English Language GCSE 9-1 (AQA)

•

AT LEAST five things you see, using as much detail as possible (colours, textures, adjectives and similes if they stand out), e.g. Long, grey train curving its way along the track, waves turning to foam as they hit the sea wall, a row of thin, coloured houses like coloured pencils in a box and so on. The important thing here is that this are concrete images. Say what you see.

•

Five things you might hear if you were there in that scene: the sound of the waves as they crash against the wall, the electric whirr of the train, the wind whistling, a baby crying from an upstairs room (remember, with writing you can hear whatever you think might be coming from this scene).

•

2-3 things you might smell: the salty air from the sea spray, fish and chips coming from a local shop, the sharp metallic scent of water on the railway tracks.

•

2-3 emotions that might be present in the scene: a tension in the air contrasting with the peace and boredom inside the train.

1.

Try to get in all the language features they examiner has been looking for in your reading analysis: adjectives, interesting noun and verb choices, similes and metaphors, original ways of describing things and so on. These will all get you the marks you need.

2.

Think carefully about how you use different sentence lengths to generate different emotions in the reader. The best way to do this is to use longer sentences (broken with commas) for more flowing description, and shorter sentences to add impact and drama.

3.

Paragraph. Paragraph. PARAGRAPH. I cannot stress to you how important this is. Key rule: if there is a change of place, time, subject or mood, change the paragraph (and do it by either making a clear indent in the first line of the next paragraph, or leaving a whole line between paragraphs). In the example of the above, if you move from describing the waves smashing against the wall to the sound of seagulls, change the paragraph. It is far better to have smaller paragraphs than huge long ones. Remember: you must make this easy for the exam marker to read They are your only audience. No one else. No one will EVER see this again. So make it super easy for them to read as your exam paper might be number 437 in the pile. Be nice to them!

•

Train – colour, movement, shape, tracks

•

Sea – different colours, shapes, noise

•

Sky

•

Houses

•

Woman in room