AQA GCSE Paper One Section A: The Language Question

You Need a...

Strategy

So you go...

Straight to the question

With no time wasting

First determine the text's

Purpose

Why was it written?

What does it want you to...

do?

think?

believe?

feel?

buy?

etc.etc.

HOW

has the writer used

words and phrases to get

you to do this?

A Handy MNEMONIC

Q FOR PRAISE

Quotes

From people we trust or who know what they are talking about

E.g A doctor...about health

A sports personality recommending trainers

A commuter complaining about transport problems

Facts

There are 9 million cyclists in Beijing...that's a fact

These are TRUE...

...so may influence us

Ask yourself: How Does This Fact Support the Purpose?

Opinions

Ask Yourself: Why would THIS person's opinion

help achieve the purpose?

Repetition

This is a bit like underlining a word

or putting it in bold

Just saying, 'Repetition draws attention to the word' or 'Repetition makes it stand out' won't be rewarded highly.

You have to ask yourself: Why is this word or idea important for the purpose of the text?

E.g If the text is advertising cheap mobiles

then repeating 'Bargain' would emphasise that buying this mobile is a good deal

Personal Pronouns

Frequently 'You' is used

Talks directly to the reader

Compare

Poverty can be ended.

You can help end poverty

What might they

want you to do?

Which one is more likey to encourage

you to do what they want? Why?

Often 'I' is used

The author has personal experience/knowledge

Compare

Uniform is uncomfortable

I have worn unifrom and

know how uncomfortable it is.

Rhetorical Question

Creates a question

Creates curiosity so...

audience continues to read the text.

Ask yourself: How/Why does this rhetorical question

engage the reader's interest?

E.g How would you like to become one of tonight's lucky lottery winners?

Alliteration

Like repetiton

Emphasizes the word/idea

But...

WHY emphasize these words?

Connect to the PURPOSE

Imagery

E.g A request for donations to fight eye disease

It feels like pieces of sand underneath your eyelid rubbing against your eyeball

Helps the reader to understand the situation...so maybe send money

Statistics

A fact using numbers

24% of Americans beleive in alien abduction

Emotive language

Words and phrases that affect the reader

Compare...

The animals experience discomfort.

The animals are tortured.

Ask yourself; how do these emotive words affect the reader? WHY does the author want this effect? CONNECT your answer to the PURPOSE

For example: Grippers 3ps.

• Guilt

• Rhetorical

• Imagery

• Personal

Pronouns

• Provocative Language

• Emotive language

• Repetiton

• Stress

• 3: rule of three

• Statistics

Guilt: Unless you act now their suffering will continue.

Provocative Language: like emotive but always negative E.g Everybody knows women are usually poor drivers.

By the way, this is an opinion disguised as a fact. Something to watch out for.

Rule of Three: Uniform is unfashionable, expensive and unfair.

And there's FOREST:

• Facts
• Opinions
• Rhetorical Questions
• Experts
• Rule of three

Paper One: Writing About the Language

There are other mnemonics

Knee mon ic

True: back up the text

from somebody the reader

can trust

celebrity sportsman/womsn...endorsing a product

Think about WHOSE opinion

Now

not a minute wasted

Etc.

buy

What does the writer want

you to...

Do

Now...

Think

Feel