For instance, the last bullet point is just advice that you must use quotes. However, you can’t use them like Question 3 as a rough sort of plan.
They are not ‘shoulds’ or ‘musts’, but like Question 3 (and unlike Question 2), better answers will do all of these things. support your opinions with references to the text. evaluate how the writer has created these impressions write about your own impressions of the characters We’ll look at trends in the statement as well that might help you too.įollowing that, you’re going to get three bullet points that won’t change. Suffice to say that you need to engage with this statement. Two years of teaching later, and, well, it does, but not really. I thought that the question was asking where you stood in relation to the statement and it wanted you to construct an argument. Now, when I first saw the paper, I thought that in fact it was a good idea to be arguing your viewpoint, that you could be agreeing for the main bit and disagreeing. It is as if you are inside the coach with them.” Often, it’s been focused on the main character/s, but I don’t know if that will hold true of all exam series.Ī student, having read this section of the text said: “The writer brings the very different characters to life for the reader. Is it made up? Who knows? More importantly, who cares? It will give an opinion on the text in those lines. You then get a statement from a student or a reader. If you do them backwards, you’re doing the highest mark question when you are least familiar with the text. That means you’ll have read it at least three times, and some of it four times. You’ll have read it through once before answering, read parts of it twice for Q1 and 2, read some of it three times by Q3 and it’s a good idea to re-read the bit in question for Q4. By the time you get to Q4, you want to know the passage fairly well. I’ve seen advice to do them backwards, which is just pointless, to be honest. The questions build on each other, which is why it’s a good idea to do them in the order given. If Q1 refers to paragraph 1, Q2 refers to paragraph 2, Q3 asks you to refer to the organisation of the ideas in the whole text, Q4 pinpoints back in again now that you have an overview of the whole paper. Question 4 is going to ask you to refer to the later section of the text. Let’s have a look at an example, from the sample assessment materials available on AQA’s website – the paper I’m calling the ‘Mary’ paper.įocus this part of your answer on the second part of the Source from line 19 to the Unlike Question 1 which is largely predictable based on the first paragraph and finding information, or Q2 and 3 which won’t change, Question 4 has some bits that stay the same and other bits that will change. This question is designed to stretch you! And whilst there won’t be much difference in marks for Question 1-3 between someone who gets Grade 4 and someone who gets Grade 8, this is where better candidates can ‘open up the lead’ so to speak. Again, that’s suggesting 2-3 sides of normal-sized handwriting. In terms of time, you should be thinking of around 25 minutes. It doesn’t need to be double or triple the length of Question 2 or 3, but if you’re writing a side, you need to consider if you’ve responded in enough depth. You should therefore treat it as if it is a mini-essay. It is the longest comprehension response on the GCSE English Language papers, worth 20 marks. So, to the question and the mechanics of Question 4. The post after that, I’ll look at some sample responses and explain how the marks are applied.
I’ll give you some tips on how to select details next time, as well as how to plan a great answer.
In truth, it’s going to pick up lots of things from Question 2, so you need to go back and re-read if you haven’t already. I’m going to cover some general guidance about the question itself and the way that you’re being assessed on this question.