terminology guide and how to use PEA effectively, plus the How to approach a
language question poster on the General English Help page.

You should always:

Link to the question
Link to subject terminology
Use quotations - short and precise from the correct section of the text
Explain the meaning - explicit (obvious) and implicit (hidden)
Explain the effect on the reader or the writer's intentions

You could use some of these higher level skills:

Link quotations with similar meanings
Develop links to patterns in the language (lexical sets)
Offer comments which are pertinent and highly original
 Q4 – Comparative Analysis
Refer to the connectives chart in the General English Help page for connectives which can help you
to compare.

You should always:

Cover the three bullet points
Compare using quotes from both texts
Use connectives of comparison
Write about both source texts
Select details from across the whole text (don't just focus on one part of the text)
Select a range of comparative details
Use subject terminology to refer to the quotes you have selected
Link to the question in your answer
(16 marks)
 Source 1a

The American Frugal Housewife

1. The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments,
2. so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials. 'Time is money.'
3. For this reason, cheap as stockings are, it is good economy to knit them. Cotton and
4. woollen yarn are both cheap; stockings that are knit wear twice as long as woven ones;
5. and they can be done at odd minutes of time, which would not be otherwise employed.
6. Where there are children, or aged people, it is sufficient to recommend knitting, that it is
7. an employment. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any
8. use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever be the size of a family, every
9. member should be employed either in earning or saving money. Buy merely enough to
10. get along with at first. It is only by experience that you can tell what will be the wants of
11. your family. If you spend all your money, you will find you have purchased many things
12. you do not want, and have no means left to get many things which you do want. Have
13. all the good bits of vegetables and meat collected after dinner, and minced before they
14. are set away; that they may be in readiness to make a little savoury mince meat for
15. supper or breakfast. Take the skins off your potatoes before they grow cold. Economy
16. is generally despised as a low virtue, tending to make people ungenerous and selfish.
17. This is true of avarice; but it is not so of economy. The man who is economical, is
18. laying up for himself the permanent power of being useful and generous. He who
19. thoughtlessly gives away ten dollars, when he owes a hundred more than he can pay,
20. deserves no praise,— he obeys a sudden impulse, more like instinct than reason: it
21. would be real charity to check this feeling; because the good he does maybe doubtful,
22. while the injury he does his family and creditors is certain. It would be better to ensure
23. that no opportunity for economy is overlooked. Use the shopping list for a family for a
24. week to make sure nothing – food nor money – is wasted.

25. Weekly shopping list Cost

26. Meat for Sunday, etc. (3 lbs of salt beef at 2½ cents per lb.) 7½ cents
27. Tea, sugar and milk 15 cents
28. Vegetables 6 cents
29. Oil 6 cents
30. Coals 2 cents
31. Bread 22 cents
32. Meat, vegetables, etc. for a stew (six persons) 9½ cents
33. Soap, soda, and other sundries 6 cents
34. Potatoes and lard (a "baked dinner") 4 cents
35. Total expenditure for the week 78 cents
36. The American Frugal Housewife, by Lydia M. Child 1832
 ‘WASTE NOT, WANT NOT’ The Proverb We All Forgot
In the wilds of Texas I once went to a restaurant called the Big Texan.Its name derives partly from the size of the
waiters – you have to be at least 6ft 6in to work there – and partly from the size of the portions. The speciality of the
house is a steak that weighs 72oz. That is approximately the size of the average Sunday joint, with enough left over
for at least another family meal. Most people give up and what they leave is, of course, thrown away.

The whole place is one great temple dedicated to the worship of waste and if you ever feel the need for a swift dose of
British moral superiority, I strongly recommend a visit to the Big Texan. When it comes to waste, the Americans are
the unquestioned champions of the world.

But the British are beginning to challenge them. An official report has revealed that we waste 500,000 tons of food
every year. Now that is not food that has grown mould in the back of the fridge and lurks there threatening to take over
the world; it is edible food that has merely passed its sell by date on the supermarket shelves.

It is worth about £400 million and it costs another £50 million just to get rid of it. Here is what happens to most of it.
When we buy our food in the supermarket we rummage around the shelves to find the product with the latest sell by
date. The stuff with the earliest dates is left on the shelf and, because the barmy rules and regulations would have us
believe that we shall die in agony if we eat a spoonful of yoghurt 30 seconds after the date on the carton, it ends up in
the landfill site. It is shameful nonsense. Every year a typical supermarket chucks out 50 tons of perfectly good food.
Still feel so smug about the wasteful Americans?

That food could be used by any number of needy people, but we throw it out. Only a fraction is handed over to
charities, who are constantly begging for more. Some of us might cluck a little over the wickedness of a world in which
we waste food while Ethiopian children starve, but we get over it. We smile at memories of our mothers telling us it’s
wrong not to eat all your dinner when children are starving in Africa. The truth is, we only care about waste in the
context of money.

Our attitude seems to be, if we can afford to waste things, then why the hell shouldn’t we?
I know a woman who is reasonably well off and a keen cook, who will not use a recipe calling for egg whites unless
she can find use for the yolks at the same time. She would rather slit her wrists than throw out perfectly good egg
yolks.

But then, she is 70 and, as she says, she came to hate waste during the war years and rationing. She thinks it is plain
wrong to waste. She is right.

I am still smarting from an interview I did last year. I confessed to the interviewer that I turned off lights when I left the
room and boiled only a mug-full of water if that was all I needed. Could this really be true?
I’m afraid so, I said. Such ridicule was heaped on me in her article that I bought all the papers in my local shop,
dumped them in the recycling bin (naturally) and went into hiding.

If only I had admitted to being a serial murderer instead.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to pop outside because a police horse has just deposited a great pile of manure in
the road in front of my house. It will do wonders for my vegetables and it would be such a waste to leave it there to be
squashed by a passing car. However, I shall cover my head with a balaclava just in case anybody sees me with my
shovel. They would think I was crazy.

John Humphrys
The Sunday Times, 9th April 2000
 Questions for the two sources above

Q1 - Read again the first part of Source A from lines 1 to 12.

Choose four statements below which are TRUE.
statements of the ones that you think are true.

(4 marks)

 The truth with being a housewife is gathering up all the elements

 Time is less important than the materials
 Time is money is an related issue
 Knitted stockings are preferable
 Nothing should be thrown away
 Not all members of a family should be involved in making money
 Don’t worry about spending all your money

Q2 - You need to refer to Source A and Source B for this question.

Use details from both Sources. Write a summary of the differences between the two sources.
(8 marks)

Q3 - You now need to refer only to Source B, the waste not want not article.
How does the writer use language to try to influence the reader?
[12 marks]

Q4 - For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A, together with Source B,
Compare how the two writers convey their attitudes to Food Waste
In your answer, you could:

ttitudes

[16 marks]
 Source 2a
Charles Dickens’ speech on copyright

Gentlemen, as I have no secrets from you, in the spirit of confidence you have engendered
between us, and as I have made a kind of compact with myself that I never will, while I
remain in America, omit an opportunity of referring to a topic in which I and all others of my
class on both sides of the water are equally interested--equally interested, there is no
difference between us, I would beg leave to whisper in your ear two words: INTERNATIONAL
COPYRIGHT. I use them in no sordid sense, believe me, and those who know me best, best
know that. For myself, I would rather that my children, coming after me, trudged in the mud,
and knew by the general feeling of society that their father was beloved, and had been of
some use, than I would have them ride in their carriages, and know by their banker's books
that he was rich. But I do not see, I confess, why one should be obliged to make the choice,
or why fame, besides playing that delightful REVEIL for which she is so justly celebrated,
should not blow out of her trumpet a few notes of a different kind from those with which she
has hitherto contented herself.

It was well observed the other night by a beautiful speaker, whose words went to the heart of
every man who heard him, that, if there had existed any law in this respect, Scott might not
have sunk beneath the mighty pressure on his brain, but might have lived to add new
creatures of his fancy to the crowd which swarm about you in your summer walks, and gather
round your winter evening hearths.

As I listened to his words, there came back, fresh upon me, that touching scene in the great
man's life, when he lay upon his couch, surrounded by his family, and listened, for the last
time, to the rippling of the river he had so well loved, over its stony bed. I pictured him to
myself, faint, wan, dying, crushed both in mind and body by his honourable struggle, and
hovering round him the phantoms of his own imagination--Waverley, Ravenswood, Jeanie
Deans, Rob Roy, Caleb Balderstone, Dominie Sampson--all the familiar throng--with
cavaliers, and Puritans, and Highland chiefs innumerable overflowing the chamber, and fading
away in the dim distance beyond. I pictured them, fresh from traversing the world, and
hanging down their heads in shame and sorrow, that, from all those lands into which they
had carried gladness, instruction, and delight for millions, they brought him not one friendly
hand to help to raise him from that sad, sad bed. No, nor brought him from that land in which
his own language was spoken, and in every house and hut of which his own books were read
in his own tongue, one grateful dollar-piece to buy a garland for his grave. Oh! if every man
who goes from here, as many do, to look upon that tomb in Dryburgh Abbey, would but
remember this, and bring the recollection home!

Gentlemen, I thank you again, and once again, and many times to that. You have given me a
new reason for remembering this day, which is already one of mark in my calendar, it being
my birthday; and you have given those who are nearest and dearest to me a new reason for
recollecting it with pride and interest. Heaven knows that, although I should grow ever so
gray, I shall need nothing to remind me of this epoch in my life. But I am glad to think that
from this time you are inseparably connected with every recurrence of this day; and, that on
its periodical return, I shall always, in imagination, have the unfading pleasure of entertaining
you as my guests, in return for the gratification you have afforded me to- night.
 Source 2b
Going for Gold?
Just make sure it’s Fairtrade
Often I have nights when I complain that I’m so tired I feel as though I’ve been working down a mine all
day. Like most people, I have no concept of how hard some people – mostly in developing countries
and mostly female – work to bring us luxury goods. But now that I am in a gold-mining village called
San Luis in the middle of the desert in Peru, I’m beginning to get the idea.

Mine shafts are given female names but it’s forbidden for women to enter them, which is why women
are relegated to the back-breaking work of grading rubble on the surface. When I get permission to
enter one of the mine shafts – called ‘Diana’ – I have no idea how anyone could work there. Dark,
dusty and sometimes wet, it keeps making me think of the Chilean gold miners who were trapped for
69 days. The only light is from my helmet, and there are steep, dark drops to seams below us in the
mountain. I suffer both vertigo and claustrophobia.

Over the past few years, we have become familiar with the term ‘blood diamonds’, gems mined by
workers in terrible conditions that are sold to fund the arms trade. But we know little about where the
rest of our jewellery comes from. There are no big chunks of gold in these mines, just gold dust that
has to be extracted by crushing rock into powder before it is treated with mercury and cyanide. In San
Luis, there are opencast mines next to where children play. Houses are made of old sacks. The miners
are on desperately low wages, there is no crèche and there are no safety rules for the handling of
chemicals and dynamite. Child labour is common. ‘My children are thin and small,’ says Yessica, the
wife of a miner and a mother of two. I find it hard to believe that anyone involved in this industry is
poverty stricken when gold sells for over £1,000 an ounce. But of course, these miners receive just a
fraction of the price the gold brings in the West.

However, I am also in Peru to see the first Fairtrade gold extracted from the Peruvian mines. The
village of Santa Filomena, home to 3,000 people and situated in a remote mountain area, is one of
only nine places in the world producing Fairtrade gold, and it is almost too good to be true.

The difference between Santa Filomena and the neighbouring village of San Luis, which is not
Fairtrade, is enormous. Fairtrade miners earn £250 a month and an extra 5% for being
environmentally-friendly. Santa Filomena straddles a river and this means the mine is wet, which can
be hazardous, causing rock falls. However, while the big mining companies will blow up a
mountainside, the Fairtrade miners respect the environment. To be rated ‘Fairtrade’, the dangeous
chemicals used to treat the gold in the mines are not allowed to enter the eco-system.

In Santa Filomena, there are shops, a health clinic, sick pay, maternity leave and rapidly improving
sanitation. There is no running water but there are proper wooden houses instead of slums. There is a
crèche and a school.

I speak to Paulina, 25, who toils sorting rubble and who has invited me to her home to meet her
children, Jennifer, nearly 3, and Shamel, 5. Her husband is also a miner. Paulina came here to find
work and her house is two rooms, with a tiny stove and a coop of chickens outside. What does she
want her children to be when they grow up? ‘I don’t want them to be miners. But now there is a way
out – at least they get to go to school,’
she says.

Each week, the gold is carried up the mountain by the miners and then driven to La Paz where it is
refined and exported. A lump is placed in my hands. It’s big and heavy and worth about £30,000.
Fairtrade gold means some of the poorest people in the world, working in a very dangerous industry,
have protection and a future.

Liz Jones
 Questions for the two sources above

Q1 - Read again the first part of Source A from lines 1 to 12.

Choose four statements below which are TRUE.
statements that you think are true.

(4 marks)

 Dickens has secrets from his audience

 Dickens is in America
 Dickens is interested in the idea of International Copywrite
 Dickens is talking about something no one else has any interest in
 People use carriages at that time
 Dickens wants the changes to happen to make more money
 Dickens wants the changes to happen for fairnesses sake

Q2 - You need to refer to Source A and Source B for this question.

Use details from both Sources. Write a summary of the differences between the two sources.
(8 marks)

Q3 - You now need to refer only to Source B, the Going for Gold? article
How does the writer use language to try to influence the reader?
[12 marks]

Q4 - For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A, together with Source B,
Compare how the two writers convey their attitudes towards issues of fairness
In your answer, you could:

onvey their attitudes

[16 marks]
 NON-FICTION WRITING

What is it?

Transactional Writing is a posh way of saying writing for a specific purpose, audience and format
(PAF). This is a test of your ability to create a text for a real life transaction, if you like.

Different tasks will ask you to write for different purposes but these will generally be:

Inform
Explain
Discuss
Review
Advice
Persuade

Your audience will generally be specified in the question and you may be asked to write to:

A particular person
Someone in a specific age range
Someone with a particular interest
Someone who you know well/do not know well

This is when it is important for you to consider the tone and formality which you write your
response in. If you are creating a letter for a mum or dad, then you should still use Standard English
but you can be less formal in the way you respond. However, a letter to a Chief Executive to inform
of difficulties will require formality and a tone which sounds authoritarian.

The format will vary and you may be asked to create a text which is in the follo wing styles:
Letter
Review
Report
Newspaper article/magazine article
Blog
Diary/Journal Entry

This is why it is so important to check the question and highlight the task carefully. Maybe scribble
PAFT on the exam paper and identify these before you begin planning the response.

Things to remember:
You must check the Purpose, Audience and Format carefully for each task (PAF).
Think carefully about who you are writing for and decide if the response should be formal or
informal.
Also, consider the tone you write in. If you are writing to the school to inform them it is unlikely
that a chatty, informal style will be appropriate, however to your parents this would be fine.
The way you write is important so you should be aware of technical accuracy rel ating to: sentence
structures, punctuation, vocabulary and spelling.
Remember to use TIPTOP for your paragraphs and vary the length of these for effect.
Never underestimate the importance of planning. Perhaps you could, spend 5 minutes creating a
mini mind map, which you can use as a checklist to make sure you include enough detail and cover
a wide enough variety of ideas in response to the task.
AQA SPECIFICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
AQA requires you to complete one question with 24 marks for communication and 16 marks for the
technical accuracy. (40 marks in total)

You should spend 5 minutes planning and then 40 minutes writing your response.

TRANSACTIONAL WRITING TASK LIST

1. Write a letter to your head teacher with the aim of persuading him to ban homework.
2. An adult travel magazine needs a rough guide to your local town. Write an article which informs
about your local area.
3. Your school is running a competition to design a leaflet with the aim of persuading young people
not to take up smoking. You should design a persuasive leaflet with
4. A friend needs advice on how to deal with a cheating boyfriend who she claims she loves. Write a
letter advising her on what to do.
5. Write a magazine review of the best film you have watched recently. The magazine will be read by
young people.
6. Write a letter to the Prime Minister with the aim of persuading him to extend the length of the
school holidays.
7. Write an entertaining article focusing on interactions between teenage boys and girls at school. Aim
the article at adults.
8. Produce a leaflet informing your parents how MSN works and why it’s so successful.
9. Write a report on the benefits of social media aimed at parents
10. Write to inform your local school that they are closing. You should include reasons for this decision.
11. You are concerned about the inequality in pay between men and women. Write a report which
advises on how to even up this issue.
 Repetition
Create Quote
Memrise them
Posters
Use Quizlet
Create
Make/Do flashcards
Quizzes
Start learning
Re-visit the them early
texts -
Use post it
highlight
notes

Remember you can do this!

Revise, revisit and repeat