AQA GCSE English Language · Paper 2
Question 3: language
This is the same skill as Paper 1 Question 2, with more marks and on non-fiction. You analyse how a writer’s language makes us think or feel something about a subject in one source only.
- Marks
- 12
- Minutes
- 15
- Tests
- AO2
What the question looks like
You now need to refer only to Source B.
How does the writer use language to make the school seem a success?
Practice Source B: a school inspector’s report, 19th centuryRead it
Written by LycoLearn for practice, in the style of the 1860s.
Sir, I have now inspected the National School at Hartley, and I am happy to report that the improvement since my last visit is remarkable. Upon my entrance the whole of the hundred and twelve children rose as one, and remained standing in perfect silence until directed otherwise. Not a boot scraped.
The master, a man of excellent character, assures me that he has not had occasion to use the cane above twice in the month. The children read their lessons clearly and repeat their tables without error.
It is true that they are pale, and that several of the younger ones appeared drowsy, for many are at work in the mill before they come to school; but idleness is the greater danger, and a child who has learned to sit still has learned the first lesson of life. I recommend that the grant be continued.
How to answer it
Check which source
It will only be one. Writing about the other earns nothing.
Work out what the writer’s up to
In non-fiction, the writer has a purpose. What do they want us to think? That’s your first line.
Find three moments
Look for the words that show the writer’s attitude most clearly. Older sources may use long sentences: pick the telling part, not the whole sentence.
Zoom in, then widen
Explain what one word suggests. Then widen out to the effect on the reader the writer had in mind: who they’re writing for matters.
Look for what’s being avoided
A high-level move: what doesn’t the writer want us to dwell on? Language that hides something is often the most interesting.
How it’s marked
- Level 410 to 12 marks
- You analyse the effects of the language with insight, using carefully chosen quotations and exact terms.
- Level 37 to 9 marks
- You explain the effects clearly, with relevant examples and accurate terms.
- Level 24 to 6 marks
- You try to comment on effects, with some suitable examples and some terms.
- Level 11 to 3 marks
- You make simple comments or just spot features.
In our own words. Your teacher can show you AQA’s full mark scheme.
A model answer
The answer
Why it scores
The inspector’s language presents the school as an orderly machine, and he clearly admires it. He says the children ‘rose as one’, a phrase that turns a hundred and twelve people into a single body, and suggests that the highest praise he can give a child is that they can’t be told apart from the others.
States the writer’s purpose, with a confident image of the student’s own (“an orderly machine”), then zooms in on three words.
This is reinforced by the short sentence ‘Not a boot scraped.’ It stands out among his long, formal sentences, and the detail is almost proud: he’s listening for a noise and is delighted not to hear one. The silence that he’s praising might strike a modern reader as eerie, but he wants his superiors to hear it as discipline.
Sentence form is explained, not just named. Thinks about two readers: the audience then, and the audience now.
Most revealing is how his language deals with what might spoil the picture. The concession ‘It is true that they are pale’ admits a problem, but the semi-colon and ‘but’ hurry us past it, and the abstract noun ‘idleness’ takes its place as ‘the greater danger’. Turning exhausted children into a general moral principle lets him avoid looking at them, so the language that makes the school seem successful also shows us exactly what that success costs.
The top-level move: language that hides something. “Concession” and “abstract noun” are exact terms, doing real work here.
What a weaker answer looks like
The writer uses formal language like ‘remarkable’ which shows the school is good. He also uses numbers like ‘a hundred and twelve’ which is a fact and makes it believable.
Why it stays low: It identifies some features, but every comment could apply to any text. That’s Level 2.
How to lift it: Ask what the specific word does: ‘rose as one’ makes them a single body, which tells us what the inspector values.
Exam tips
- About 15 minutes. Aim for three paragraphs.
- Mention the likely reader when you can. An inspector’s report was written for officials, not parents.
What loses marks
- Comparing the two sources: that’s Question 4.
- Writing about what the school was like in general, rather than the writer’s words.
- Being scared of old language: choose words you understand, and leave the rest.
Now try it
Questions people ask
- How is AQA Paper 2 Question 3 different from Paper 1 Question 2?
- It’s the same skill, but it’s on non-fiction and worth 12 marks instead of 8. So think about the writer’s purpose and who they’re writing for, and spend about 15 minutes.