Sometimes it’s not easy to understand what an exam question is asking us to do. Below are some terms you will see in Section A of Paper 1, and the Assessment Objectives we have looked at in class, with an explanation of what they mean and implications for your answers.
‘distinguish between fact and opinion’
Tell the difference between a fact that can be proved to be true and an opinion which cannot. Facts tend to be found close to numbers and factual statments like ‘research has proved that’. Opinions tend to be hedge with words like: ‘perhaps’, ‘usually’, ‘it is thought that’, ‘possibly’, or they may be coupled with adjectives or adverbs such as: ‘incredible, ‘terribly’ etc.
At Higher Tier level, you will be asked to explain how facts and opinions are used.
‘explain in your own words’
You should not simply copy passages out of the original items. Obviously, you will have to re-cycle some of the words in the original, but you have to show that you have ‘followed an argument’ and ‘read, with insight and engagement’. To achieve in the top mark ranges in this type of question, you have to show that you have absorbed and shaped the material to make it fit for purpose. ‘Explain…’ expects you to give reasons, clarify, or give an account.
Less successful answers will involve just copying or paraphrasing the material with little attention to the question.
‘follow an argument’
What do you understand from this item, or, what is the writer trying to say on this particular subject. Candidates should be able to recognise the main points a writer is making and to show how they have started – developed – ended their argument. Higher order readers will show that they have followed an argument by answering the specific question and by using their own words as far as possible, apart from where they…
‘select information appropriate to’
Using direct questions, references, or allusions to the item(s) in order to help to show that you have followed the argument, or answered a question in relation to other Assessment Objectives. Copying out chunks of material is not necessarily ‘appropriate’, whilst embedding short quotations within a sentence might fulfil the purpose more succinctly.
‘compare’
What is the same and what is different between the two items? You will need to use comparative connectives e.g. ‘similarly’, ‘whereas’, ‘on the other hand’ etc. to make the comparisons clear.
‘print’
The writing on the page, including font sizes, styles and colours etc.
‘uses of language’
In what ways does the writer use language to fulfil the purpose of the piece of writing? The answer will usually include some, or all, of the following: sentence length; use of verbs/nouns/adjectives/adverbs; use of rhetorical devices; the person used and resulting pronoun choices; vocabulary choice; repetition, etc. You should be thinking of the kind of language choices writers make to suit the audience and fulfil the purpose of the item. You should always comment on the effect of the language choice.
‘presentation’ and ‘layout’
These terms refer to the choices made when arranging material on a page in order to fulfil its purpose and to appeal to an audience. The AO s include the term ‘structural and presentation devices’ meaning you have to refer to the positioning as well as devices used to help meaning. These include use of colour, headlines, sub-headings, bullet points, italics, font styles, pictures and diagrams etc.
‘form’
This term will invariably be used within the specific media questions. Each medium has different forms of the same product, e.g. a newspaper can come in the form of a broadsheet, or a tabloid. Historically, these forms bring certain expectations with them, but there can be variations within the forms (e.g. between the Daily Mail and The Sun).
‘read them as media texts’
This means that you will now have to read the items with a view to answering the questions aaimed at fulfilling the specific media content of this component. This means that you will read the texts with a view to the producer’s prupose, audience, medium and context.
‘effective’ or ‘effectiveness’
Write about how well the item(s) has worked and comment on whether it has fulfilled its purpose in terms of language, layout, form, argument, structure, presentational devices.
‘image’
The photographic image, or picture, takes up a large part of print-based media. Creating an image involves the selection of real objects, or people, and presenting them in a way that has some meaning to the viewer. You should write about an image in terms of technical aspects (such as the camera angle); where the image is placed in relation to the accompanying text and how it links to the text.
‘meaning is conveyed’
You need to be able to recognise the way(s) in which the producer of an item gets across what is being said, or the message. ‘Conveyed’ means ‘put across to the reader’ and can include many different aspects of the text including presentation, layout, print, image, etc.
Filed under: Paper 1 Section A | Leave a comment »
GCSE English/English Lit 
