English language paper 1, Question 2.

My attendance has been poor this year due to mental health but I’m trying my best to get back in practice. Any tips or anything would be welcome, here’s one paragraph from the question.

Firstly the writer effectively uses language to portray Ugwu’s impression of the city as disorientating and unfamiliar which evidently shows the ‘culture shock’ he is experiencing. The two sides of Nigeria have considerable differences as “He would never be able to describe to his sister Anguilla”, the appearance of the world beyond the university gates with houses “sat side by side like polite well-dressed men”. The authors use of personification in the quotation “like polite well-dressed men” conveys the high class environment they are walking into and the standards expected at the university. The verb ‘sat’ has connotations of being orderly and obedient and may suggest that Ugwu feels a pressure to fit in amongst the society. The adverb ‘never’ gives the reader an impression that Ugwu can not form words to give his sister a vivid description of his experiences. Therefore the author shows how other-worldly the wealthy party of the country is to somebody born in a village and lower class such as Ugwu.