ENGLISH PAPER 1 SECTION A

1
ENGLISH PAPER 1 SECTION A
2
SECTION A LITERARY PROSE READING
3

• READ AS A WRITER AND
• (LATER ON IN SECTION B)
• WRITE AS A READER

4
THE NUTS AND THE BOLTS

• A test of reading
• Approximately 55 minutes
• 4 questions each worth 10 marks
• Give each about 10 15 mins of your time
• If the question has bullet points, use them to
  structure your answer
• If you are told to read lines 1- 15 for question
  1 dont look for the answer in lines 16 25
  it wont be there!

5
Look out for and think about why the writer might
have used

• First / third person
• Sentence lengths / patterns
• Paragraphs dialogue?
• Punctuation- to reflect purpose eg elipsis for
  tension or a break in thought or the semi colon
  to show contrast in a sentence
• Humour
• Sarcasm or irony is the writer being genuine?
• Dont forget the basics nouns, verbs,
  adjectives, adverbs are any of them strange or
  unfamiliar? Are any of the words linked?

6
Dont be afraid to use some of the same words
youd use when looking at the unseen poetry

• Repetition
• Imagery similes, metaphors
• Alliteration
• Onomatopoeia

7
Telling or Showing?

• BUT
• Spend a bit more time thinking about the
  characters and setting of the piece. Does the
  writer TELL us directly about the people they are
  writing about?
• Or Do they SHOW us things about the people and
  places and let us draw our own conclusions?

8
Using thinking words

• The writer suggests / implies / conveys / shows /
  illustrates
• You can show that you are open to other ideas
  about the text by using speculative words such
  as
• Perhaps
• Possibly
• Probably

9
Dont forget

• Answer the question read it carefully
• Dont just spot things eg The writer uses a
  simile
• The writer uses the simile My love is like a
  red, red rose, because it shows that the girl
  that he loves is beautiful and fragile, just like
  a flower
• Use SHORT quotations and dont copy out huge
  chunks of text

10
A final word

• Even if you get an empathetic question eg
  Imagine you are the girl in the classroom in the
  story. Explain how you felt about the teacher,
  this is still a test of READING and you must use
  the clues in the passage to base your answer on.