GCSE English Revision Audio Lessons English Language Reading Sections Component 1 Fiction Component 2 Non-fiction 1
Component 1 Fiction Component 2 Non-fiction Contents Separating the text (Component 1) Text Types (Component 2) Impressions/Thought & Feelings 10 Mark Questions (Component 1 & 2) Writer s Use of Language 10 Mark Questions (Component 1 & 2) Evaluation 10 Mark Questions (Component 1) Comparison 10 Mark Questions (Component 2) 2
Separating the Text (Component 1) Draw lines Decide whether to read in full, or in sections Consider interesting words/phrases Generate feelings towards character Consider what effects the writer is trying to create It was raining when Megan landed at Gatwick Airport, but she'd been expecting that. Everyone knew it rained all the time in England. Inside the terminal there were trolleys for luggage, which was handy because she could hardly lift her suitcase, and there was a train directly from the airport to Victoria station in the centre of London. Megan bought a ticket and got on. She had some difficulty getting the suitcase up the steps into the carriage, but a guard saw her struggling and heaved it up behind her. "What've you got in there, then?" he asked, disapprovingly. "Everything I own," Megan said cheerfully. As she said it, the truth of the statement hit her. Apart from this suitcase, she had nothing to hold her down. No responsibilities. No plans. For the first time in her life she didn't know what tomorrow would bring it was the most amazing, wonderful, exciting thought she had ever had. She found a seat and the train moved off. She watched the countryside passing by. So this was England. 'The old country' people at home had called it. The country of Shakespeare and Dickens. Well, she thought, now you're seeing the real thing. In terms of landscape, the real thing was disappointing. She expected beauty rolling hills and tranquil valleys and instead it was flat and wet and a tedious shade of grey. As they approached London it got dramatically worse. They passed mile after mile of ugly blackened buildings, all jammed up against each other like rotten teeth and so close to the railway tracks she felt she could have reached out and touched them. At first she assumed they were warehouses but then she noticed strips of curtain hanging in some of the windows and in one she saw a woman holding a baby. Megan was shocked. She hadn't known that places like this existed but how would she know? She had never been in a city before. The train had been largely empty when they had left Gatwick but every few minutes it would stop at a grimy station to collect more passengers. By the time it reached Victoria station it was like a cattle car. People wedged themselves into seats or stood hard up against each other, holding on to the luggage racks, rocking back and forth with the movement of the train. Nobody spoke. A fat man in a wet coat squeezed himself into the seat beside her, his legs sticking out sideways into the aisle. The train slowed to a crawl and people began to collect their belongings. The instant it stopped people surged towards a door. Megan stepped down onto the platform and was swallowed instantly by a churning mass of people. She had never seen so many people, never even imagined such numbers. It took her breath away. But worse, much worse, was the noise. It was like an assault. She could feel trains groaning to a halt, other trains rumbling out, doors slamming, whistles shrieking, announcements booming out of loudspeakers. The station was colossal. It was like a vast, echoing cavern. Megan stood, stunned and breathless, and then someone bumped into her, hard, and gave her an exasperated look. 3 5 10 15 20 25
Text Types (Component 2) Genre Audience Purpose Language Techniques Structural Techniques Effects 4
Impressions/Thought & Feelings 10 Mark Questions (Component 1 & 2) Overview Select the Evidence Track the Text Personal Response Point & Evidence Together Short, Embedded Quotations Explanation Linked to Effects Analysis of Language Subject Terminology Cover Both Bullet Points Coverage How well do you think Scott s diary captures his feelings about his journey to the South Pole? You should comment on: what his feelings are about the expedition over the three diary entries how well you think his diary makes his feelings clear I think Scott s diary about his journey to the South Pole capture his feelings well because he makes it clear how terrible the weather is by saying `raging, howling blizzard.` This shows that he feels annoyed and frightened by the weather. I think Scott also captures his feelings well when he also tells us the team are hungry most of the time and that the food is running out. He tells us he had a `thin breakfast`, the adjective `thin` showing that he feels starved and unhappy to only get a small amount to fill him. I think that his diary makes his feelings clear that they have had lots of bad luck with the weather conditions that were worse than they were expecting. He says they have had `more than their share of ill fortune` suggesting that he feels it s been unfortunate and that the expedition has no good signs to it. He doesn t seem to think things will get better. When he writes about how wet everything in the tents has become I think he gets his feelings across well when he says `we shall be mighty uncomfortable` which shows how frustrated and disappointed he is. I think Scott s diary capture his emotions of being fed up well because throughout the extract he has always been saying the tents are always soaked and sums it up by saying miserably `we are all very, very wet`. The repetition of `very` emphasises this. I think Scott is relieved for a time in the expedition when he says in the diary, `signs of a break at last. ` This suggests they haven t had a break from all the bad weather yet and this is refreshing and gives me some hope that things will improve. However, this feeling does not last and on the next day he writes `the situation is now serious.` This suggests that he fears that it is going to be even more dangerous and difficult. I think that Scott s feelings are that he is panicking and doesn t know what to do and he has lost hope when he says there is `no sign of an end` in his final sentence. 5
Writer s Use of Language 10 Mark Questions (Component 1 & 2) Overview Select the Evidence Track the Text Chronological Order Point & Evidence Together Short, Embedded Quotations Explanation Linked to Effects Subject Terminology Coverage Megan does not enjoy the train journey into London. How does the writer show this? The writer shows that Megan does not enjoy the journey to London by the use of negative, graphic vocabulary to describe its features such as the grimy station, which present a rather unappealing and unwelcoming image. The writer adds to this by presenting Londoners as cold people as they stood hard up against each other yet nobody spoke, showing how self-absorbed and uncommunicative they are. The fat man who sits beside her leaves his legs sticking out sideways into the aisle and the writer presents him as a rather intrusive, intimidating character. The writer presents the journey as uncomfortable by referring to the people as a churning mass and the train is so packed that it resembles a cattle car The use of alliteration and simile implies the vast quantity of people and their actions as they surged towards the door create an idea of them being like an opposing force against Megan who is swallowed instantly. The repetition of worse, much worse emphasises Megan s feelings about the noise and the writer uses a simile to describe it as like an assault on her senses. The succession of verbs with violent connotations such as slamming, shrieking, booming, groaning and rumbling serves to make the description more vivid and reinforces the bustle and chaos of the city which Megan finds so unfamiliar. The writer makes Megan seem alone, lost in the vast, echoing cavern of the station and the size of it colossal emphasises this. Megan s reaction stunned and breathless describes how she feels so overwhelmed and her discomfort and confusion are shown when someone bumps into her but gives her an exasperated look as if it was her fault. 6
Evaluation 10 Mark Questions (Component 1) Overview Select the Evidence Personal Response Short, Embedded Quotations Informed Opinions Linked Quotations or Explanations Linked Explanations Coverage In the last section of this passage the reader feels only sympathy for Megan. How far do you agree with this view? You should write about: your own thoughts and feelings about how Megan is presented here and in the passage as a whole how the writer has created these thoughts and feelings As this passage develops I think of Megan as rather naïve and she appears to be a character who judges things before actually seeing them and has preconceptions. She is perhaps rather unrealistic and easy to deceive but I also feel sorry for her as her expectations have been consistently undermined. The country of Shakespeare and Dickens was grey and ugly and even Cora s house, which she thought would be overlooking a park, was a disappointment. When Megan declines the taxi driver s offer to stay, she is alone on the doorstep in an unfamiliar place and this gives me a feeling of sympathy. However, I am also uneasy and have a sense of foreboding as she drags her heavy suitcase up to where she thinks her friend lives, and rings the bell, waiting in anticipation. This evokes my curiosity, as I am eager to find out who her friend is, and why Megan has come to see her. The writer intrigues us by deliberately withholding information. However, my expectations were undermined, leaving me as disappointed as Megan as there was no response and Cora does not appear to be at home. Megan checks the doormat for a key, which ends with a negative result and realises she has made a foolish mistake by leaving Canada to come to England before hearing from her friend. This leads me to think of her as rather silly and impulsive as she was desperate to leave. I do feel sympathy for her but also curiosity as to the reason behind her decision to leave home. Megan sits on her suitcase and thinks about what to do next, recognising her own stupidity and trying to reassure herself that it was a weekday and everyone would be at work. This evokes my sympathy as everyone can relate to someone making a silly mistake. I also feel sorry for her as she is stuck outside where it is raining and cold. When the writer tells us she decides to leave her suitcase and sets off to look for a café, this seems very naïve and reckless but she is faced with a difficult choice. I feel relieved when she finds a café as at least she is safe and warm, although I feel apprehensive about her leaving the suitcase despite the fact that Megan insists that it is too heavy to steal. When Megan finally leaves the café, she sees that doorstep on which she left her suitcase is empty and this makes me feel that something bad has happened, despite the fact that the lights were on and her feeling of relief Her relief sparked some hope in me but this is undermined by the loud music thudding out from the house. Megan knocks at the door and it is opened by a girl with white lipstick and huge eyelashes, which leads me to feel hope that this is Cora. However, we are disappointed as we find out that Cora left a couple of weeks ago. This makes me feel dread on behalf of Megan who feels sick as she has nowhere to go. The writer s choice of the word `sick` emphasises her feelings of nausea as she realises she is in a strange city and has lost all of her possessions. She may have been naïve and unrealistically optimistic in her expectations and behaviour but at the end we do feel overwhelming concern and sympathy for her. 7
Comparison 10 Mark Questions (Component 2) Overview Select the Evidence Name the Texts Short, Embedded Quotations Explanation Linked to Effects Comparative Discourse Markers Cover Both Bullet Points Coverage Both of these texts are about expeditions to the South Pole. Compare: the hardships Scott and Fogle endured on their expeditions; how Scott and Fogle get their feelings about the hardships across to the readers. Both expeditions to the South Pole suffered major problems. Fogle s main hardship was that he `thought he was going to die. ` This shows that he was really scared and that he had not expected the journey to be so full of danger. Fogle also suffered problems such as `frostbite.. and hypothermia` which would make him feel as though he wanted to give up. As Fogle s expedition was a race, he thought the problems he faced meant he `was not going to finish the race` which made him determined to get to the South Pole. They do make good progress though, even though it s hard because they ski for 16 hours each day. However, the hardships and feelings of Robert Scott on his expedition were different. They can t make any progress because of the terrible weather. Scott felt `miserable, utterly miserable` because of this. He also felt `mighty uncomfortable` which suggests that his expedition, unlike Fogle s was always horrible. In contrast, Fogle did have some good times when the team `had a laugh` in the tent. Scott s diary is constantly telling of the terrible conditions which mean the men get `covered from head to foot in fine powdery snow` and they can t even see the tent next to them. He writes a lot about the weather and how it make them feel `hopeless`. Robert Scott s account of three days in his expedition gives a very clear picture of how everything is against him. He describes the weather in great detail and how it affects everything. In the diary on December 5 th the diary becomes a list of the hardships, `the tents are wet through, also the wind clothes, night boots etc.` He also writes about his moods during the day, saying that he can t believe how bad the weather is and how he feels `hopeless`. His choice of words are almost always negative and even the pones `look utterly desolate.` In `Antarctic Adventure`, Fogle is being interviewed about the expedition and when the writer, David Harrison, gives some bare details about the journey, he then gives Fogle the opportunity to describe exactly what happened. He does this when he talks about nearly falling down a crevasse in a tone and way that is like chatting directly to an audience. When the writer gives information about the hostile landscape, it s almost like Fogle is butting-in on the conversation, `Not even a single bird...that tells you how hostile the landscape was.` In his article, Fogle is looking back on what happened to him, whereas Scott is writing about things as they happen. This makes his account more dramatic whereas Fogle can explain about some of the difficult times but also look back on them, remembering some of the good times too. 8