Paper 1 Question 3

KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?

KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

Main problems with Paper 1, Question 3

1. Lack of fully developed topic sentences

2. Lack of quotations
3. Analysis of language instead of
structure
4. Incoherent structure/direction of
answers.
5. Repetitive/generic comments
 Tactics
• This is an eight mark question.
Do not zoom into
• On which areas and structural features must you words and
focus to ensure a detailed response to the task? mention
language
techniques
Beginning Explore other
structural Spend a
3 mini paragraphs
Middle for each! features within
those three MAXIMUM of 12
End paragraphs. MINS
Q3.
How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a
reader?
8 marks
3 SHORT paragraphs
Use the same PETAL style we do
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

• At the beginning, the writer

has focused reader’s
1. What attention on…..
How has the writer structured the text
should a
• As the extract develop, our to interest you as a reader?
fully attention shifts to …….
developed
• By the end of the extract,
topic our attention is drawn to…. 2) This lulls readers into a false sense of
predictability/ forces readers to
sentence question…../leaves readers flabbergasted at
include? the …/stirs up emotions such as …….

Your topic sentence needs to answer BOTH parts of the question in the first
sentence.
BANNED PHRASES: Makes me want to read on/makes me want to find out what happened
next/makes me feel excited.
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

Mr Fisher lived alone in a small terraced house in the

Always look at centre of town. He did not own a car, and therefore
preferred to do as much as he could of his weekend
the first two marking in the form room after school. Even so, there
(maybe three were usually two or three stacks of books and papers
paragraphs) to take home on the bus.
and decide It had been a disappointing term at St Oswald’s. For
what is your most of the boys in 3F, creative writing was on a par
attention with country dancing and food technology. Oh, he’d
focused on. tried to engage their interest. But books just didn’t
seem to kindle the same enthusiasm as they had in the
old days.
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?

Example of a At the beginning of the extract, the writer

fully focuses the reader’s attention on the mundane
developed life of Mr Fisher as well as a problem he is
topic experiencing. This not only allows the reader to
sentence. become familiar with the protagonist but also
hooks us in as we wonder whether or not he’ll
ever find a solution to his problem.
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

Remember the two t-shirt analogy?

Examples of
quotations from
the extract you Evidence you could have used for Mr Fisher source:
could have used
to prove the - ‘lived alone’
previous point - ‘did not own a car’
- ‘disappointing term’
- ‘tried to engage their interest’
- ‘kindle’
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses the

reader’s attention on the mundane life of Mr Fisher as
well as a problem he was experiencing. This not only
allows the reader to become familiar with the
Example of protagonist but also hooks us in as we wonder whether
embedding or not he’d ever find a solution to his problem.
evidence.
He ‘lived alone’ and didn’t socialize for he ‘didn’t own a
car’. His boring personal life bled into his professional
life as he struggled to ‘kindle’ any kind of excitement in
the mind of the boys he taught as he couldn’t ‘engage
their interest’.
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses the

reader’s attention on the mundane life of Mr Fisher as
well as a problem he was experiencing. This not only
allows the reader to become familiar with the
Example of protagonist but also hooks us in as we wonder whether
embedding or not he’d ever find a solution to his problem.
evidence.
He ‘lived alone’ and didn’t socialize for he ‘didn’t own a
car’. His boring personal life bled into his professional
life as he struggled to ‘kindle’ any kind of excitement in
the mind of the boys he taught as he couldn’t ‘engage
their interest’.
 Example of
analysis of other At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses the reader’s
structural attention on the mundane life of Mr Fisher as well as a problem he was
techniques experiencing. This not only allows the reader to become familiar with
(below) and the protagonist but also hooks us in as we wonder whether or not he’d
impact on reader ever find a solution to his problem. He ‘lived alone’ and didn’t socialize
• shift in the focus for he ‘didn’t own a car’. His boring personal life bled into his
• change in the mood professional life as he struggled to ‘kindle’ any kind of excitement in the
• change in events
• shift in perspective mind of the boys he taught as he couldn’t ‘engage their interest’.
• change in tone
• cliff-hanger/climax
• A unpredictable twist The writer used monosyllabic words to slow down the pace and
• Exposition suggest that Mr Fisher was a fairly boring man who lacked
• Rising action/falling action excitement in his life. This compels readers to pity him and hope
• Resolution
• Pace that the events in his life change to make it more enjoyable and
• Monosyllabic words fulfilling.
• Listing
• Punctuation
• Repetition
• Sentence types
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses the reader’s

attention on the mundane life of Mr Fisher as well as a problem he
was experiencing. This not only allows the reader to become
What familiar with the protagonist but also hooks us in as we wonder
should whether or not he’d ever find a solution to his problem. He ‘lived
alone’ and didn’t socialize for he ‘didn’t own a car’. His boring
your first personal life bled into his professional life as he struggled to
paragraph ‘kindle’ any kind of excitement in the mind of the boys he taught as
he couldn’t ‘engage their interest’. The writer used monosyllabic
sound like words to slow down down the pace and suggest that Mr Fisher
altogether? was a fairly boring man who lacked excitement in his life. This
compels readers to pity him and hope that the events in his life
change to make it more enjoyable and fulfilling.
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated
Mr Fisher remembered a time – surely, not so long ago – when books were
golden, when imaginations soared, when the world was filled with stories which
ran like gazelles and
pounced like tigers and exploded like rockets, illuminating minds and hearts. He
had seen it happen; had seen whole classes swept away in the fever. In those
days, there were heroes; there were dragons and dinosaurs; there were space
adventurers and soldiers of fortune and giant apes. In those days, thought Mr
Fisher, we dreamed in colour, though
films were in black and white, and good always triumphed in the end.
How and what
to does your Now everything was in black and white, and though Mr Fisher continued to
teach with as much devotion to duty as he had forty years before, he was
focus shifts? secretly aware that his voice had begun to lack conviction. To these boys, these
sullen boys with their gelled hair and perfect teeth, everything was boring.
Shakespeare was boring. Dickens was boring. There didn’t seem to be a single
story left in the world that they hadn’t heard before. And over the years, though
he had tried to stop it, a terrible disillusionment had crept over Mr Fisher, who
had once dreamed so fiercely of writing stories of his own. They had come to
the end of the seam, he understood. There were no more stories to be written.
The magic had run out.
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated
Mr Fisher took a deep breath and looked down at Tibbet’s exercise book, trying not to think 30 of
the snow outside and the five o’clock bus he was now almost certain to miss. Four
books to go, he told himself; and then home; dinner; bed; the comforting small routine of a winter
weekend.

But, gradually sitting there in the warm classroom with the smell of chalk and floor polish in his
nostrils, Mr Fisher began to experience a very strange sensation. It began as a tightening in his
diaphragm, as if a long unused muscle had been brought into action. His breathing quickened,
stopped, quickened again. He began to sweat. And when he reached the end of the story, Mr Fisher
put down his red pen and went back to the beginning, re-reading every word very slowly and with
And by the meticulous care.
end?        
This must be what a prospector feels when, discouraged and bankrupt and ready to go home, he
takes off his boot and shakes out a nugget of gold the size of his fist. He read it again, critically this
time, marking off the paragraphs with notes in red. A hope, which at first Mr Fisher had hardly dared
to formulate, swelled in him and grew strong. He found himself beginning to smile.

If anyone had asked him what Tibbet’s story was about, Mr Fisher might have been hard 45 put to
reply. There were themes he recognised, elements of plot which were vaguely
familiar: an adventure – a quest, a child, a man. But to explain Tibbet’s story in these terms was as
meaningless as trying to describe a loved one’s face in terms of nose, eyes, mouth. This was
something new. Something entirely original.
 And what
should the At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses the reader’s attention on the mundane life of Mr Fisher as
well as a problem he was experiencing. This not only allows the reader to become familiar with the protagonist
whole but also hooks us in as we wonder whether or not he’d ever find a solution to his problem. He ‘lived alone’ and
answer didn’t socialize for he ‘didn’t own a car’. His boring personal life bled into his professional life as he struggled to
have ‘kindle’ any kind of excitement in the mind of the boys he taught as he couldn’t ‘engage their interest’. The
writer used monosyllabic words to slow down the pace and suggest that Mr Fisher was a fairly boring man
looked who lacked excitement in his life. This compels readers to pity him and hope that the events in his life change
like? to make it more enjoyable and fulfilling.

As the extract develops, the writer shifts our focus on how he has fallen out of love with teaching because of the boys he
teaches. It is clear he missed the ‘olden days’ This makes the reader wonder how different education and literature would have
been for Mr Fisher to reminisce about it so fondly. His ‘disappointing term’ teaching boys who do not value creative writing
makes him want to go back to the days when books were ‘golden’ and full of ‘heroes’ and ‘dragons and dinosaurs’. The listing of
different characters makes books from Mr Fisher’s time seem so exciting and imaginative. This gives the impression to readers
that there was something to appeal to everyone.

By the end of the extract, our focus completely shifts on to Mr Fisher’s reaction to Tibbet’s story. Readers are flabbergasted to
see the impact the Tibbet’s story has on the teacher which highlights how he was not expecting that quality at all. We learn that
he experienced ‘ a very strange sensation’ and had to take a ‘deep breath’. Finally, Tibbet’s story made a ‘hope …swell’ up inside
Mr Fisher which is a completely unpredictable twist for the readers. As a result, readers are elated to see that Mr Fisher actually
has something to look forward to now and hopefully, this term would not be as ‘disappointing’ as the last one.
When writing a paragraph for Q3, don’t forget to:
- write a topic sentence
- address why it interests the reader
- use evidence
- analyse why the writer wrote the section in this way
- finally impact on the reader
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

As we are reading,
let’s remember to jot
down what our
attention is on at the
Let’s read the beginning, middle and
extract that is end so we can answer
in the folder Q3.
together.
How has the writer
structured the text to
interest you as a
reader?
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

You can use the

writing frame on the
next slide to write an
green pen response on
the question

How has the writer

structured the text to
interest you as a
reader?
 Paper 1 Question 3
KQ: How can I write a high-level response for paper 1, question 3 ?
KW: Plausible, Magnified, Elated

At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses our attention

• shift in the focus on_______________________ which makes readers
• change in the mood feel/think______________________________. He reveals
• change in events “___________quotes______________” which suggests
• shift in perspective ________________ . This is highly intriguing as _______________
• change in tone
• cliff-hanger/climax
• A unpredictable twist As the extract develops, our focus is shifted to __________________. At
• Exposition this point, this makes readers wonder/feel _______________.We are made
• Rising action/falling
aware that “________Quotes__________________”. This makes the
action
•
reader feel __________________________ because
Resolution
• Pace
___________________.
• Monosyllabic words
• Listing
• Punctuation
By the end of the extract, our attention has been shifted to_____________.
• Repetition Readers are ______________. We learn “________Quotes________”
• Sentence types which conveys ________________. Finally, readers
are_____________________________
At the beginning of the extract, the writer focuses our attention
on_______________________ which makes readers
feel/think______________________________. He reveals
“___________quotes______________” which suggests ________________ . This is
highly intriguing as _______________
As the extract develops, our focus is shifted to __________________. At this point, this
makes readers wonder/feel _______________.We are made aware that
“________Quotes__________________”. This makes the reader feel
__________________________ because ___________________.