How

Practice questions

Key points to remember:

 Highlight what is asked for in question;
 Comment on what is said and explain how the quote/ language works/ answer the
question is the most important element of this response.
 Systematically work through – evidence /effect
 Integrate technique reference into answer… the choice of emotive language
here…’quote’….. Persuades…..
 Consider title/ tone/ language choices/ images/ presentational devices and
structure in the text and respond to these ideas in your answer. (consider the whole
text)
 Time and marks:
* 5 marks = 7-8 minutes reading and answering the question;
* 10 marks = 15 minutes reading and answering the question;
 Use terms such as: ‘the writer/ author’ and ‘the reader’
 
 When we ask how effects have been created we want to know why
certain words have been chosen and how they make the reader think
and feel.

We want to know what connotations a particular word has.

Think about the different connotations of the words coming up.

Which is worse? Which is kinder? Which would make a situation

more urgent or more severe?

Can you add them to your book and annotate the different nuances in
meaning?
 Slim vs. Skinny

Wrong vs. Incorrect

Fat vs. Curvy

Killed vs. Slaughtered

Stolen vs. Taken

Average vs. Normal

 Stolen vs. Taken
The adjective “stolen” is loaded with a variety of negative
connotations. The phrase implies illegal activity and an item being
removed without the owner’s consent. This makes the person taking
the item seem underhand. There is also a need to blame or attribute
responsibility. Someone should have to pay for such a crime. If the
word “taken” had been used, a far less dramatic effect would
have been created and the reader would not feel quite so
incensed; perhaps it was accidental. It is this reaction to crime
that the text relies on to seek support from their reader.
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready…where can we spot descriptions of the coal tips from
paragraph 6 onwards?
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready…where can we spot descriptions of the coal tips from
paragraph 6 onwards?
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready…where can we spot descriptions of the coal tips from
paragraph 6 onwards?
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready…where can we spot descriptions of the coal tips from
paragraph 6 onwards?
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)
Can we group the quotes into categories to show how the language is
being used?
‘straddling the hillsides’
‘mountain of moving muck’
‘nudging the houses like blackfurred beasts’
‘unthinkable’
‘seen danger’
‘hit by a wave of stupefying filth’
‘as though dumped by the hand of God’
‘instantly smothered’
‘rising like black pyramids in the western sky’
‘more than a hundred’
‘inching ominously’
‘catastrophe’
‘a killer with a rotten heart’
‘wanton and indifferent cruelty’
‘most treacherous’
‘shame both man and God’
‘fatal seeping’
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)
Can we group the quotes into categories to show how the language is
being used?

How they are moving Threat or menace Violence and

consequence
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)
Can we group the quotes into categories to show how the language is
being used?

How they are moving Threat or menace Violence and

consequence
‘straddling the hillsides’ ‘rising like black pyramids
in the western sky’ ‘instantly smothered’
‘nudging the houses like
blackfurred beasts’ ‘killer with a rotten heart’ ‘more than a hundred’

‘inching ominously’ ‘most treacherous’ ‘hit by a wave of

stupefying filth’
‘mountain of moving muck’ ‘fatal seeping’
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)
Let’s look at how the language is used to describe each aspect of the
coal tips

How they are moving

Language is used to describe the coal tips as a gradual but
continuous threat slowly moving towards the village. The
‘straddling the hillsides’
tips are ‘straddling the hillsides’ as though they are in
charge and dominating the landscape, ‘nudging the houses
‘nudging the houses like
like blackfurred beasts’. This simile suggests a gentle but
blackfurred beasts’
persistent threat and the noun ‘beasts’ implies a threat of
untamed power and aggression. The tips are slowly ‘inching
‘inching ominously’
ominously’ hinting at the threat and disaster to come. The
small village is presented as vulnerable and at the mercy of
‘mountain of moving muck’
the contrasting ‘mountain of moving muck’ which seems to
be an unbeatable force.
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)
Let’s look at how the language is used to describe each aspect of the
coal tips. Your turn…

Threat or menace
A sense of threat and menace is presented when the coal
tips are described as….
‘rising like black pyramids
in the western sky’

‘killer with a rotten heart’

‘most treacherous’

‘fatal seeping’
 Q: How does Laurie Lee use language to describe the coal tips? (10 marks)
Let’s look at how the language is used to describe each aspect of the
coal tips. Your turn…

Violence and
The slow and gradual language that describes the build-up
consequence to the attack is juxtaposed sharply with the attack itself.
‘instantly smothered’ The gentle threat becomes sudden and has devastating
effects when….
‘more than a hundred’

‘hit by a wave of
stupefying filth’
 Q: How does Gerardo Arias Camacho convince the reader of the benefits of
Fairtrade? (10 marks)
Let’s look at two answers from an exam. Which is better? What marks
would you give each?
 Q: How does Gerardo Arias Camacho convince the reader of the benefits of
Fairtrade? (10 marks)
Let’s look at two answers from an exam. Which is better? What marks
would you give each?
Candidate 1

Gerardo Arias Camacho convinces the reader of the benefits of Fairtrade by using facts this is shown when it says
‘in the 1980s, the price of coffee was so low that it didn’t cover the cost of production’ this convinces the reader
because they can see/read proof and they have something to react on. Gerardo Arias Camacho convinces the
reader by using statistics shown when he says ‘we plant trees and have reduced the use of pesticides by 80% in 10
years’ this makes the reader think about helping and doing something good. Gerardo Arias Camacho convinces
the reader by using a colon (:) this is shown when he says ‘Fairtrade is the way trade should be: fair, responsible
and sustainable’ this makes the reader believe Fairtrade is good and makes them willing to act for Fairtrade.

Mark out of 10? …………..

Candidate 2
Camacho convinces the reader that Fairtrade is beneficial by giving us a personal account of his own experiences, using
anecdotal language to tell 'the story of a coffee farmer’. As a
consequence, the reader is convinced that Fairtrade is beneficial as Camacho gives evidence of its positive impact on his
family and his community’s lives. At the beginning, he refers to ‘the price of coffee’ in ‘the 1980s’ to contrast the difficult
times then with the times now, where Fairtrade has transformed their lives. He says he was ‘forced to return to America’ to
make the reader feel empathy towards him, with the verb showing how he had no control over his life and that it wasn’t his
choice. Consequently, Camacho portrays how hard life was when ‘coffee prices were still so low’ and ‘many farmers
abandoned their land and some even left the country,’ convincing the reader how beneficial it has been because he then goes
on to convincing the reader that Fairtrade also has positive impacts on our environment as well as our people. Camacho tells
us it’s a ‘win-win business’ and that it’s ‘open to everyone’ to show that Fairtrade can benefit us all. Consequently, he comes
to the conclusion that Fairtrade does ‘make a difference because it allows people to ‘help each other’. By telling us directly
using the word ‘you’ Camacho convinces us the reader that it is worth us investing in Fairtrade because ‘the benefits…are for
everyone.’ He concludes by using the word ‘I’ repetitively to highlight the positive impact on his life making him ‘feel
competitive’ and has ‘a future’. He tells us we can help more people like him by simply going shopping convincing us that
Fairtrade is beneficial.

Mark out of 10? …………..

Candidate 1
Gerardo Arias Camacho convinces the reader of the benefits of Fairtrade by using facts this is shown when it says ‘in the 1980s, the price of
coffee was so low that it didn’t cover the cost of production’ this convinces the reader because they can see/read proof and they have something
to react on. Gerardo Arias Camacho convinces the reader by using statistics shown when he says ‘we plant trees and have reduced the use of
pesticides by 80% in 10 years’ this makes the reader think about helping and doing something good. Gerardo Arias Camacho convinces the
reader by using a colon (:) this is shown when he says ‘Fairtrade is the way trade should be: fair, responsible and sustainable’ this makes the
reader believe Fairtrade is good and makes them willing to act for Fairtrade.

Candidate 2
1 mark
Camacho convinces the reader that Fairtrade is beneficial by giving us a personal account of his own experiences, using anecdotal language to
tell 'the story of a coffee farmer’. As a
consequence, the reader is convinced that Fairtrade is beneficial as Camacho gives evidence of its positive impact on his family and his
community’s lives. At the beginning, he refers to ‘the price of coffee’ in ‘the 1980s’ to contrast the difficult times then with the times now,
where Fairtrade has transformed their lives. He says he was ‘forced to return to America’ to make the reader feel empathy towards him, with
the verb showing how he had no control over his life and that it wasn’t his choice. Consequently, Camacho portrays how hard life was when
‘coffee prices were still so low’ and ‘many farmers abandoned their land and some even left the country,’ convincing the reader how beneficial
it has been because he then goes on to convincing the reader that Fairtrade also has positive impacts on our environment as well as our people.
Camacho tells us it’s a ‘win-win business’ and that it’s ‘open to everyone’ to show that Fairtrade can benefit us all. Consequently, he comes to
the conclusion that Fairtrade does ‘make a difference because it allows people to ‘help each other’. By telling us directly using the word ‘you’
Camacho convinces us the reader that it is worth us investing in Fairtrade because ‘the benefits…are for everyone.’ He concludes by using the
word ‘I’ repetitively to highlight the positive impact on his life making him ‘feel competitive’ and has ‘a future’. He tells us we can help more
people like him by simply going shopping convincing us that Fairtrade is beneficial.
10 marks
Q: How does the writer try to show that Agbo is “not a good place to live”? (10
marks)
Can you highlight the relevant quotes and respond to the question independently?
Q: How does the writer try to show that Agbo is “not a good place to live”? (10
marks)
Did you perhaps find…?

‘vast dumping site…bleak landscape…chaotic in places…desolate, rubbish-strewn…

sprawling site… dump’

‘young people scavenge…died from cancers… death rate for babies is high here… trawl the
site’

‘foul-smelling smoke… head-pounding… inhaling the poisonous fumes… midst of its filth
and fumes’
 Need a hand getting started?

Look at the language used to describe the rubbish site. How is it made to sound
as though all hope has gone? Is there anything redeeming? How is it made to
sound overwhelming and never-ending? Overpowering?

How are the behaviours and actions of the young people described? How is their
youth juxtaposed with the dreadful illnesses? Is this a fate we would expect for
young people?

How are the unpleasant conditions described? How are they made to sound
constant? Almost attacking the workers? Is there any escape?
Can you complete the answer below?

The writer shows that Agbo is not a good place to live by describing
the environment as huge and overpowering. Phrases like ‘vast’ and
‘sprawling’ suggest that there is no end to the disgusting site and
that it is almost squatting leisurely on the land.

Furthermore, Agbo is clearly a dangerous place for people to live

and work. A bitter juxtaposition is created between the youth of the
workers and their almost inevitable fate. The verbs ‘scavenge’ and
‘trawl’ suggests a sense of urgency, desperation and almost
hopelessness. The repeated references to illness and death
emphasises…..

Also, the writer carefully depicts the rubbish site as a constant and
pervasive threat…
Q: How does John Humphrys persuade the reader he hates noise? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready …can we spot language or techniques to show his hatred
of noise?
Q: How does John Humphrys persuade the reader he hates noise? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready …can we spot language or techniques to show his hatred
of noise?
Q: How does John Humphrys persuade the reader he hates noise? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready …can we spot language or techniques to show his hatred
of noise?
Q: How does John Humphrys persuade the reader he hates noise? (10 marks)

Highlighter at the ready …can we spot language or techniques to show his hatred
of noise?
Q: How does John Humphrys persuade the reader he hates noise? (10 marks)

Need a hand getting started?

Look to the highlighted sections.
Can you comment on….?

- The effect of questions and answers on the reader, with the humorous asides about how early
he goes to bed?
- The contrasting similes used to describe his sleep
- The hyperbole and humour used to describe people who talk at 9pm as ‘selfish souls’
- The aside to the reader that flatters and compliments
- The witty alliteration suggesting carols are mass produced and dreadful
- The hyperbole with the leaf blower
- The brackets used for humour ‘(silent)’
 Q: How does the writer use language to describe the storm? (10 marks)

Highlighters at the ready … where can we spot descriptions of the storm?

Text A is an extract from ‘The Death Zone’ by Matt Dickinson

At speeds touching 80 to 100 kilometres an hour, the storm whipped into the camp just minutes later, plunging
the temperature down by ten to fifteen degrees in as many seconds, ripping into the tents in a blinding fury of
driving snow. The storm swept up the southern flanks of Everest engulfing the ice-clad slopes effortlessly in a
swirling mantle of hurricane-force winds. Within minutes it had the northern side in its grip and then it rose to
take the summit. The mightiest mountain in the world disappeared from view as the storm took control.

If Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, and Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution, had joined forces they
could not have done a better job of devastation than nature itself did on that day. The timing was uncanny, as bad
as it was possible to be. If the storm had struck in winter then no one would have been hurt. But as chance would
have it, the tempest arrived on the busiest day of the Everest calendar, right in the middle of the pre-monsoon
climbing season.
 Q: How does the writer use language to describe the storm? (10 marks)

Highlighters at the ready … where can we spot descriptions of the storm?

Text A is an extract from ‘The Death Zone’ by Matt Dickinson

At speeds touching 80 to 100 kilometres an hour, the storm whipped into the camp just minutes later, plunging
the temperature down by ten to fifteen degrees in as many seconds, ripping into the tents in a blinding fury of
driving snow. The storm swept up the southern flanks of Everest engulfing the ice-clad slopes effortlessly in a
swirling mantle of hurricane-force winds. Within minutes it had the northern side in its grip and then it rose to
take the summit. The mightiest mountain in the world disappeared from view as the storm took control.

If Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, and Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution, had joined forces they
could not have done a better job of devastation than nature itself did on that day. The timing was uncanny, as bad
as it was possible to be. If the storm had struck in winter then no one would have been hurt. But as chance would
have it, the tempest arrived on the busiest day of the Everest calendar, right in the middle of the pre-monsoon
climbing season.
 Q: How does the writer use language to describe the storm? (10 marks)

Perhaps you could structure your answer looking at…

‘whipped’ Verbs to
emphasise Sibilance for speed and hostility,
‘plunging’ military semantic field –
pace,
‘ripping’ aggression, easily defeated
aggression,
‘swirling’ dominance mountain.
‘storm swept up the southern flanks…engulfing’

‘in its grip…rose to take the summit… storm took control’

Personification – storm as a monster, grip = violence, claws, strength. Clear
dominance, no chance of defeat.
 Q: How does the writer use language to describe the seaside resort of
Broadstairs? (10 marks)
Can you highlight the relevant quotes and respond to the question independently?
 Q: How does the writer use language to describe the seaside resort of
Broadstairs? (10 marks)
Did you perhaps find…?
Personification – posing for picture “place seems to respond” – almost as if the destination
wants to be painted in its best light.

Slow and calm “ripple plays… world of butterflies hovering…ocean lies winking”

Messy and tired in the heat – like the dog “like faint fish… strewn about… tangled… confused”

Messy simile but warm – “as if a family of giants had been making tea here for an age….” –
fantasy, warm image of family holiday, having tea and scattering tea leaves.

Juxtaposition of memory – nostalgia “honour…pretty little …gay place….now bleak…dimly

traditional”
 Q: How does Angela Epstein try to show that ‘life is not easy for a working
mother’? (10 marks)
Can you highlight the relevant quotes and respond to the question independently?
Q: How does Angela Epstein try to show that ‘life is not easy for a working
mother’? (10 marks)
Did you perhaps find…?

‘crisis hour…tired hungry children collide with irritable parents’

‘edge the household towards complete and utter meltdown’

‘I thundered…ordered’

‘She cranked up her howling’

‘In desperation…uttered the magic words’

‘Every day is a demented juggle …anything for an easy life’

Q: How does the writer show that he feels intimidated on his journey? (10 marks)

Can you highlight the relevant quotes and respond to the question independently?
Q: How does the writer show that he feels intimidated on his journey? (10 marks)

Did you perhaps find…?

‘lake was rough – very rough… little boat… tossed about … tiny in my little vessel…
endless advancing walls of enemy waves…battered the front of the boat…chucked about
like a piece of driftwood’

‘steep sides of the valley that towered high up above the dark water’

‘landscape looked rather nightmarish…stark grey rocks littered with the burnt skeletons of
dead trees…cliffs loomed over me like predatory giants’
Q: How does the writer create an uncomfortable and unpleasant atmosphere?(10
marks)
Can you highlight the relevant quotes and respond to the question independently?
Q: How does the writer create an uncomfortable and unpleasant atmosphere?(10
marks)
Did you perhaps find…?

‘dragged…stabs his fork…slaps it on my plate…hot wave of hate goes through me…

chucks it across the lawn’

‘prise from its aluminium coffin…pretty pink ham, evil jelly’

‘a scientist exhuming a mummified corpse wouldn’t have been as patient as I am… perhaps
it is the way I am doing it, like someone has put poo on my plate’

‘silently fuming…if he were a cartoon you’d see the smoke coming out of his ears’