English Paper 1

5 Genres of language
Argumentative
Persuasive
Narrative
Aesthetic
Informative

All reading comprehensions, functional writing and compositions are

based on these.

FEATURES
Argumentative and Persuasive
-formal language
-inclusive pronouns (we, us, our)
-familiar references (familiar to the original/intended audience of the
speech)
-repetition
-subject specific vocabulary (terms, phrases, jargon)
-rhetorical questions
-facts, figures, statistics (these can be made up for an essay in an
exam)
See 2012 Paper 1 text 2 or 2019 Paper 1 text 1 for examples
Narrative
-evidence of plot
-first or third person narrator
-descriptive passages
-characters
-character development
-dialogue
-setting
See 2020 Paper 1 Text 2 or 2014 Paper 1 text 1

Aesthetic
-descriptive writing
-imagery
-‘poetic’ features (simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia,
personification…)
-some narrative element
See 2021 Paper 1 text 2 or 2016 paper 1 text 2

Informative
-neutral, unbiased tone
-informative and educational
-facts and statistics
-accessible approach (reader friendly)
See 2018 Paper 1 text 1 or 2015 Paper 1 text 2
Style of Question
-3 questions
-opinion question (15m)
-text-based question (15m)
-language-based question (20m)
-two genres of language may be asked in the one question – ‘Pick out
4 features of narrative and/or aesthetic language in this text’
Answering questions
-introduction in which you outline the features
-4 paragraphs, each one dealing with one of those features - point,
explain, example
-conclusion in which you briefly sum up the task.
SAMPLE
Four features of argumentative language evident in this text are
repetition, inclusive pronouns, rhetorical questions and subject
specific vocabulary.
Repetition is an effective aspect of argumentative language as it
highlights the point being made by the speaker and adds emphasis to
it. In this text the speaker repeats the words ‘…..’ frequently
throughout the speech which contributes effectively to making the
argument memorable and convincing. (point, explain the point, give
an example of the feature)

Writing Tasks
All of the language genre contribute to the composition questions
and also to the functional and creative writing in question B of the
reading comprehension:
Argumentative/Persuasive – speech, talk, presentation
Narrative – short story, diary, blog
Aesthetic – descriptive piece
Informative – newspaper article, magazine article, report, letter

All of the language features that we look for in a comprehension

must be used in the writing tasks – frequently and effectively.

Another genre of essay that comes up is the personal essay. It can

come up occasionally as a reading piece, but always comes up in the
list of essays.

Personal Essay
-loose, relaxed structure
-no characters/character development
-personal approach – I, my, me
-anecdotes
-humour
-light-hearted tone
-asides in brackets
* never stray into any of the other genres when writing a personal
essay.