GCSE English Language Recap

Paper 1 Question 1 is tick the 4 statements which are true.

True or False?

• True

• False

Read this extract and tick the two boxes which are true.

My son turned one last week. The day marked the end of what has been both the longest and shortest year of my life. From the instant he was born, it's felt as if my son has always been part of this family. I don't mean that in an obnoxious heart-eyed, this-was-always-meant-to-be way. I simply mean that I haven't slept for a year and I don't really know how time works any more. Whole years have passed in some of the afternoons I've spent with him lately. Entire galaxies have been born and thrived and withered and died in the time it's taken him to eat a mouthful of porridge.

• The writer's son has just had his second birthday.

• It took a while for the writer to feel close to his son after he was born.

• The writer has not slept very well over the last year.

• It takes a long time for the boy to eat his porridge.

'He marched towards the door and didn't look back.'

Which answer analyses the quotation clearly?

• The word marched makes it seem like the man was maybe a soldier. He didn't look back which means he knows where he was going.

• The writer has used the verb "marched" to suggest that the man is possibly angry or determined as it has connotations of walking with purpose.

Which of the following techniques are structural features of a text?

• Paragraphs

• simile

• zooming in/out

• flashback

• Personification

Replace the word "ancient" in the sentence.

White waves crashed against the ancient harbour wall.

What impression do we get of the narrator and his feelings in this extract?

I left the 'welcome' desk and dragged my bags angrily for the next half hour up to my room. 'Just up the stairs,' I'd been assured. There were two flights of steep steps to negotiate before I could reach my assigned hovel on the third story of the dilapidated building. Miguel was there already. Spread thinly across three-quarters of the cramped space were his pitiful belongings, and he was coughing extravagantly into the remaining quarter. My quarter.

How many minutes should you spend answering question 3 of paper 1?

• 4-5

• 8-10

• 6-7

• 12-15

Paper 2 Question 2 is worth how many marks?

• 4

• 12

• 8

• 10

What Band would you give this response?

Nigella Lawson writes in an informal tone about food, which matches her relaxed and more modern approach to cookery. She talks about cauliflower using positive language telling the reader that the recipe is one of her 'favourites' that provides 'instant gratification'. She also jokes all the way through her recipe about the number of times the ingredients need to be tossed. Mrs Beeton uses a much more formal tone with her choice of language, 'choose cauliflowers that are close and white', which reflects the language of the time the recipe was written. Mrs Beeton's instructions are easy to understand and seem to be full of plain common sense. Her recipes are simple using only 'water' and 'salt' with the cauliflower. At the end she suggests that it can be served with 'melted butter' but she adds that this should be 'plain'. Nigella Lawson however, uses very sensual language to describe her dish.

• Band 2 (roughly grade 2-3) "Tries to compare ideas...."

• Band 3 (roughly grade 4-6) "Compares ideas and perspectives in a clear way..."

• Band 4 (roughly grad 7-9) "Compares ideas and perspectives in a perceptive way…"

Which technique ISN'T part of DAFOREST?

• Repetition

• Alliteration

• Opinion

• Tripes