Jaws

AQA English
Language
Paper One
Practice
 Source A
In Paper One of the exam, you will receive one
fictional source to respond to.
This source will be an extract taken from a 20 th or
21st century literary text.
The extract we are practising with today is taken
from Peter Benchley’s Jaws, published in 1974.
 Active Reading of the Source
Do not jump straight to answering the questions; take some time to
read the source through. Try to determine exactly what the author is
trying to ‘show you’ by the end of the extract, and how the extract
makes you feel.
Ask yourself the question: have any of these ideas developed or
changed by the end?
Make notes about what is happening/being focused on/being
described by the narrator alongside each paragraph as you read.
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 1
REVISION
Need to spend 10 minutes READING the text
CAREFULLY maybe even twice!
Q1- 4 marks Q5- 40 marks
Q2- 8 marks Write a story or a
Q3- 8 marks description based
on an image.
Q4- 20 marks
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 1
REVISION
Need to spend 10 minutes READING the text
CAREFULLY maybe even twice!
Q1- List four things
Q2- How does the writer use Q5- 40 marks
LANGUAGE to.. Write a story or a
Q3- How does the writer description based
STRUCTURE the text to…
Q4- A student said “______”
on an image.
to what extent d you agree?
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 1
REVISION
Need to spend 10 minutes READING the text
CAREFULLY maybe even twice!
Top tip: Read the questions first before reading
1. List four things that you learn about the boy in paragraph 2.
2. Look at the last paragraph, how has the writer structured the text to
describe the shark attack in a horrific way?
3. How has the writer structured the text to interest the reader?
4. A student having read this extract said “The narrator makes you feel like
you are close to the shark attack as though you had seen it happen from
a boat a few metres away” To what extent do you agree?
Q1 List four things that you learn about the
boy in paragraph one (4 marks)
Tips:

Write in full sentences.

The boy is brave and not afraid of water.
Don’t have VERY explicit things because
you won’t stand out amongst the rest and
risk not getting a mark if it’s too simple.
e.g. The boy had ankles in the water
 Answers
• he was resting in the water
• his arms were dangling down
• his feet and ankles were dipping in and out of the water
• his head was turned towards shore
• he noticed he’d been carried out further than he should be
• he could see his mum lying on the towel/ a man and child playing
• he was not afraid
• he was not far from the shore
• he wanted to get closer before his mother saw him
• he eased himself back a little
• his arms displaced the water almost silently
• his kicking feet made splashes
Q3 How has the writer structured the text to
interest the reader.

• What’s the narrative focus in the beginning, middle and

end?
• How does the tone/mood change across the text?
• What’s the pace like (slow/fast) and does it change?
• How does THE READER feel as we go through the text?
• What new information do we learn that increase tension?
Q3 How has the writer structured the text to
interest the reader.

• What’s the narrative focus in the beginning, middle and

end?
• How does the tone/mood change across the text?
• What’s the pace like (slow/fast) and does it change?
• How does THE READER feel as we go through the text?
• What new information do we learn that increase tension?
 Q3 How has the writer structured the text to
interest the reader.
Task One: Task Two:

Go through the text and Go through the text and

outside EVERY paragraph note outside EVERY paragraph note
down what the focus is. down what the tone is like.

e.g. Paragraph One: focus on e.g. Paragraph One: calm tone

an unknown fish to relax reader.
Useful STRUCTURE sentences
• The extract begins with a focus on…
• As the text develops, the writer shifts the focus
to…
• The focus at the end shifts to…
• The ending reminds the reader that…
• The ending encourages the reader to feel…
Q3 How has the writer structured the whole
text to interest the reader.
What is the focus on?
Evidence
Explain the effect on the reader
This creates….
This makes the reader…
This sets a….
This suggests…
The writer in the beginning focuses on
an unknown fish swimming innocently
in the sea because it says “the great
fish swam slowly its tail waving”. This
creates a calm tone at the beginning to
make the reader not suspect that any
danger is ahead. Also the writer
focuses on an unknown fish rather
than a shark to trap the reader in a
false sense of security that this fish is
just a calm creature.
Q3 How has the writer structured the whole
text to interest the reader.
What is the focus on?
Evidence
Explain the effect on the reader
This creates….
This makes the reader…
This sets a….
This suggests…
As the text develops, the focuses shifts to a boy
who has drifted on a boat at sea on his own
because it says “he had noticed that he had been
carried out”. This slightly lessens the calm tone at
the start because even though the boy is relaxed
“dipping in and out of the water”, the writer has
heightened some anxiety for the reader here
because the boy has drifted away from his mother
and he could be at threat of drowning or getting
too lost at sea. The writer pays attention to the
boys relaxed attitude too to further trap the reader
in the false sense of security that was created at
the start with the unknown fish.
Q3 How has the writer structured the whole
text to interest the reader.
At the start of the text, the writer deliberately
focuses our attention on…when it says…. which
What is the focus on? creates…

Evidence
Write your answer 
Explain the effect on the reader
See the whole text as a journey:
what did we learn? How did we
This creates…. feel? When did things get
This makes the reader…
This sets a…. realised?
This suggests…
 Question Two
How does the writer use language to…
You will look at a small section the same extract and have to consider how the
writer’s choice of language has created a specific impact on readers.
• As a reader, think about the overall tone that is created.
• Highlight any words/phrases that create this effect.
• Comment on the effect of the use of specific language techniques, AND the
impact on the reader (you!).
Question Two

How does the writer use

language to describe the
shark’s attack?
what descriptive
techniques have
what to been used?
focus on
 Question Two
The boy’s last – only – thought was that he had been punched in the stomach.
The breath was driven from him in a sudden rush. He had not time to cry out,
nor had he had the time, would he have known what to cry, for he could not
see the fish. The fish’s head drove the raft out of the water. The jaws smashed
together, engulfing head, arms, shoulder, trunk, pelvis and most of the raft.
Nearly half the fish had come clear of the water, and it slid forward and down
in a belly flopping motion, grinding the mass of flesh and bone and rubber. The
boy’s legs were severed at the hip, and they sank, spinning slowly to the
bottom.
 Question Two
‘the boy’s last – only – thought’

What language What impression

technique has been does this create?
employed?

parenthesis shows how quickly and

out-of-the-blue the
What specific words attack happened
create this technique?

The word ‘only’

 Question Two
The writer’s use of parenthesis in the quotation, ‘the boy’s last – only –
thought’ shows how rapidly the attack happened and how quickly the boy
has been killed by the shark, which demonstrates the shark’s power. This
creates sympathy from the reader because he is a young child whose
future is lost.
 Question Two
‘the jaws smashed together’

What language What impression

technique has been does this create?
employed?
shows destructive
verb phrase capabilities of the shark
and its attack on the
What specific words boy
create this technique?

The verb ‘smashed’

 Question Two
The verb phrase ‘the jaws smashed together’ shows
the destructive capabilities of the shark during its
attack on the boy. The use of the determiner ‘the’
instead of ‘its’ gives the shark’s jaws a formidable
power of their own, demonstrating to the reader that
they are something to fear.
 Question Two
Choose one of the following uses of language to analyse in more detail, as
previously demonstrated:
• The use of listing in the quotation, ‘engulfing head, arms, shoulder, trunk,
pelvis and most of the raft’
• The use of imagery in the quotation, ‘grinding the mass of flesh and bone and
rubber’
Challenge: the use of sibilance in the quotation, ‘they sank, spinning slowly to
the bottom’
 Exemplar Answers
• The use of listing in the quotation, ‘engulfing head, arms, shoulder, trunk, pelvis and
most of the raft’ suggests that the shark has consumed almost every part of the boy
and his raft, signifying its immense strength and hunger for blood. The ordering of the
body parts allows the reader to imagine the boy being swallowed head first, inciting
fear in the reader.
• The use of imagery in the quotation, ‘grinding the mass of flesh and bone and rubber’
reveals the outcome of the shark’s attack: it has reduced the young boy to nothing but
a bloody mess. The imagery is violent and uncomfortable for the reader, who is likely
to be horrified by his death.
• The use of sibilance in the quotation, ‘they sank, spinning slowly to the bottom’
creates a softer tone than the previous descriptions, leaving a harrowing impression
on the reader as the last ‘whole’ part of the boy sinks slowly to the bottom of the sea.
The shark’s attack has completely destroyed him.