How to answer every question

Identify a phrase or detail from the named lines.

• Use only the lines given.
• Copy the short phrase that answers the question.

For top marks: Don’t over-think it, and don’t write a sentence if a phrase will do.

Give two short answers, or explain something simple, from the named lines.

• Check whether it wants your own words.
• Write one clear point per mark.

For top marks: One line for each mark is enough.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to create an effect in the named lines.

• Write about both language and structure.
• Two short paragraphs: one idea, a short quotation, a close look at it, and the effect.
• Use subject terms only when they help you explain.

For top marks: Top marks need comments on both language and structure, so include one point about how the lines are organised.

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In the named part of the extract, there’s an attempt to create an effect such as tension or sympathy. Evaluate how successfully it’s achieved.

• Decide how successful you think it is, and say so in your first line.
• Three or four paragraphs: a judgement, evidence and how the writer’s method works.
• Keep using words like “successfully”, “effectively” and “convincingly”.

For top marks: You’re judging how well it works, not only how it works. Be specific about why a detail succeeds.

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Choose one task: imaginative writing, with images given to help on one option.

• Plan for 5 minutes and pick a simple idea.
• Use one setting, one problem and a clear shape.
• Check for 5 minutes: 16 marks are for accuracy.

For top marks: Control beats plot. Vary your sentences for effect and use detail nobody else would think of.

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Short questions on the first text, from the named lines.

• Use only the lines given.
• Answer in a word, phrase or short sentence.

For top marks: Be quick: these are small marks.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to interest and engage the reader in the first text.

• Work out what the writer wants us to feel.
• Three or four paragraphs, with some on structure: how it opens, how it moves and how it ends.
• Link every comment to the effect on the reader.

For top marks: Weave language and structure together across the whole text.

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Short questions on the second text.

• Same as Questions 1 and 2.

For top marks: Keep it short and move on.

Evaluate how successfully the writer achieves something in the second text, such as showing a place or a person’s experience.

• Give your judgement in the first line.
• Three or four paragraphs on how the writer’s choices succeed.
• Use short quotations from across the text.

For top marks: Say why it succeeds for a reader, using words such as “convincingly” and “powerfully”.

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The two texts have something in common. Use details from both to explain it.

• Two or three shared points.
• A detail from each text for every point.
• Use “both” and “similarly”.

For top marks: Bring the texts together in each sentence, in your own words where you can.

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Compare how the writers present their ideas and perspectives.

• Three paragraphs, with both texts in every paragraph.
• Compare what they think and how they show it.
• Use short quotations from both.

For top marks: Compare ideas and methods in every paragraph, instead of writing about one text and then the other.

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Choose one task: a piece of writing in a form such as an article, letter, report, review or speech.

• Check the form, audience and purpose.
• Plan five paragraphs.
• Use the right layout and tone for that form.

For top marks: Sound like a real person writing to real people, and take one counter-argument seriously.

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