AQA GCSE English language

Original post by sarah_t123

Hi, I am retaking my GCSE English language and I did a specimen paper 1 for practice in timed conditions, I was wondering if I upload it could someone kindly mark it for me and give me a grade? (I am aiming for a 7 or even an 8)

Hi, I could have a look at it if you want. I'm retaking on Monday too and I'm not sure how accurate my marking will be but I can have a try!

Reply 2

OP

Original post by esha321

Hi, I could have a look at it if you want. I'm retaking on Monday too and I'm not sure how accurate my marking will be but I can have a try!

thank you so much, I will upload it right now

Reply 3

OP

Reply 4

OP

sorry the pictures auto rotated and they just muddled up in order on this website

Reply 5

I am so scared for monday i don't know what to do, like for questions 2 and 3 i take like 30 minutes to right them and i struggle on question 4 and i never get time to finish question 5. i am such a mess

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 6

OP

Original post by narsayee21

I am so scared for monday i don't know what to do, like for questions 2 and 3 i take like 30 minutes to right them and i struggle on question 4 and i never get time to finish question 5. i am such a mess

same im literally so bad with timings

Reply 7

PandaPancake0

11

I don't think I'm qualified to give a grade, but for question 4 it is of utmost importance that you offer a diverging view/opposite side to the argument. The question is posed as a debatable statement and they want you to argue for and against it; I don't believe you can access the higher marks without including an alternative view. I'd suggest doing alternating paragraphs to show a structured argument. This is not the case for any other questions, that's why the question is a 20 marker.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by PandaPancake0

I don't think I'm qualified to give a grade, but for question 4 it is of utmost importance that you offer a diverging view/opposite side to the argument. The question is posed as a debatable statement and they want you to argue for and against it; I don't believe you can access the higher marks without including an alternative view. I'd suggest doing alternating paragraphs to show a structured argument. This is not the case for any other questions, that's why the question is a 20 marker.

thank you for your reply

Reply 9

Original post by sarah_t123

Hi again, so first off, I would like to say your writing is nice and very readable which is always very good but one thing I'd like to point out, is that you need to make sure the examiner can differentiate between different punctuation by making it more clear. For example, make sure your quote marks are clear so the examiner can see where you've added a quote.

I think you would be better off learning more sentence openers as I can see you've repeated quite a lot of "The ...." and "The writer uses..." whereas you can change it up every now and then by maybe using "The writer implements the use of (language technique) to identify/illustrate/indicate (etc) (and then go on to explain the point you are trying to argue). I have the links to a few documents that may help with this -
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/knowledge-organiser-language-and-structural-terminology-11539911
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/edexcel-english-language-ao4-evaluate-support-mats-with-examples-9-1-gcse-11640334

I think it is better to use double quotation marks when quoting something from the extract and I would really recommend using more quotes because you can gain easy marks from doing so. I would advise to use the PEEL structure and zoom in on a quote after picking it out! When you're zooming in on a quote, you can identify more language techniques that the writer may have used and therefore you can develop on that a bit more!

As for the descriptive piece, I have noticed straight away from the first line that you're missing a capital S from Sunday and missing commas.
I don't think I am qualified to do this is the slightest and I don't think you should take on my words heavy at all as I could be completely wrong.
Here is how I would improve your story:
It was a cold, Sunday afternoon. (A smaller, more defining sentence is better as it sets the mood/atmosphere and catches the attention) The clouds drew in on the greying sky at lightning speed. The once, somewhat popular seaside town was now dull and deserted; the shadows of something dark and cruel loomed above. The residents of the sullen town sat wrapped up in their cosy homes, dim, warm lights burned from the ceilings as they enjoyed their filling dinners. News alerts lit the screens of the down-turned phones, unbeknownst to the locals.
The sea was raging. Salty waves sloshed and splashed with every push of the screaming wind....
Once again, I am not qualified and I don't know if any of what I said is more beneficial to you than what you already know!

Reply 10

Original post by narsayee21

I am so scared for monday i don't know what to do, like for questions 2 and 3 i take like 30 minutes to right them and i struggle on question 4 and i never get time to finish question 5. i am such a mess

Hi, I am taking the retake on Monday too and I would say put your all into practice papers (under timed conditions). It is really helpful and even if you haven't finished all previous questions, when you have 50 minutes left move onto your Q5. A teacher said this to someone once and it might help! Don't worry too much, I'm sure you'll do fine.

Reply 11

Original post by PandaPancake0

I don't think I'm qualified to give a grade, but for question 4 it is of utmost importance that you offer a diverging view/opposite side to the argument. The question is posed as a debatable statement and they want you to argue for and against it; I don't believe you can access the higher marks without including an alternative view. I'd suggest doing alternating paragraphs to show a structured argument. This is not the case for any other questions, that's why the question is a 20 marker.

I really agree with this as it is the most important question of section A and is also the question to receive most marks on!

Reply 12

Original post by esha321

Hi, I am taking the retake on Monday too and I would say put your all into practice papers (under timed conditions). It is really helpful and even if you haven't finished all previous questions, when you have 50 minutes left move onto your Q5. A teacher said this to someone once and it might help! Don't worry too much, I'm sure you'll do fine.

thank you so much for that fr, i am gonna do like a million test tomorrow

Reply 13

Original post by PandaPancake0

I don't think I'm qualified to give a grade, but for question 4 it is of utmost importance that you offer a diverging view/opposite side to the argument. The question is posed as a debatable statement and they want you to argue for and against it; I don't believe you can access the higher marks without including an alternative view. I'd suggest doing alternating paragraphs to show a structured argument. This is not the case for any other questions, that's why the question is a 20 marker.

yeah thank you so, what do you think i should do tomorrow then as its the last day until the exam

Reply 14

Original post by narsayee21

thank you so much for that fr, i am gonna do like a million test tomorrow

No problem! Try to follow timed conditions as that is what it is going to be in the real thing. Make sure you always leave 5-10 minutes for prrof reading or improvements and this is the time you should roughly be spending on each questions (both papers) -
10-15 minutes reading/annotating the extract
5 mins on the first question
8 mins on the second
8 mins on the third
20 mins on the fourth
45 mins on the fifth

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 15

PandaPancake0

11

Original post by narsayee21

yeah thank you so, what do you think i should do tomorrow then as its the last day until the exam

I'd suggest making a rudimentary practice plan for each question. By that I mean know your essay structure for each question. For example, for q5, have a checklist of all the techniques you might want to include, like a flashback, or metaphorical language.

Reply 16

hajima

20

Original post by PandaPancake0

I don't think I'm qualified to give a grade, but for question 4 it is of utmost importance that you offer a diverging view/opposite side to the argument. The question is posed as a debatable statement and they want you to argue for and against it; I don't believe you can access the higher marks without including an alternative view. I'd suggest doing alternating paragraphs to show a structured argument. This is not the case for any other questions, that's why the question is a 20 marker.

Original post by sarah_t123

...

OP please don't listen to this, it's completely wrong. I'll preface this by saying that I got a 9 in English Language and got pretty close to full marks in paper 1. If you look at the marking points for AO4 (what question 4 is about and marked on), it doesn't mention a balanced argument; you can be completely one-sided in your answer and receive 20/20, and it's often easier to do so: https://prnt.sc/vb19c9

The statement is often set up such that it's very agreeable and typically quite vague; it makes no sense why you'd complicate the process by attempting to be even-handed with it when the statement (and mark scheme) are set up in a one-sided way. Many, many students make this mistake and understandably so, but if you completely agree with the statement then say so in your answer, you won't lose marks (you'll gain more!).

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 17

OP

Original post by hajima

OP please don't listen to this, it's completely wrong. I'll preface this by saying that I got a 9 in English Language and got pretty close to full marks in paper 1. If you look at the marking points for AO4 (what question 4 is about and marked on), it doesn't mention a balanced argument; you can be completely one-sided in your answer and receive 20/20, and it's often easier to do so: https://prnt.sc/vb19c9

The statement is often set up such that it's very agreeable and typically quite vague; it makes no sense why you'd complicate the process by attempting to be even-handed with it when the statement (and mark scheme) are set up in a one-sided way. Many, many students make this mistake and understandably so, but if you completely agree with the statement then say so in your answer, you won't lose marks (you'll gain more!).

thank you so much, I will take this on board

Reply 18

PandaPancake0

11

Original post by hajima

OP please don't listen to this, it's completely wrong. I'll preface this by saying that I got a 9 in English Language and got pretty close to full marks in paper 1. If you look at the marking points for AO4 (what question 4 is about and marked on), it doesn't mention a balanced argument; you can be completely one-sided in your answer and receive 20/20, and it's often easier to do so: https://prnt.sc/vb19c9

The statement is often set up such that it's very agreeable and typically quite vague; it makes no sense why you'd complicate the process by attempting to be even-handed with it when the statement (and mark scheme) are set up in a one-sided way. Many, many students make this mistake and understandably so, but if you completely agree with the statement then say so in your answer, you won't lose marks (you'll gain more!).

I'll definitely bring this up with my teachers, who all say that you must include alternative views because it's a 'to what an extent' question. Thank you for shedding light on this. What advice would you give for question 5? Would it be worth having a sort of checklist of techniques to use?

Reply 19