Transcription
Welcome to another video. You've got Mr. Everything English, and today we are looking at AQA English Language Paper One, Question Two. Everything Education Tuition for Maths, English, and Science.
So, guys, when it comes to Paper One, Question Two, this question always looks at the second paragraph. It looks at the second paragraph of the insert. And this question, guys, is worth eight marks. Now, for an eight-mark question, we are spending no more than 10 minutes. And in these two, in these 10 minutes, guys, we're looking to write two P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. paragraphs, not three. Two is enough. So, eight marks, 10 minutes, two paragraphs. And this question, guys, is always the language question. Always. It is known to be the language question.
Now, when it comes to language, what does language mean, guys? AQA tells us this. Language could mean words and phrases, and language could be language devices. Now, when it comes to words and phrases, what are they talking about, guys? They are talking about nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Now, what are these? For a noun, guys, is the name of something. This could be a table, this could be a chair, this could be a door. But anytime you name something, this is a noun. Then you have verbs. Verbs are doing words. Jumping up and down, jumping is your verb. Uh, teaching, eating, these are all verbs. Then we have adverbs. An adverb is a word that describes a verb. And an adjective is a word that describes a noun. This pen is white. Pen is the noun, white is the adjective. So, in this question, we have to speak about these if we wanted to. Now, can you get eight out of eight just by, by just talking about nouns and verbs? Yes, you can. We're going to go over model answers where students have got full marks by just speaking about verbs and nouns the whole way through. Now, these come under words and phrases.
Then AQA say, guys, that we as students should be able to speak about language devices. Now, let me go over 10 language devices. Now, these are the only 10 that I want us to know for now. A simile, guys, is when you compare two nouns using like or as. A metaphor is when you compare two nouns without like or as. Hyperbole is when you hype something up. It's when you over-exaggerate. Personification is when you give a non-human human features. For example, this pen is my best friend. Onomatopoeia is words that describe sounds. So, crack, bang, creek, boom. These are all onomatopoeia. Rule of three is when you have three words or phrases in a row describing one thing. For example, this room is spacious, colorful, and black. Uh, then we have pathetic fallacy, guys. Pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood. So, if it's sunny outside, everyone's happy. If it's cold, everyone's really, really sad. Then we have sibilance, guys. Sibilance is when you repeat words in a row that begin with the letter S. For example, snake slithered through the sand. Then we have zoomorphism. Zoomorphism is when you give a human the features of an animal. And symbolism, guys, is when words have a wider meaning. So, for example, a dagger in Macbeth represents death. And so on. These are 10 language devices that we have to be aware of.
So, for this question, guys, we have to analyze language. Language means this, and language means this. And in 10 minutes, we're doing two P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. paragraphs. Now, this is how I break down the question. So, imagine, guys, we are doing Point, Reference, Technique, Effect, Zoom, Effect, and Link. That is the structure that we are following for this question. When it comes to our technique, I always say it, guys, pick a technique from over here. Pick a language technique. And when it comes to zooming in, you zoom in to a word or a phrase. Easy peasy, easy. It's a lovely way of doing it. So, essentially, guys, you're writing two paragraphs. In both paragraphs, when it comes to your technique, you pick a language device. And when you zoom in, you go back to your quote and you pick a word or a phrase. So, it could be a noun, a verb, an adverb, or adjective. And that is what you zoom into. Two paragraphs, guys, like that. And that is all you are aiming for when it comes to this question.
What exactly are you marked upon? To get top bang, to get eight out of eight, you must do three things. The first thing you must do, guys, is you must have textual detail. All this means, guys, is you must have quotes in your answer. Then, in these quotes, you must use subject terminology. Now, what does subject terminology mean, guys? Here, it's referring to your techniques, similes, metaphors, verbs, adjectives. These are English-specific words. And then, guys, the last thing, and the most important thing, is you are marked upon your effect. Now, AQA says that to get an eight out of eight, you must do these three things. But these three things for this question must be done in detail and perceptively. Let's go over the word detail first. For you to do these three things in detail, you must, firstly, write a lot. But then you get kids saying, "Sir, I write so much, but I, I still get four out of eight, I still get five out of eight." That's probably because you're waffling. You're not answering the question. You're not doing what's needed. And that is why they have the word perceptive. The word perceptive looks at the quality of your work. Now, where does this quality come in? There are three things you must do. You must pick out techniques, you must pick out quotes, and you must explain the effect. Now, in this paragraph, if you look at the structure, the only part of the paragraph where you can be detailed and you can be perceptive is where you can only do that in your effect. You can't make your technique detailed. You can't make your quote detailed. The only part, and therefore the most important part of the paragraph, is the effect.
Now, remember, guys, we follow P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. and we must check. Does P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. do the job? Does P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. allow us to get the high mark? Now, when it comes to P.R.E.T.Z.E.L., guys, you are quoting two times. The first time you quote is in the beginning when you give your main quote. And the second time you quote is when you zoom in. Then, when it comes to techniques, in P.R.E.T.Z.E.L., we give two techniques. We give one technique after our first quote, and we give our second technique when we zoom in. And finally, guys, in P.R.E.T.Z.E.L., when it comes to the effect, we are doing two effects. The first effect is when we analyze the technique, and the second effect is when we analyze the word that we've zoomed into. So, just by you following P.R.E.T.Z.E.L., you are ticking off each bullet point of the mark scheme two times as a minimum.
Now, for English language, are you marked on your point? And are you marked on your link? No, you're not. You are categorically not marked on these two parts of the paragraph. So, don't waste your time trying to write a super-duper detailed point or a link. Keep it simple. Mr. Fisher is presented as lonely. Mr. Fisher is presented as brave. I'm just giving you examples, but keep it simple. The reason we still do a point is to make sure we answer the question. And we do a link. I call it the waffle check. If you get to the end of your paragraph and you can't say, "Therefore, as you can see, Mr. Fisher," and you can't link it back to your point, then you've probably gone off task somewhere. But don't get it twisted. Based upon the mark scheme, which part of the paragraph is the most important part, guys? It is the following, guys. It is your effect. But the only thing you guys need to be aware of is that P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. is a solid paragraph to use because in P.R.E.T.Z.E.L., because you do everything twice, naturally you're going to tick off the mark scheme and write in detail. The only thing left is checking the quality of your effect. How good is your effect? That is why, guys, P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. paragraphs work so well for this question because without you even realizing, you are ticking the mark scheme off as you go along.
So, I repeat: language question, 10 minutes, two paragraphs, two P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. paragraphs. When it comes to techniques, we analyze this. When it comes to zooming in, we zoom in to one of these. Now, in your exam, guys, you plan live on the sheet. So, over here, it says, "How does the writer use language here to convey Mr. Fisher's views on books and stories of the past?" My first quote that I can use is that Mr. Fisher said that books and stories of the past would illuminate minds and hearts. They will light up minds and hearts. Now, the technique that I want to talk about here first, guys, the technique that I want to talk about here first is the technique of chremamorphism. Now, what is chremamorphism? It's not on the list, but it's a technique that is there. Chremamorphism, guys, is the opposite of personification. Guys, chremamorphism is the opposite of personification. So, personification is when you give a non-human human features. Chremamorphism is when you give a human the features of an object. So, over here, it's saying that stories would illuminate a human being. You can't light up a person. You can't illuminate a person. That is why chremamorphism. So, I've got my reference, I've got my technique. Now, what's my point? Mr. Fisher's views on books of the past. My point is that books of the past, guys, they were inspirational. Wow, these books were absolutely amazing. And that is going to be my point. Now, what shall I zoom into, guys, for this quote? I'm going to zoom into the noun "heart" and talk about the impact that this book doesn't just, doesn't just stimulate our mind, but it hits deep into our soul. And there's one paragraph planned for my exam.
Then, guys, I will simply plan another paragraph for my second paragraph. Guys, I could talk about the quote over here that "classes were swept away in the fever." This here, guys, could be my second reference. And for my point, I'm going to say that in this quote, books are presented as being addictive. Classes couldn't get enough. That's going to be my point. For my technique, I'm going to keep it simple, guys. We're going to go for a hyperbole. And when we zoom in, I'm going to zoom in to the verb "swept." And there we have my two paragraphs planned. That is exactly what you would do in a live exam. I've got my two points. My first point is that books are inspirational or were inspirational. My second point is books were addictive. My first reference is "illuminating minds and hearts." My second reference is that "classes were swept away in the fever." My first technique was chremamorphism, and my second was hyperbole. And for my first quote, I zoomed into the noun. And for my second quote, I zoomed into the verb. Lovely.
Now, all I would do in an exam is I would write out these two paragraphs. I want to show you guys a model answer that was published by the exam boards last year. This answer, guys, received eight out of eight. It wasn't written by myself. It was written by a student who sat the GCSE and they received eight out of eight. The first thing you will notice is, guys, is they have written two paragraphs, not three, not four, but they've written two paragraphs. In both paragraphs, they've got one main quote, and then they go ahead and they attach a zooming in to that main quote. And in both paragraphs, guys, they analyze. So, this one analyzed a simile, and this one analyzed a noun. And then the reason they got eight out of eight is because pretty much everything else in the paragraph is pure effect. They hit the mark scheme beautifully. Have they got quotes? Yep. They've got four quotes. Two for the first one, two for the second one. That's it. Not 10,000 quotes, not eight quotes, not 16 quotes. Two for each paragraph, which is exactly what we do in P.R.E.T.Z.E.L. Then, each paragraph, I say to you, guys, have two techniques. One technique at the top, and one when you zoom in. This kid literally only had one over here, the noun, and over here, a simile. Very basic techniques. But what does that prove? It doesn't matter about the technique you pick. It matters what you do with it. And then, guys, beautifully, they explained the effect. Let's read the first paragraph. "The writer presents the hyena's appearance as repulsive and unpleasant, painting it as an outcast amongst the animal kingdom." That's their point. That basically this hyena is, this hyena is absolutely ugly. "The use of the noun phrase 'bungal mix of colors' to describe its fur suggests its design is one with no purpose and seems to be an afterthought, as the colors are combined together in an arbitrary fashion compared to the leopard's spots which serve as camouflage." Furthermore, it could be argued the color of the fur. And then the writer basically got, guys, continues to explain the effect of it being described like that. They got eight out of eight. This is the most recent exam. This is June 2023. You can see what they are awarding eight out of eight. Two paragraphs, 10 minutes. And, guys, you simply have, you simply have to take away on the mark scheme. You give your point, you give your quote, you give your technique, you explain the effect. Then you zoom in to a word, you give the effect, you link it all up. Peace out. You go home. And you do that twice. Guys, that is how you go about answering question number two.
My advice to you, guys, would be this. Now that we've covered everything you need for Paper One, Question Number Two, try your best to write out these two paragraphs and see how you get on. They're planned for you on the screen. Write out this paragraph. Write out this paragraph, spending five minutes on each paragraph. Then, guys, should you want more past papers, go to everythingeducation.co.uk, click on past papers, and go through each of them and simply try to do as many question twos as possible. Let me talk you through quickly how you structure one. So, let's say we're doing the blue paragraph in Source A. Mr. Fisher, sorry, in Source A, the writer presents Mr. Fisher's views on books of the past as them being very, very addictive. This can be seen in the quote that "classes were swept away in the fever." The use of hyperbole shows how the classes could not resist the allure of the books. It was as though they were simple victims to the power and the interest of these books. I explain the effect of that. Furthermore, when we zoom in to the verb "swept," it implies that these students were swept off their feet. The books were mesmerizing. The books were amazing. The books took them to a place that they've never been to before. Explain the effect. And as a result, they wanted to read more and more. Therefore, you can see now I'm linking it that books of the past were extremely addictive. Now, obviously, guys, if I write that out, I would do a lot more detail, but I'm just giving you a quick structure of how you may go about approaching this question. All right, guys, and that is how you do Paper One, Question Number Two. Peace. Everything Education Tuition for Maths, English, and Science.