Monday 5th June English Language Paper 1

Bell activity – 5 minutes

• Welcome year 11

• Please come in and sit quietly.

• Quick writing task: Describe the scene in an exam hall.

• Tip: Use the image, and this experience, to help you generate ideas, but feel free to add details that are not really here.

• Challenge: Use all of the senses except sight.

We disagree with this advice!

•How is this page useful to you?

Turn to Q1

The boy has a pineapple on his head

Pineapple

Check your answers: Self

assess

Q2

• Key = boy playing in the evening.

• This is always a LANGUAGE question.

• Use the bullet points

• Full marks possible without sentence forms. Only mention devices if you can analyse the effect/impact.

Time left: 1 hour, 39 mins

You still don’t need to read the whole source!

Usually 12

minutes

You have 6 minutes to begin to answer

this question.Write one paragraph

about one idea.

• The writer creates an eerie atmosphere around the boy when he says “The orange light hadn’t yet switched on, but the shadows were growing”. The word “shadows” has sinister connotations of potential danger; the fact that they are “shadows” rather than the objects themselves leaves the reader unsure of exactly what is there, and so the reader’s natural fear of the unknown is triggered. Furthermore, by using the verb “growing” the writer implies that these sinister, mysterious things are getting more prominent as night falls.

Use the bullet points as a guide, not as a check list.You can get full marks by only discussing words, phrases and language devices, It’s about the quality of your analysis:

Uses terminology

Perceptive comments about the effect of language.

Sentence forms are interesting, but you should only mention them if you have something interesting to say about them. Look at this example:

• The writer uses an asyndetic list when he describes what the boy is doing: “making houses, balancing roofs on them, building towers”. This helps the reader see what the boy is doing and is effective because the reader can picture the boy in their mind.

• This student won’t be awarded marks for knowing it’s an asyndetic list because they haven’t commented on the effect of the list.

• The writer uses an asyndetic list when he describes what the boy is doing: “making houses, balancing roofs on them, building towers”. Although we know this refers to play, we get the sense that the boy feels powerful and in control of this make-believe world he has created for himself, with the asyndeticlist perhaps suggesting that the boy feels there is no end to his power while he plays in this imaginary world.

Generic, vague comments about the impact of the list.

You could say “the reader can picture the boy in their

mind” about almost any part of the text!

This analysis specifically comments on the effect on the list. It also looks beyond what is written

and finds hidden meaning.

Quick self-assess:

Have you used any of these phrases?• Makes the reader want to read on.• Is effective.• Creates an image in the reader’s mind. • Or any other generic comment that could refer to any quote?TASK: convert your waboll into a wagoll!These are all fine ways to start a sentence, but you need to add a specific effect.• This makes the reader want to find out if… • This is effective because… • This creates an image of… which makes the reader

realise/see/understand/question…)No wabolls? Spend 2 minutes thinking about what your next point would be.

Q2 in a nutshell:

• 2-3 points

• Plenty of quotes

• Writer’s techniques

• Effect, effect, effect

• Move on within 12 minutes!

Q3= structure to interest the reader. Q3 never changes!

NOTE: This is the only question in Section A that requires you to read and respond to the WHOLE text. You MUST do so or you won’t gain more than 4 marks!

How to structure your answer: 3 paragraphs –3 is the magic number• Beginning – what is the writer focusing our attention on? How do you

feel? Mood? Focus? Narrative voice and effect?

• Shift(s) in focus: narrow to wide/wide to narrow? Group to individual? Outside to inside? Shift in mood/tone?

• End – does the end relate to the beginning? Cliff hanger? Twist? Suspense? Intrigue?

Banned phrases for analysis:

• This makes the reader want to read on.

• This is effective.

• The writer has created an effect.

• This:• compels and intrigues the reader

• secures our sympathy/makes us sympathise with…

• lulls us into a false sense of security

• Shocks /surprises us

• Lures us into the narrative

• Sparks our interest

• Captivates/bewilders/confuses…

Better phrases

How does Spielberg do it?

• Try with this video:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW23RsUTb2Y

• Find:

• 1. atmosphere at beginning

• 2. shift(s) in focus

• 3. end

1. What’s happening at the beginning? How do we feel? If this was a piece of text, what would the narrative voice be?

2. What is the main shift? How do we feel about this? What effect does it have on us?

3. How does the scene end? Does it connect to the beginning in any way? What impact does this have on the audience?Challenge: can you spot something that

ties or connects the victims together?

Now try it with the text – you have 3 minutes to read the WHOLE text, focusing on how it has been structured to interest you.

• Beginning – how do you feel? Mood? Focus? Narrative voice and effect? How does it interest you?

• Shift in focus: narrow to wide/wide to narrow? Group to individual? Outside to inside? Shift in mood/tone? How does it interest you?

• End – does the end relate to the beginning? Cliff hanger? Twist? Suspense? Intriguing? Link to beginning? How does it interest you?

Tip: have a quick look at Q2 and the

“student’s” statement in Q4. Does it give you a

clue as to what kind of shift to look for?

Feedback – Q3• Beginning – how do you feel? Mood? Focus? Narrative voice and effect? How

does it interest you?

• At the beginning of the text the writer establishes that it is evening and describes the seemingly innocent scene of a boy playing on the top of a ‘mound’. Perhaps it does seem slightly odd to the reader that he is playing with ‘broken glass’, but the description of a place where ‘sunlight glinted’ seems pleasant, so we know that he is happy. As the narrative voice is third person, internalised from the perspective of the boy, we are given an insight into his thoughts, which enable us to see that he ‘liked’ what he was doing. This lulls the reader into a false sense of security, so that we are unprepared for what happens next.

Did Q4 help you to find the shift in tone? ‘darker and more chilling tone’

Shift in focus: narrow to wide/wide to narrow? Group to individual? Outside to inside? Shift in mood/tone? How does it interest you?• The ‘black birds’ that the boy then sees signals a shift in mood and the

piece now becomes a little darker in tone. The writer reveals that the ‘shadows were growing’ and there is shift in time, which intensifies the darker tone, symbolised by the ‘nine chimes’ the boy hears. This also adds tension to the extract. When the lamppost ‘comes to life’, both the boy and the reader are shocked; the use of dialogue between the lamppost man and the boy lures us further into the narrative by developing the tension and making us wonder whether this is real or a figment of the boy’s imagination.

End – does the end relate to the beginning? Cliff hanger? Twist? Suspense? Intriguing? How does it interest you?

• Towards the end of the extract the tone becomes increasingly darker and more chilling. The boy and the reader ‘knew something was wrong.’ The internalised narrative perspective allows us to feel the boy’s fear as his street is ‘too quiet’. He asks questions to himself about where everyone is but receives no answers, which emphasises his fear and isolation. The focus then narrows from the street to the inside of his home which is in ‘darkness’, making the reader feel sympathy for the boy. The dialogue at the end of the extract helps us to see the boy’s desperation when he shouts ‘Give them back!’ to the lamppost man. When the boy climbs to the top of the mound, we are reminded of the beginning of the extract and the game he was playing, but now we feel deep sympathy for him as the ‘sunlight’ has been replaced by ‘gloom’, the glass houses are ‘broken’ and the boy is left alone as night falls.

Q3 in a nutshell:

• 3 points

• Write about the WHOLE text

• Support with some quotes

• Structural techniques: shifts in focus, mood & tone, narrative voice, motif

• Effect, effect, effect – how does it interest, engage, intrigue…

• NO analysis of language

• Try to avoid ‘this creates a scary tone’ – go for chilling, sinister, ominous, menacing, threatening, dark, disturbing…instead

• Move on within 12 minutes!

= darker and more chilling tone

• Most important question! Leave 30 minutes.

• Only read what you’re told! Draw a line.

• Find the KEY in the statement.

• Always agree! • Find evidence to

support the statement.

How to answer: 3 -5 juicy paragraphs Use adverbs to start sentences:SkilfullyInterestinglyPurposefullyEffectivelyUltimately SurprisinglyShockinglySubtly

Don’t be so adamant!Possibly,ArguablyMight beCould have done this toMay be Seems to suggestPerhaps suggests

• Start with: I agree…• Make a critical point: The writer

subtly suggests that danger might be around the corner.

• Give evidence: she skilfully uses a metaphor to describe…”____________”

• Evaluate: This possibly implies…• Or, perhaps the writer is hinting

at…• Link back to the KEY FOCUS,

which was??? • darker and more chilling tone

Task: have a go at Q4 now. Use adverbs to start sentences:SkilfullyInterestinglyPurposefullyEffectivelyUltimately SurprisinglyShockinglySubtly

Don’t be so adamant!Possibly,ArguablyMight beCould have done this toMay be Seems to suggestPerhaps suggests

• Start with: I agree…• Make a critical point: The writer

subtly suggests that danger might be around the corner.

• Give evidence: she skilfully uses a metaphor to describe…”____________”

• Evaluate: This possibly implies…• Or, perhaps the writer is hinting

at…• Link back to the KEY FOCUS,

which was??? • darker and more chilling tone

Self assess Q4:

Have you…

• Linked to the statement throughout?

• Agreed with the statement?

• Identified writer’s techniques?

• Evaluated the effect of the techniques? Discussed how the language made you think and feel?

Reading paper pitfalls!

• Makes the reader want to read on.

• Is effective.

• Makes it flow

• To create an effect

• Using evidence from the wrong part of the text.

• Mess up timing and leave insufficient time for Q4

Top Tips – whole reading paper

• This __________ suggests (use terminology – image, verb, adjective…)

• The writer uses a simile. SO???

• The writer uses a simile to suggest…

• TIMING IS KEY

• Step by step (don’t read the whole thing straight away!)

Writing Question (Q5)

Narrative or descriptive

• The choice of tasks could be 2 narrative or 2 descriptive, so you need to be prepared to write either!

The stimulus is only a starting point! (Imagine you’re using it to cheat!)

Think about:

• What is suggested by the image

• Don’t describe the image exactly

• Imagine you’re cheating!

16 marks for SPAG! Including:

Sentence structureRange of punctuation

Vocabulary

Story

• 1 main event

• 1/2 characters

• 1/2 setting

• Care about the character/what happens

• Show not tell

Descriptive

• One scene – big to small

• Zoom in

• No major event

• No main character (don’t care!)

• Atmosphere

• 5 senses

• Show not tell

Show not tellWABOLLIt was night. The streets were almost empty. The girl approached. She was scared.

What’s wrong with it?!

• Boring sentence structure (all the same!)• No description• Telling, not showing

Show not tell!

TASK

• Describe the way Mrs Wookey is moving across the stage!

• Can you start with an adverb?

• Can you choose a really descriptive verb?

• CHALLENGE: Can you add details which you haven’t seen, but which Mrs Wookey’s movement made you think about?

SPAG top tips…

1. Steal vocab from the source texts!

• Write down a couple of words you like whilst you’re planning!

3. Check complex spellings in the source texts too!

4. ALLOW TIME FOR PROOFREADING!!!2. Use MAD sentences to ensure variety.

Sentence variety – Remember: 16 marks for SPAG! MAD Sentences!

Use this as a checklist to ensure you’ve used a range of sentence types in your writing:

Minor – no main verb. Could be one word. “Terror gripped me as I stared at the floor. Blood!”

Adverb – start with an adverb. “Cautiously, I crept down the stairs.”

Double adjective – “Angry and confused, I tried to bite my tongue.”

TASK: Reread what you wrote for the bell activity. Did you use all of these sentence types? If not, rewrite some of the sentences so that you have used all

three!CHALLENGE:

Can you think of another interesting sentence type to use?

Story

• 1 main event

• 1/2 characters

• 1/2 setting

• Care about the character/what happens

• Show not tell

Descriptive

• One scene – big to small

• Zoom in

• No major event

• No main character (don’t care!)

• Atmosphere

• 5 senses

• Show not tell

TASK: Write your first paragraph!Think about vocabulary, sentence structure (MAD) and SPaG

Make it interesting and descriptive

• Hook-Intriguing/unpredictable opening

• Interesting structure• Build up tension/intrigue-by

prolonging action• Some good description-interesting

vocabulary• Be thinking about a powerful

ending• Engaging & interesting!

• Use carefully selected adjectives and adverbs

• Use denser language than in other forms of writing

• Use colours

• Use words that convey atmosphere and feelings

• Use rich, varied and adventurous vocabulary

• Use the senses: sound, touch (textures and feelings), taste and smell (save sight for last!)

Narrative Descriptive

CHALLENGE:

Proofread!

• Read your work back to yourself, slowly (and in your head!)

• (Try reading backwards?)

• Make sure you haven’t missed any words out.

• Make sure you’ve used paragraphs to organise your work – if you’ve forgotten to start a new paragraph use two lines // to show the examiner where you meant to do so.

• Check spellings in the source text if you can!

General advice:

• Timing is crucial! Don’t neglect Q4 or Q5.

• Look for the KEY focus in every question.

• Language = zoom in. EFFECT is the main thing.

• Structure = zoom out. Beginning, shift, end. EFFECT is still the main thing.

• Writing = vocabulary and sentence forms are where most of your marks are. Use sophisticated words and MAD sentences.

• Proof read = 16 ‘easy’ marks!

What shall I do tonight?

• Read over the practice papers we gave you (brown envelope) one last time.

• Look over your terminology sheet to remind yourself of some key terms.

• Look over these slides again (on our website) if you need a reminder or some reassurance.

• Get a good night’s sleep! You have been preparing for this for two years and we are confident that you will be absolutely fine as long as you are well rested