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English Language GCSE 9-1 (AQA)

Hello everyone,
My mocks begin tomorrow and the first exam that I have is English Language Paper 1. I've done a lot of revision/practice for Section A so if all goes well and I manage to stay on track with time, I should hopefully be able to get around 30/40 for it. But I'm really struggling with Section B (the writing part) where I'll be asked to write the opening of a short story based on a topic (e.g, write the opening for a story about a group of friends who go on a trip). Does anybody have any advice on how I should approach this question? If possible, please include a few examples of an answer you would this. Even the first sentence would be really helpful as I find it really difficult to start. I'm aiming to get an A in the real exam but since this is only a mock I would be happy with a B
Thanks for your help!

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Some people are just less creative than others + can't write under timed pressure so this part of the exam would be tricky for a lot of people. I would just say, in the actual exam, spend 5-10 minutes just letting your mind run free for a bit, even close your eyes if you have to (but don't fall asleep in your exam) and just brainstorm ideas for a bit. Some people like to write down a plan for the story. If you really struggle to think of something, try reading a few short stories, they really help.
Original post by Moppet
Hello everyone,
My mocks begin tomorrow and the first exam that I have is English Language Paper 1. I've done a lot of revision/practice for Section A so if all goes well and I manage to stay on track with time, I should hopefully be able to get around 30/40 for it. But I'm really struggling with Section B (the writing part) where I'll be asked to write the opening of a short story based on a topic (e.g, write the opening for a story about a group of friends who go on a trip). Does anybody have any advice on how I should approach this question? If possible, please include a few examples of an answer you would this. Even the first sentence would be really helpful as I find it really difficult to start. I'm aiming to get an A in the real exam but since this is only a mock I would be happy with a B
Thanks for your help!

how was ur mock and was the English language paper hard. How did you find section b
Reply 3
I did mine yesterday, English lang paper 1. I'm hoping for 70-75, I got 70 last time ( 2 weeks ago)
Reply 4
Original post by Violet0328
how was ur mock and was the English language paper hard. How did you find section b


It went kind of badly :frown: In Section A I knew exactly what I wanted to write but didn't have enough time to write a lot of it, and I found section B hard. I wrote less than 1 side of A4 for my descriptive writing.
Reply 5
Original post by Txhmid
I did mine yesterday, English lang paper 1. I'm hoping for 70-75, I got 70 last time ( 2 weeks ago)


Could you possibly show me some examples of your work please? It would really help me if I could see how you write
Just for future advice, what we've done is written a story beforehand and learnt it off by heart, and we then just adapt it to the sentence starter within the exam. That way, you know you're including all the language/structure devices :biggrin:

What exam board are you with though? We need to write a full short story in AQA haha
Reply 7
Original post by saffarinda
Just for future advice, what we've done is written a story beforehand and learnt it off by heart, and we then just adapt it to the sentence starter within the exam. That way, you know you're including all the language/structure devices :biggrin:

What exam board are you with though? We need to write a full short story in AQA haha


I'm doing AQA too so will definitely do that for the real exam! Thanks for the advice :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by Moppet
Could you possibly show me some examples of your work please? It would really help me if I could see how you write


I don't have my papers, the school keeps them unfortunately. I can tell you what kinds of things to write though, if you want.
Reply 9
Original post by Txhmid
I don't have my papers, the school keeps them unfortunately. I can tell you what kinds of things to write though, if you want.


Please do if you can :smile:
Don't worry it's the quality that matters. I'm sure you'll do well, have confidence in yourself😊
Original post by Moppet
It went kind of badly :frown: In Section A I knew exactly what I wanted to write but didn't have enough time to write a lot of it, and I found section B hard. I wrote less than 1 side of A4 for my descriptive writing.
Reply 11
Original post by Moppet
Please do if you can :smile:


I don't have time to explain all questions so I'll tell you something pretty important in question 4.

In question 4 you can write about ANYTHING as long as it relates to the question, make sure all your points relate to the questions as it makes it look like you know what you're doing, this will impress the examiner.

You can talk about structure e.g tone, atmosphere or language devices e.g semantic field, consonance and lexical field.

You don't have to analyse a word from every quote, 1 or 2 is enough. If you see alliteration and you analysed a word from a previous quote then you should just explain what the alliteration suggests; no need to analyse more words.

For structure, almost in every text the writer uses short and long sentences. Normally, as readers we don't care about that. In the exam, lie. Talk about the tone, did the writer intentionally create short sentences for effect e.g. for a more lively, paced paragraph? Did the writer use long sentences to overwhelm the reader for effect?

Do you understand what I mean?
Use anything you want to answer this question. Think of it as a combination of question 2 and 3.
Reply 12
Oh and if you go over 10 minutes when answering either Q2 or Q3, stop and move on. Trying to get the full 8 marks is not worth losing 20 or 40 marks. Timing is key.
Original post by saffarinda
Just for future advice, what we've done is written a story beforehand and learnt it off by heart, and we then just adapt it to the sentence starter within the exam. That way, you know you're including all the language/structure devices :biggrin:

What exam board are you with though? We need to write a full short story in AQA haha


OMG! That's exactly what I do:smile::smile: thought it was only me that does it

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What was the reading part of the exam based on (which extract?)
Original post by Txhmid
I don't have time to explain all questions so I'll tell you something pretty important in question 4.

In question 4 you can write about ANYTHING as long as it relates to the question, make sure all your points relate to the questions as it makes it look like you know what you're doing, this will impress the examiner.

You can talk about structure e.g tone, atmosphere or language devices e.g semantic field, consonance and lexical field.

You don't have to analyse a word from every quote, 1 or 2 is enough. If you see alliteration and you analysed a word from a previous quote then you should just explain what the alliteration suggests; no need to analyse more words.

For structure, almost in every text the writer uses short and long sentences. Normally, as readers we don't care about that. In the exam, lie. Talk about the tone, did the writer intentionally create short sentences for effect e.g. for a more lively, paced paragraph? Did the writer use long sentences to overwhelm the reader for effect?

Do you understand what I mean?
Use anything you want to answer this question. Think of it as a combination of question 2 and 3.


Huge thank you - do you know what fiction texts are, and also what poem did you get (seen and unseen) - also what theme in poetry were you asked to compare? Would really, really appreciate it :biggrin:
Original post by Moppet
Hello everyone,
My mocks begin tomorrow and the first exam that I have is English Language Paper 1. I've done a lot of revision/practice for Section A so if all goes well and I manage to stay on track with time, I should hopefully be able to get around 30/40 for it. But I'm really struggling with Section B (the writing part) where I'll be asked to write the opening of a short story based on a topic (e.g, write the opening for a story about a group of friends who go on a trip). Does anybody have any advice on how I should approach this question? If possible, please include a few examples of an answer you would this. Even the first sentence would be really helpful as I find it really difficult to start. I'm aiming to get an A in the real exam but since this is only a mock I would be happy with a B
Thanks for your help!


I always find it helps to remember a checklist of the things you need in order to showcase what the examiners want. In some of the space around the question, note the checklist down and tick it off as you use each item.
Remember to always plan your answer, especially for Language Paper 2. I always find that this makes it so much easier because you can see what you are writing very clearly.
Hope your exams go well.
Reply 17
Original post by Basicdedting
What was the reading part of the exam based on (which extract?)


Language Paper 1 was about the opening of a novel. I cant remember the name but the main character was called Hale and he was describing a seaside at Brighton. The name of the book only had one word
I'm doing AQA GCSE English 9-1 also! Did a mock paper 1 about a month ago and got 70/80. One bit of advice I'd give is in the exam you should be given the option between writing an opening to a story and doing a description of a picture/scene- if you struggle with creative writing, the description may be easier for you!
Original post by brownanya122
I'm doing AQA GCSE English 9-1 also! Did a mock paper 1 about a month ago and got 70/80. One bit of advice I'd give is in the exam you should be given the option between writing an opening to a story and doing a description of a picture/scene- if you struggle with creative writing, the description may be easier for you!


What was the writing bit about

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