Language paper 1

Question 1

1. What do we call English language paper 1?

Answer 1

The fiction paper.

You have to read a fiction (made-up) text, and then write a fiction (made-up) story, based on a photograph.

Question 2

2. What should you do before you read any of the questions in English language fiction paper?

Answer 2

Spend at least 10 minutes slowly reading the text and making sure you understand it.
Write a couple of words in the margin, summarising what happens in each paragraph.

Question 3

3. What can you also be thinking about whilst you read, which will help you later in the paper?

Answer 3

Think about how the language and the atmosphere changes at key points in the text.

Question 4

4. How long should you spend on each reading question?

Answer 4

1 minute per mark plus 2 minutes to plan:
Question 1 can be done very quickly
Question 2: 8 marks = 10 minutes
Question 3: 8 marks = 10 minutes
Question 4: 20 marks = 22 minutes
Question 5: 40 marks = 42 minutes

Question 5

5. What is paper 1 question 1 about?

Answer 5

Finding four things that we learn

Question 6

6. How should you start your answer to paper 1 question 1?

Answer 6

We learn that (+ the question word)

E.g. We learn that the boy is…

Question 7

7. Which technique is this an example of:

The waves RUMBLED and CRASHED on the beach

Answer 7

Onomatopoeia
‘Rumbled’ and ‘crashed’ are sound words, that sound like what they’re describing (‘rumble’ sounds like something rumbling - that’s how you know it’s onomatopoeia)

Question 8

8. Which technique is this an example of:

The storm CHASED him around the village, CRUELLY SNATCHING away everything that he had

Answer 8

Personification

The storm can’t chase him and be cruel - the writer has made the storm behave like a person

Question 9

9. Which technique is this an example of:

My son’s toys are LIKE PRICELESS JEWELS to me

Answer 9

Simile

My son’s toys are not actually jewels, I’ve compared them using ‘like’ or ‘as’ because they’re similar, so it’s a simile

Question 10

10. Which technique is this an example of:

My son’s toys ARE PRICELESS JEWELS to me

Answer 10

Metaphor
My son’s toys are not actually jewels, I’ve said that they are to show that they have something in common, so it’s a metaphor

Question 11

11. Which technique is this an example of:
    His exam result was a STRIKE from the HALF-WAY LINE, and he’d thumped it right into the BACK OF THE NET. On results day, when he opened the envelope, his GOAL CELEBRATION was spectacular

Answer 11

Semantic field (of football)
It describes something (exam results) using lots of words that are all related to something else (football) so it uses the semantic field of football