Paris anthology response

I'm in Yr 12 and I don't understand how I write a response for the Paris anthology. What do I write? How much do I write? Do I need a conclusion? I am just very confused and can someone please help me.

Reply 1

neptune_

hi! the paris section of combined lang/lit is focused more on language, with the assessment objectives being AO1 (terminology) for 15 marks, AO3 (context) for 15 marks and AO4 (presentation of paris/parisians) for 10 marks.

the question will always be "compare and contrast how writer of x text and writer of y text present z". you might wanna start by reading both extracts and picking out the genre (memoir, transcript, advert), audience (people interested in xyz) and purpose (to entertain, to inform) for each and see if they're similar or different to one another so that this is established from the get-go and can be referred to throughout your response, as well as getting you marks for AO3. this is a nice way of introducing the texts in your essay and can probably make up your introductory paragraph too!

then, for the main bulk, you wanna discuss similar and different language features in both (e.g text A uses the simile "..." to present topic this way, whilst text B uses the simile "..." to present same topic this way). make sure you use a number of different devices and you're not just focusing on adjectives, for example. try and synthesise your response so that you don't talk all about one text and then all about another: the question is comparing and contrasting, so refer constantly to similarities and differences between how and why the topic is being presented the way it is. on the same note, ALWAYS link back to the question. none of your assessment objectives are AO2 which would be analysis so you need to keep referring back to the topic at hand and the genre, audience, purpose, as well as how paris and/or parisians are presented in each quote you use.

lastly, i would say that answering paris questions can sometimes take some getting used to. it's typically the first taught unit of the course and you've just had a lot of terminology you wouldn't have covered at gcse dumped on you to learn on top of learning the new texts. i usually abide by the rule that i need at least one page for every ten marks a question is worth - so aim for 4 in this case. i like to conclude my answers so then it reads as a conclusive essay, but it's never any longer than two sentences (i basically just say something along the lines of "text A and text B are both about topic z , but they both present this in slightly different ways").

all in all, i'd just recommend going over terminology and practicing being able to identify where those features are used (e.g. knowing the difference between a progressive and stative verb). if possible, try and find some examples from the exam board or ask your teacher if they have any. you're always given the extract to use which is nice so you will get used to it eventually. best of luck!!