In this new syllabus, however, analysng form, structure and language comprises a

huge part of paper 1, which makes it super-important to know what you’re looking
for.

DEFINITIONS

The first thing you need to know in order to develop these skills is what language,
form and structure refer to. Just like you, I really hate complex and complicated
definitions you might find in textbooks, so let’s keep it simple.

Language simply refers to what words the author chooses to use to tell you his
ideas. This can include word choice and different figures of speech and language
devices.

Form refers to the genre of the text, and how the genre influences the way the text
looks on the page. So, if you know what to look for, you can notice many elements of
form as soon as you lay your eyes on the page.

Structure refers to how the author organizes the information he wishes to convey
and how that information fits together to make the text a unified whole.

LANGUAGE

Let’s start with language

First, you’re looking for any interesting lexis. Lexis is just a fancy word for
vocabulary. So, you’re trying to find any interesting vocabulary the author has
chosen to use and trying to figure out why he used those particular words. This is
especially important for words with very pronounced positive or negative
connotations, or words scattered throughout the text that belong to the
same semantic field.

Under language, you’re also looking for different figures of speech. There are many
of them and you’re most probably familiar at least with the most important ones like
metaphor, simile and personification. As we’ve mentioned many times, it’s important
not just to identify the figure of speech or give a very generic effect, but you need to
explain in detail why the author used that particular figure.

If you’re reading a persuasive text, like a speech, a review or an article, you will also
be looking for persuasive techniques. These are language techniques for making
and argument and convincing the reader to support your point of view.

Finally, language also included grammar, syntax and punctuation. Although

they’re often overlooked, these elements play an important role in every text,
influencing emotions and creating a specific rhythm or pace of the text. Longer or
shorter sentences, use of varied punctuation and use of particular tenses can all
have an effect on how the reader „feels“ the text.
FORM

When it comes to form, I’m going to discuss three different aspects of form:

1. How the text reflects the characteristics of the genre

2. What the text looks like on the page
3. How the text appeals to its intended audience and how the purpose affects
the content and style of the text

The first two are traditional notions of form in writing, and the third aspect is how
form is defined by examiners in examiner reports for As Level 9093, so we want to
make sure we cover all of these.

1. How the text reflects the characteristics of the genre

As you already know, every genre has its own rules or conventions and knowing
these rules is an absolute must for this exam. You need to demonstrate to the
examiner that you know those rules, and one f the ways you can do that is by
commenting on how form is related to the genre.

All genres have a specific kind of form they follow, but in some cases the connection
between form and genre is more obvious.

Take poetry for example. Don’t’ worry, you don’t have to study poetry for this exam,
but it is a very good way to illustrate the connection between for and genre. There
are very clear differences between a long epic poem and a haiku, for example.
A sonnet is one form that has to follow very strict form rules. A reader who knows his
poetry will immediately, just by looking at the page, recognize this poem as a
Shakespearean sonnet, which will in turn create a set of expectations in his head
about what the poem is about and how the author conveys his ideas.

Advertisements and leaflets also have a very strong visual component. The form has
a strong influence on how the rear perceives the information.

While you will not have to read any poetry or have any visual leaflets of as in the
exam, there are some genres that you will read, where the form is extremely
important. Look at this letter for example. If you take away the visual elements like
the address at the top, the subject, the salutation, the ending, the text is no longer a
letter. These elements, which are very visual, show the reader that the genre is a
letter, so the reader has certain expectations and can follow the text better.

 How the text appears on the page

Here are some elements you might look for:

We have anaphora, the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of

neighbouring clauses. If you’ve ever read the famous ‘I have a dream’ speech by
Martin Luther King, Jr., you will have noticed the use of anaphora in repeating the
phrase „I have a dream“ at the beginning of consecutive sentences. Repetition
usually serves the purpose of emphasizing a point, but of course, you need to
always be careful to analyze what point is being emphasized.

You can also have single line sentences, which stand out from the rest of the text.
They often mark an important turning point in the text. Whenever you see one, stop
and think about why the author chose to put it there. It can often tell you a lot about
how the text progresses.

Short sentences within a paragraph are often used for emotional impact and they
too stand out from longer sections of the text. So do very short paragraphs. The
emotional impact of a short sentence like “Silence.“ is much stronger than if an
author was to elaborate on how horrible the silence was in a very long descriptive
sentence.

Ellipsis, where a certain part of the text was omitted, as was the case in Frederick
Douglass speech we read, can also be immediately noticed. It should make you
wonder and analyze why the section of the text was omitted. What was the author’s
purpose in removing that part of the text?

Dialogue is another element that stands out on the page. You can analyze why the
author chose to include dialogue, and what purpose it plays in the text as a whole.

The use of subheadings which divide the text clearly into subsections or the use
of bullet points for lists is another visual element that is often used in articles or
leaflets. You can link the subheadings with the content of the paragraphs or
comment on the use of bullet points.

Any of these elements fall s under form and if you notice any of them, first you
should carefully consider why the author chose to use them, and then you need to
analyse and comment on their use.

 How the text appeals to its intended audience and how the purpose
affects the content and style of the text

Audience, of course, are people who are reading the text. Purpose is the goal with
which the writer writes the text. Audience and purpose are what we call whole-text
aspects, and they’re always mutually influenced by particular devices the author
uses. So, essentially, here you’re being asked to demonstrate how these whole-text
aspects influence the writer’s individual word choices and how those words choices
demonstrate the authors awareness of audience and purpose.

Let’s take these two examples. Imagine one author is writing an article about a video
game in a gaming magazine. Another writer is writing an article about the same
game for Wikipedia.
These texts have very different audiences (the first one being gamers, the second
one just about anyone on the internet).

They also have different purposes. The Wikipedia article aims to provide general
information about the game, while the gaming magazine article needs to provide
much more detailed information in order to maintain the interest of the readers.

So, what can the author do to make sure his text suits his audience and fulfills its
purpose?

One of the main ways to appeal to an audience and to fulfill your purpose is
through tone and register. Tone is the writer’s attitude towards the subject
and register is the level of formality the author uses, so whether he is being very
formal, using sophisticated language or informal, using chatty and colloquial style.

Although students sometimes find them confusing, understanding tone and register
is important. In the example we gave here, the writer who writes for the gaming
magazine will most likely use a semi-formal style, to make his piece entertaining for
his readers and to make them feel closer to him. The gaming community itself is
rather relaxed, so there is no need for a high level of formality. On the other hand, an
article on Wikipedia needs to meet the standards of an encyclopedia and needs to
be written in a more formal register.

At the same time, the readers of the gaming magazine probably have a lot of
knowledge about the subject matter. The author will not shy away from using
specific jargon – specialist language, for describing the game. On the other hand, the
Wikipedia article will use more standardized lexis, sticking to well-known
expressions. If specialized terms are used, they will likely be explained and defined.

Also, when explaining certain concepts and issues, the authors will be likely to use
examples that are close to their audience. Take this video for example. Because I
am talking to high school students, I chose to use the gaming example in this case,
because this might appeal to you as young people. I would have made a big mistake
if I chose a topic most teenagers are not interested in. All writers pay attentions to
details like that, and your task, in analyzing form is to notice those elements.

STRUCTURE

Structure, again, goes back to how particular parts are connected to the whole.

It refers to the way in which the write organizes the information in the text and in
which order he chooses to reveal it. It also refers to how part of the text fit together to
make a whole.

Structure is content-driven and we can look at how information is organized both on

the level of the entire text, but also within each paragraph.
So, what are we looking at when commenting on structure?

Firstly, we’re looking at the beginning and ending, I’m sure your teachers have told
you many times that these are perhaps the most important parts of a text. We’ll also
look at development, contrast, shifts and pace.

The beginning of any text is very important because the writer has only a few
second to interest the reader to read the text. Authors use different techniques to
hook the reader in, and depending on the text, you may wish to analyze how the
author achieves that purpose.

The ending on the other hand leaves the biggest emotional impact on the reader.
Depending on the topic, the ending may be conclusive or non-conclusive. Non-
conclusive ending in fiction works can be cliffhangers and in non-fiction works the
author might want to leave a question open to debate, without offering a final word
on it. A common strategy writers use to make their work very well-organized is using
a cyclical structure. This is when the story ends in the same place it began, or, in
non-fiction, where the author uses the same idea at the end of the text that he used
at the beginning. This can make the text feel very well-rounded, no pun intended. So
you might want to look at the beginning and ending and see if there are elements of
cyclical structure.

In between the beginning and the end, most texts progress in a linear manner,
meaning there is some natural development or progression of ides. So you want to
look at how the author develops his ideas and what topic he deals with. Another
thing you may wish to look at is whether there is a change in the intensity of tone and
mood in the text, for example where the tone moves from being slightly melancholic
at the beginning towards openly depressing towards the end of the text.

Sometimes the authors organize different elements of the text in such a way that
they don’t gradually build upon one another, but instead clash. This is the use
of contrast, when two neighbouring paragraphs in a text discuss completely
opposite topics or deal with a topic in a completely opposite manner. If you find
juxtaposition between different elements of the text, that is contrast and it might be
worth commenting on.

Another thing you may want to look at is shifts. Any major shift in focus or topic and
theme of the text should be commented on.

When I say focus, I mean what the author is focusing on in each paragraph. So, you
might notice how there is a shift from focus on the exterior to the interior of the
building. Or the author might shift focus from describing the environment to
describing a particular characters or his own mental state and thoughts. The
environment and thoughts might often be intertwined and reflect one another, so you
might comment on that too.
The author might also shift focus from a general discussion of an idea to a specific
example. Or from a generic phenomenon to an individual’s experience of that
phenomenon. These are all worth analysing and commenting on.

You can also comment on the change of subject or the theme, which refers to more
subtle, underlying meaning of the text.

To indicate such shifts, authors sometimes use one-sentence paragraphs. Look for
them to give you a clue.

Finally, another element of structure is pace. Pace simply refers to how fast the text
progresses. Think of it in this way – an action film usually evolves much more quickly
than a slow romantic film. How do authors slow or speed up the pace of a text?

Faster paced texts usually have shorter paragraphs, and shorter sentences with
more action, dialogue and exciting events. On the other hand, slow-paced texts
feature longer sentences and paragraph with more narration and description that
dialogue. Authors add details and may use flashbacks or foreshadowing to slow
down the main action.

One thing I have to point out, though, is that all the information I gave here is by no
means some kind of a checklist you need to go through for every text. Instead, this is
just a framework to help you think about the different elements that usually appear in
texts. Every text is different and there is no one unique approach that fits every text.
But practicing analysis using these elements will hopefully help you out no matter
what kind of text you face in the exam.

If there is anything that was left unclear or anything else you wish to talk about,
please comment in the comments section below or send us an email.

Paper 1 Question 1 (a)

https://youtu.be/i-i2m5CxlXg

The first thing you need to know is that this question has two sections. Section 1a
covers directed writing, and section 1b is comparative analysis. First, let’s take a look
at a sample question.

Question 1

Read the following text, which is an article entitled “Laughing through lockdown:
Why comedy is important in the times of crisis” written by a researcher for an online
academic publication called The Conversation.

(a) Your teacher has asked you to make a speech for other students in your school
about the history and benefits of humour in times of crisis. Using the material from
the article, write the first part of your speech.
Use 150–200 words. [10]

(b) Compare your speech with the original article, analysing form, structure and
language. [15]

So, what do the examiners expect from you in this task?

In the directed writing part, which carries 10 points out of the total 25, you are
assessed on your reading and writing skills. You will demonstrate your reading skills
through understanding the main content points of the original text and using that
content in your own text. Reading skills bring a maximum of 5 points. Writing, which
refers to expressing your ideas effectively and accurately, also brings a maximum of
five points.

The second part of the question, where you need to compare your own text with the
original, assesses reading and analysis skills. The difference between these is that
your reading score assesses how well you understand the content of the text /what
the author wrote), whereas analysis score assesses your ability to analyze and
compare the form, structure and language of the two texts and how the author wrote
them.

Let’s take a deeper look at section 1a.

1a, directed writing task, often confuses students as they’re unsure what exactly is
expected of them. Simply put, directed writing is your own writing based on a given
text.

Usually, there are two options. You will either be asked to copy the style and
language of the original text OR to use the material (the content) of the given text to
produce your own text in a different genre.

It seems that in this new syllabus, Cambridge is going for the second option. In the
papers that have been published so far, students have always been asked to use the
content of the original text and produce their own in a different genre.

Let’s analyse the sample task.

As in all other sample tasks, the task itself offers us valuable information we need to
get high marks. In this case, that information is particularly important, because that is
what sets your text apart from the original text, and your ability to respond properly to
these prompts determines not only how well you will do this task, but how well you
will do the comparative analysis in section 1b as well.

The important information we get here is text type, audience, purpose, topic and
word limit. In your writing, you need to demonstrate constant awareness of these
elements. That means, you need to show the examiner that you have:

 understood the content of the original text and carefully chosen the most
important points to include in your own writing. You will not have time to
include everything in your short text, so you need to be selective and chose to
include the most important content points, while also making sure you don’t
omit anything that is relevant. It’s a rather tricky balance.

 The next important point you’ll need to constantly bear in mind is what text
type you’re asked to write. As you know, every text type or genre has its own
rules and conventions and to demonstrate your knowledge of different text
types, you need to follow those rules. You might be asked to write in a
number of very different genres, so make sure you are familiar with them
before the exam.

 Another element that will greatly influence how you write is your awareness of
audience (who you’re writing for) and purpose (why your writing). The
examiners want to see that you can adapt your tone and register to suit the
particular audience for which you’re writing. Purpose also shapes meaning,
and you need to show that you can gear your text in the direction in which
you’re asked.

As we’ve discussed in previous videos, and his goes for both writing and analysis,
that means you need to constantly bear in mind how whole-text elements like text
type, audience and purpose AND particular language devices such as word choice,
figurative language and sentence structure mutually influence each other.

So how do you practically make that happen in the exam? What are the steps you
need to take to successfully complete the directed writing task?

First, you need to read the given text and highlight key content points you will use in
your text. It’s a good idea to use this time and do a second reading to annotate and
analyse the text as well, because you will need that information in section b and it’s a
good idea not to shift your focus too many times.

Next, you need to write a short plan for your text. Focus on audience, purpose and
text type, and think of what individual language devices you would use to support
your points. How will you make sure you fit the conventions of the genre? What
language techniques will you use to achieve your purpose while simultaneously
establishing a connection with your audience and maintaining their interest in what
you have to say. Fitting all this into just 150 to 200 words is not easy, but a good plan
will be super helpful.
Finally, write! Remember to use your best English – examiners expect advanced
vocabulary, complex grammar and varied punctuation. A small word count required
for this question means you need to make every word count, so do your best to show
off your writing skills from the very outset. Try to fit an advanced word, grammar
structure, language device or punctuation into every single sentence, but make sure
you don’t sound unnatural or unnecessarily formal. Again, tricky balance, I know, but
practice makes perfect!

However, getting high grades is not only about making sure your writing is accurate
and beautiful. Even more importantly, you need to make sure to avoid common
mistakes students make in this task. Let’s look at a few most common ones.

One of the worst mistakes you can make is “lifting“ from the original text. Now, what
on Earth does that mean? Well, remember, you need to use the content of the
original text to write your own. However, students sometimes take this too literally
and literally just copy the words from the given text into their own. That is called
lifting. Doing that shows the examiner you didn’t understand the task properly and
you lack appropriate paraphrasing skills. Instead of copying the authors words, you
want to use his ideas, and express those ideas in your own, carefully crafted,
beautiful, advanced words.

Another big mistake is to copy the author’s style if you’re asked to write in a different
genre. This should be self-explanatory. Every genre has its own rules, and yes,
some of them do share some similarities, but you really need to develop your own
voice and style. The language you use and the level of formality will depend directly
on the text type and audience, and the very purpose of this task is for you to
demonstrate that you can say the same thing in a different way, so make sure to use
the author’s content, but reword it in a way that suits your audience and text type.

The next common mistake is writing without a plan. If you’ve been following the
channel, you know how much I love planning and this is not without reason. A good
plan guarantees a good structure and helps solve all kinds of problems in your
writing. So yes, I will say it again, a plan is not a waste of time. Don’t spend 15
minutes writing this plan, that’s too much, but do jot down a few ideas in 3-5 minutes
– it will help you in the long run.

The next common mistake is going over the word limit. And yes, examiners do count
words. Writing more than 200 words leads to two possible problems: 1. Adhering to
the word count is assessed as part of making your response relevant to the task,
which is an important point in the mark scheme, so you can lose valuable points by
going over the limit. 2. Going over the word limit means you will spend more time
than necessary on this task, which means you will lose valuable time for doing other
tasks, which again will cause you to lose points. Good news is that all this is perfectly
preventable. You will probably not have the time to count your own words in the
exam, which is why you need to do lots of practice papers, which will give you an
approximate idea of what 150-200 words look like in your handwriting. That can be
quite an adequate measure to use in the exam.
Finally, even if you don’t go over the word limit, a common mistake is to just spend
too much time planning for and writing the answer to this question. That is really not
a good idea, because this question is worth only 10 points, in comparison to 15
points for comparative analysis and 25 points for question 2. Candidates often do
this question first, and then lack time for questions 1b and 2, and lose lots of points
by not doing proper time management. The easy solution is, again, to do lots of
practice papers and make sure you allot time in accordance with the number of
points each question carries.

In summary, to achieve higher grades in this section, you will need to:

 be able to identify key content points in the given text

 know and follow genre conventions
 adapt form, structure and language to suit the genre, purpose and audience of
the text
 write accurately and effectively, using high-level grammar, vocabulary and
punctuation
 and manage your time well so you don’t lose points in other sections.

https://youtu.be/bogSCBfmwNs

INTRODUCTION

Let’s look at the introduction first. The student writes:

In this emotional and fierce speech, Frederick Douglass addresses his

audience which consists of mostly privileged white men and attempts to
persuade them that slavery is a cruel, inhumane practice that must be
abolished. He does this using a very strong, emotional, direct, and, in many
instances, ironic tone, that reflects his frustration and the frustration of his
people with the current situation. He tries to achieve his purpose by using a
wide variety of language devices, including: positive and negative word
choice, contrast, direct address, use of inclusive and exclusive personal
pronouns, personal anecdote and metaphor.

We see that the student is immediately engaging with the text, identifying its major
aspects (tone, purpose and audience) in the very first sentence. The student wastes
no time repeating obvious information that is already mentioned in the text and gets
right to the point.

As we read the first sentence, we can see that the tone, purpose and audience are
identified in detail and precisely. First, the tone is identified as emotional and fierce.
This idea is later developed in more detail in the second sentence, where the student
says that the tone is „strong, emotional and direct“. These expressions are
somewhat vague, but „ironic“ is definitely more precise, and the student also
identifies the feeling of frustration (which is very specific), and he does well as he
mentions that this is „his frustration and the frustration of his people“, meaning
Douglass in this speech acts as a representative of his people, not just as an
individual.

Going back o the first sentence, we can see that the way the student identifies
audience is also very precise. He does not say the audience are white people, but
„privileged white men“, meaning the student understands the audience are people in
power.

Finally, the purpose is also identified in detail. The student does not merely say that
the purpose of the text is to persuade. That would leave us with the question of
„persuade who, of what?“. The student answers these questions that naturally
appear in our minds by saying, „to persuade the that slavery is an inhumane, cruel
practice that must be abolished“. In doing this, the student correctly identifies that the
speech looks not only to the past, condemning slavery as inhumane, but also looks
to the furture and calls the audience to action, to abolish slavery. If this was further
elaborated on in the response, it would have an even better impact of not just
identifying the audience, purpose and tone, but analyzing them from the very outset.

Nevertheless, the introduction provides an excellent framework for what is to come.

This is specifically important in the last sentence of the introduction, where the
student is paving way for his further analysis in the rest of the essay. He says: He
tries to achieve his purpose by using a wide variety of language devices, including:
positive and negative word choice, contrast, direct address, use of inclusive and
exclusive personal pronouns, personal anecdote and metaphor.

This final sentence of the introduction, often called a thesis statement, provides a
clear roadmap for analysis in the rest of the commentary. The student here
established firm foundations for the structure of his essay. He enumerates the
language devices he will comment upon in the rest of the essay in the order in which
he will analyse them. This makes the structure very well organised and easy to
follow.

I do need to mention here that this is not official advice and that most sample
commentaries do not follow such structure. I simply personally like it because it is
very clear and focused.

Structurally, the essay is very well constructed. As we shall see later on, it is
cohesive and divided into coherent paragraphs, and every paragraph deals with
either a single idea, or two or more connected ideas. Organization definitely gets
high marks here.

One thing that I will point out as a drawback, though, and we will be going back to
this as we read on is that almost all the device mentioned in this last sentence of the
introduction, which will later be analyzed, are language devices, which poses a big
question of what the student has done to analyze form and structure in the text.
Form and structure are important elements of the task and must not be ignored. As
we shall see, there are occasional comments made on the structure, but it would
definitely be better if the student made form and structure analysis more obvious and
explicit.

POSITIVE WORD CHOICE

Moving onto the first paragraph of the main part, the student begins his analysis by
tackling the first language device he mentioned in his thesis statement – positive
word choice. Let’s read.

One of the most prominent characteristics of the speech is the use of positive
nouns and adjectives to denote the privilege and power that the whites enjoy
and the African-Americans are denied. We find examples throughout the first
part of this speech, where he speaks of “blessings”, “rich inheritance of
justice, liberty, prosperity an independence”, “sunlight”, “light and “healing”.
The purpose of using these words is to show that these great values are
reserved only for the whites, and that there is “immeasurable distance”
between the whites and the blacks.

Another excellent structural device is the fact that the student begins his paragraph
with an introductory sentence that gives us a very clear idea of what the paragraph
will be about. This is called a topic sentence, and every paragraph should have one.
It’s usually located at the beginning f a paragraph, but that doesn’t have to be the
case always.

Looking at the content of the commentary, the first sentence provides a very precise
“point” of analysis (positive adjectives and nouns) and the effect of their use (to
denote the privilege and power…). Btw, see how the student cleverly uses
alliteration (privilege and power) and contrast (the whites enjoy… the African-
Americans are denied) here? That’s proof of his command of language and leaves a
good impact. It’s by no means obligatory, but if you do choose to use language
device, remember that your style should be formal and objective, so don’t veer into
using metaphors and personification. You need to stick to literal meanings and
leaver figurative language for the writing section.

Back to the point here. The first sentence identified the point and the effect and the
second sentence offers several aptly selected examples. The quotes are
appropriately short, and even the longer one is very focused and precise. One thing
that can be commented on as a kind of a negative is that quotes are simply listed at
the end of the sentence, without fitting into the analysis itself. Compare that to how
well the “immeasurable distance” is embedded into the text of the commentary in the
next sentence. Embedding quotes into your own analysis is an important skill and I
hope we will have a video on that too at some point. Until then, remember, fitting
your quotes naturally into the commentary is better that merely listing them.

Finally, the last sentence of the paragraph expands further on the effects of the use
of positive nouns and adjectives. The paragraph follows a very clear “P-E-E”
structure. While you should always include effects of the devices used, always
following he structure in the same order can be a bit repetitive and you should aim to
provide further commentary and deeper analysis, too.

NEGATIVE WORD CHOICE & CONTRAST

As we mentioned in our last video, making sure your ideas flow naturally in your
commentary is very important and how the student connects this paragraph to the
next one is an excellent example of that. Let’s read:

In stark contrast with these positive words stand all the negative attributes
that are linked with the situation of African-Americans, such as: “gross
injustice and cruelty”, “victim” “stripes and death”. These negative attributes
are often placed very close to the positive words used to describe the position
of the whites, which immediately creates images of contrast in the reader’s
mind: “your celebration is a sham” “your shouts of liberty and equality –
hollow mockery”, “your sermons…impiety and hypocrisy”.

Look at the first part of the first sentence. “in stark contrast with these positive words”
– here, the student very clearly links what he already said to what he is about to say.
This is an excellent linking device, and you should absolutely use it. He then moves
on to make his next point. Again, we have the P-E-E approach and once again,
although the quotations are very precise and well-chosen, the student makes the
mistake of not embedding them properly.

Another interesting thing about this paragraph is that he connects two language
devices “negative attributes and contrast) in the same paragraph. This is excellent,
because they both indicate the same effect. There is also a hint of reference to
structure here, where the student says “placed next to those positive words”, but
again you need to make structure and form references more explicit and clearer, to
show the examiner you’re giving equal focus to form, structure and language. A
better way to address this is to say, e.g., “Placing negative attributes very close to
positive words has a very important structural purpose in the text. It immediately
evokes images of contrast in the readers mind.” This way, it is clear that the student
understands this is a structural device.

Moving on now.

DIRECT ADDRESS

Throughout the text, Douglass directly addresses his audience, often posing
very difficult and provoking questions. These questions are especially
prevalent in the first part, whereas the second part of the text answers some of
them. Perhaps the most important of these questions is “What, to the
American slave, is the 4th of July?” that very strongly questions the purpose
of him, as a former slave, being invited to speak at such an event and is an
introduction into his very direct and harsh analysis of the hypocrisy of the
privileged whites. This effect is also achieved through the use of sarcasm in
the first paragraph where he asks if he was called to “express devout
gratitude” for the independence his people clearly are not a part of.
 Again, the student connects two similar language devices – direct address and
rhetorical questions. Now, there is a more explicit and very insightful reference to the
structure of the text, where the student says: These questions are especially
prevalent in the first part, whereas the second part of the text answers some of them.
This is an excellent way of showing the examiner you understand how particular
language and structural devices are linked to the text as a whole. After establishing
those whole-.text connections, the student makes the smart decision of focusing on
one particular question to further dissect its purpose. That enables him to thoroughly
analyze the particularities of the text. Again, the same effect is used to link this
device to another one, use of sarcasm, with excellent embedding of quotes.

PRONOUNS

The next paragraph again begins with reference to the previous one, which helps
maintain cohesion:

In close connection with the author directly addressing his predominantly

white audience is his use of pronouns. He makes a very clear distinction
between himself and his audience, by constantly referring to them as “you”,
mentioning “your celebration…your greatness…your prayers”. This stark
contrast between himself and the other African-Americans on the one hand
and the whites the other hand is most starkly represented in the short and
impactful sentence at the end of paragraph two: “This fourth of July is yours,
not mine. “

The student references the use of pronouns, again following a very clear P-E-E
approach. The use of pronouns is important in virtually every speech, especially
those with political connotations, but you must make sure to avoid quoting just “you,
“me”, them”, and instead offer more context, as in the example of “your celebration…
your greatness…your prayers”. Again, the student moves on from the use of
pronouns in the whole text and hones in on one particularly impactful sentence,
which enables him to examine the use of pronouns more closely. It would perhaps
be beneficial if he added a sentence or two of further analysis of the significance of
this sentence for the entire text.

PERSONAL ANECDOTE

While for the most part, the author speaks of the general struggle of his people,
towards the end of the text, we get a peek into his own life, when he relates a
personal anecdote of his own experience of slave trade. Here, too, we see a
reference to his mistress, who hated the abuse of slaves and “sympathized with me
in my horror.” This is perhaps a very subtle reference to the idea that other whites
too can look up to her example and understand how cruel slavery is.

Here is a structural reference again, where the student appropriately notes the shift
in focus from the general struggle of black people to a more personal account. Any
kind of development of shift in focus, or examining similarities or contrast between
particular elements of the text falls under the category of structure, and should
definitely be included in your analysis, but again, I would recommend making those
references more explicit. You don’t want to leave the examiner guessing whether
you’ve understood it’s a structural element or not. You want to make sure everything
you know is clearly understood by the examiner.

Again, the student discusses the issue of the personal anecdote, but focuses on one
particular aspect. I n this case, as we’ve seen in our annotation, there were many
other elements to comment on, but no commentary will cover all aspects of the text. I
do think some of the issues from this part of the text should have been discussed in
more detail, though.

Another thing we can note here is the use of a hedging device “perhaps”, where the
student is being tentative about presenting his interpretation of the words used. This
is good, because no interpretation is definitive and the use of expressions such as “it
seems”, “the author implies” or “it might be that” is recommended.

METAPHOR

The next paragraph again, begins with reference to the previous one.

In other instances in the text, though, the author is much more direct. He does not
give unclear allusions, but very straightforward, direct and aptly strong messages.
His tone throughout most of the text is that of frustration and rage, and he does
indeed, as he says he wishes to, pour “fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting
reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke”. He uses the metaphor of natural
disasters (“fire”, “thunder”, “storm”, “whirlwind”, “earthquake”) to denote that the
changes that must happen are of tectonic proportions and absolutely urgent.

Here the student discusses the tone of the paragraph, but does so in a very precise
manner, focusing on particular language device (the metaphor of natural devices).
The choice of quotations is very good and I especially like how the student
demonstrates his own language prowess by using the term “tectonic”, from the same
semantic field as other words used in the text. Using Douglass’ own words to
describe his tone is also an excellent approach.

CONCLUSION

Finally, the student provides a clear and succinct conclusion

Through his use of a variety of different language devices, Douglass paints an

impressive and somber image of America at the time – one of deep divisions and
stark inequality. His speech is an alarming call to end the injustice to his people and
a fierce answer to those who aimed to prolong it.

As we’ve mentioned before, the conclusion is not mandatory, but in this case, it
helps the student reiterate his understanding of the purpose of the speech. It also
provides the student with a good opportunity to demonstrate his language skills (with
low frequency vocabulary like somber, fierce, prolong) and excellent grammar.

Overall, the essay was rather effective in its analysis of different language devices.
There are definitely some points for improvement, especially concerning the
discussion of form and structure.

https://youtu.be/baLGnJtAWEQ
As a quick reminder, here is what the student was asked to do in the task.

You can find the original article this text is based on in the link below. It’s a good idea
to write your own answer as well. Feel free to share it with others in the comments
below.

The task gives us the most important information: genre, audience and purpose.
Here is how the student was supposed to use this information:

Text type is a speech, so the student needs to demonstrate that she understands
this type of writing is meant to be spoken to a live audience, which makes connecting
with the audience even more important than in other types of texts. The student
needs to use typical speech techniques, like anecdotes, humor, imperatives,
rhetorical questions and direct address.

It’s also important to note that the student is asked to write only the first part of the
speech. That means that not all the important information from the article has to be
included, which would otherwise be the case.

The audience are the student’s classmates. This has several implications:

The register used needs to be conversational and informal. The audience are young
teenagers, the same age as the writer. Their relationship is not hierarchical, so there
is no reason for the student to use overly formal language when addressing them.
Any examples the candidate chooses to include need to be close to teenagers’
experiences and relatable.

However, although the primary audience are other students, remember, the task was
set by the teacher as an official school task. This means the teacher is the
secondary audience, so the student has to make sure to avoid slang and overly
informal register.

The purpose is to inform her classmates. That means that the student needs to use
facts from the original article and provide useful information. She needs to sound
authoritative and knowledgeable about the subject. Although the text is meant for the
audience of teenagers, the purpose also influences the register, moving it in a
slightly more formal direction.

Now, let’s analyse the sample response and see what we can learn from it:
The candidate writes:

Dear friends,

If you saw me earlier laughing uncontrollably, please don’t think I’m crazy. I
just remembered how my brother once forgot that his camera was on during
English class and everyone watched him make dinner instead of paying
attention. The teacher even asked if he could send some over to her house –
she thought it looked delicious! He still gets teased about it. But don’t you
think it’s funny that we laugh at ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic?

Well, I’ve been reading about this recently and as it turns out, laughing in the
face of a disaster is nothing new. In fact, even gladiators did it. Picture a buff,
bloodthirsty gladiator about to go to his death writing funny graffiti on
colosseum walls. I know, I couldn’t believe it either! And even Decameron –
you know, that hilarious book we read in Miss Moretti’s class last year – was
written during the Black Plague!

Apparently, laughing in these dismal situations is actually good for you. If you
don’t trust me – trust Sigmund Freud, one of the most prominent
psychologists of all time. A recent study supported his „relief theory“. In that
study, scientists analyzed how laughter helped 100 people suffering from
depression.

Before I share my analysis of the text with you, feel free to pause the video and
try to see what the student did well and what she could improve upon. This is
a useful exercise and can help you with your own writing and analysis skills.

Let’s start with the very beginning. The student begins the task with a very
appropriate greeting, that immediately shows her awareness of the conventions of a
speech and establishes her connection with the audience by calling them her friends.
The first sentence may seem unusual and out of place, but in it the author
immediately directly addresses the audience, and the sentences serves as an
introduction into the rest of the first paragraph. There, she tells a personal story or an
anecdote to get the audience interested in the topic and prepare them for the rest of
the speech. This is an excellent technique, very appropriate for a speech, which not
only adds a touch of humor, but also links the author with the audience in two major
ways:

1. The student uses informal, conversational register (by using phrases such as
Crazy, send some over) to connect with the audience and set herself on the
same level as them
2. She uses an example that is very familiar and close to all students in these
pandemic times – a funny anecdote from online classes. Virtually every
student is able to relate to such a universal experience, and can think of a
similar example of his own. That helps create rapport between the author and
the audience, making it more likely for the audience to engage with the rest of
the speech.
The introductory part finishes off with a rhetorical question: Don’t you think it’s funny?
This is an excellent structural technique that serves as a very good link between the
anecdote in the introduction and the rest of the speech, and also makes the reader
curious about the topic of the speech. Especially interesting to note is the use of the
word „funny“ as part of the expression „isn’t it funny“. The author plays on words
here, linking the expression „isn’t it funny “meaning isn’t it curious, isn’t it unusual
with the overall topic of the speech.

The next paragraph starts off with another linker between the introduction and the
main part. In this paragraph, the student moves on to the actual facts from the
article. She uses two of the facts mentioned in the article, regarding the history of
humor in crisis: the graffiti written by gladiators and the comical nature of the
Decameron. However, it’s important to note that the student does not lift from the
original text. Instead, she takes the facts from the article, but adapts the language
she uses to her audience and text type. She uses an imperative „picture “to engage
her audience, and then makes excellent word choices by using visual imagery and
alliteration in the phrase „a buff, bloodthirsty gladiator “. This is followed by the
exclamatory sentence in which the writer again reaffirms her relationship with the
audience by indicating that the fact was unbelievable for her too. She relates the
second example, Decameron, to the students’ own experience of reading thew book.
The candidate and her audience share the experience of taking the same Italian
classes and reding the book together, so this is an excellent choice of content point
from the original article.

The third paragraph takes on a more serious tone as the student has already
established firm connection with the audience and is now more devoted to fulfilling
the purpose of her speech – to inform her classmates about humor in the times of
crisis.

Structurally, the discourse marker „apparently “helps the student move from the topic
of the history of using humor to the new subject of the benefits of humor. To
establish herself as a reliable source of information, the author uses ethos – the
appeal to authority and credibility. The first instance of ethos is the reference to
Sigmund Freud, an expert on the subject. Unlined the author of the original article,
the student has to make clear to her audience who he was, as they may not be
aware of his importance. She also uses ethos when referencing (a possibly made
up) study, thus backing her facts with statistics. Although this particular statistic was
not mentioned in the original article, the article did mention reference to humor
helping people with depression and the statistics do help create a tone of authority
that is important for fulfilling he purpose.

We can see that the student did very well in adapting her text to the audience and
purpose set in the task. She used a variety of different techniques to make her text
appeal to her audience and fulfill its purpose. The conventions of the genre were
also fulfilled, with use of appropriate opening, direct address and other language
techniques throughput the speech.

In terms of language, we can note that the student writes without any grammatical
orvocabulary mistakes. There are many instances of high-level vocabulary, such as
buff, bloodthirsty, dismal, prominent) and grammar (have been reading). Particularly
interesting is the use of sentence structures and punctuation. The punctuation is very
varied, including dases, exclamation marks and quotation marks. Sentence structure
varies from short, impactful sentences to longer, more complex sentences with
parenthetical clauses. In terms of language, this is an excellent model for your own
writing: throughout the text the student shows awareness of major text elements, and
supports them by accurate and very carefully selected words, techniques and
sentence structures.

Overall, the text is very successful in achieving its purpose. The candidate
demonstrates that she understood the content of the original text and is able to use it
to write her own text accurately and effectively, while keeping within the word limit.
This answer would receive marks in the highest bands.

However, there is always room for improvement. One potential drawback of the text
is the length of the introductory anecdote. Although it serves a useful purpose of
connecting with the audience, the anecdote does not include any direct references to
the original text and it takes up a whopping 62 out of 200 words. At least some of
those word could have been used to squeeze in another reference to the original
text. Making key references to the original text is very important for earning high
marks for reading skills.

Other than that, this text is an excellent example of what a good model response
looks like and I hope this analysis has helped you understand what is expected of
you in this part of the exam.
Today we’re looking at how to analyze form, structure and language. This was a
much-requested video and is packed with valuable information, so let’s get right to it.

The previous version of the exam did not ask students to analyze form and structure,
so many students and even teachers, find this confusing.

In this new syllabus, however, analyzing form, structure and language comprises a
huge part of paper 1, which makes it super-important to know what you’re looking
for.

DEFINITIONS

The first thing you need to know in order to develop these skills is what language,
form and structure refer to. Just like you, I really hate complex and complicated
definitions you might find in textbooks, so let’s keep it simple.

Language simply refers to what words the author chooses to use to tell you his
ideas. This can include word choice and different figures of speech and language
devices.

Form refers to the genre of the text, and how the genre influences the way the text
looks on the page. So, if you know what to look for, you can notice many elements of
form as soon as you lay your eyes on the page.
Structure refers to how the author organizes the information he wishes to convey
and how that information fits together to make the text a unified whole.

LANGUAGE

Let’s start with language. We will have several videos devoted to each element of
language, so I will not go into great detail here, but I will list the main things to look
for under language.

First, you’re looking for any interesting lexis. Lexis is just a fancy word for
vocabulary. So, you’re trying to find any interesting vocabulary the author has
chosen to use and trying to figure out why he used those particular words. This is
especially important for words with very pronounced positive or negative
connotations, or words scattered throughout the text that belong to the same
semantic field.

Under language, you’re also looking for different figures of speech. There are many
of them and you’re most probably familiar at least with the most important ones like
metaphor, simile and personification. As we’ve mentioned many times, it’s important
not just to identify the figure of speech or give a very generic effect, but you need to
explain in detail why the author used that particular figure.

If you’re reading a persuasive text, like a speech, a review or an article, you will also
be looking for persuasive techniques. These are language techniques for making
and argument and convincing the reader to support your point of view.

Finally, language also included grammar, syntax and punctuation. Although they’re
often overlooked, these elements play an important role in every text, influencing
emotions and creating a specific rhythm or pace of the text. Longer or shorter
sentences, use of varied punctuation and use of particular tenses can all have an
effect on how the reader „feels“ the text.

FORM

When it comes to form, I’m going to discuss three different aspects of form:

 How the text reflects the characteristics of the genre

 What the text looks like on the page
 How the text appeals to its intended audience and how the purpose affects
the content and style of the text

The first two are traditional notions of form in writing, and the third aspect is how
form is defined by examiners in examiner reports for As Level 9093, so we want to
make sure we cover all of these.

How the text reflects the characteristics of the genre

As you already know, every genre has its own rules or conventions and knowing
these rules is an absolute must for this exam. You need to demonstrate to the
examiner that you know those rules, and one f the ways you can do that is by
commenting on how form is related to the genre.

All genres have a specific kind of form they follow, but in some cases the connection
between form and genre is more obvious.

Take poetry for example. Don’t’ worry, you don’t have to study poetry for this exam,
but it is a very good way to illustrate the connection between for and genre. There
are very clear differences between a long epic poem and a haiku, for example.

A sonnet is one form that has to follow very strict form rules. A reader who knows his
poetry will immediately, just by looking at the page, recognize this poem as a
Shakespearean sonnet, which will in turn create a set of expectations in his head
about what the poem is about and how the author conveys his ideas.

Advertisements and leaflets also have a very strong visual component. The form has
a strong influence on how the rear perceives the information.

While you will not have to read any poetry or have any visual leaflets of as in the
exam, there are some genres that you will read, where the form is extremely
important. Look at this letter for example. If you take away the visual elements like
the address at the top, the subject, the salutation, the ending, the text is no longer a
letter. These elements, which are very visual, show the reader that the genre is a
letter, so the reader has certain expectations and can follow the text better.

How the text appears on the page

Here are some elements you might look for:

We have anaphora, the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of

neighboring clauses. If you’ve ever read the famous „I have a dream“ speech by
Martin Luther King, Jr., you will have noticed the use of anaphora in repeating the
phrase „I have a dream“ at the beginning of consecutive sentences. Repetition
usually serves the purpose of emphasizing a point, but of course, you need to
always be careful to analyze what point is being emphasized.

You can also have single line sentences, which stand out from the rest of the text.
They often mark an important turning point in the text. Whenever you see one, stop
and think about why the author chose to put it there. It can often tell you a lot about
how the text progresses.

Short sentences within a paragraph are often used for emotional impact and they too
stand out from longer sections of the text. So do very short paragraphs. The
emotional impact of a short sentence like “Silence.“ is much stronger than if an
author was to elaborate on how horrible the silence was in a very long descriptive
sentence.

Ellipsis, where a certain part of the text was omitted, as was the case in Frederick
Douglass speech we read, can also be immediately noticed. It should make you
wonder and analyze why the section of the text was omitted. What was the author’s
purpose in removing that part of the text?

Dialogue is another element that stands out on the page. You can analyze why the
author chose to include dialogue, and what purpose it plays in the text as a whole.

The use of subheadings which divide the text clearly into subsections or the use of
bullet points for lists is another visual element that is often used in articles or leaflets.
You can link the subheadings with the content of the paragraphs or comment on the
use of bullet points.

Any of these elements fall s under form and if you notice any of them, first you
should carefully consider why the author chose to use them, and then you need to
analyze and comment on their use.

How the text appeals to its intended audience and how the purpose affects the
content and style of the text

Audience, of course, are people who are reading the text. Purpose is the goal with
which the writer writes the text. Audience and purpose are what we call whole-text
aspects, and they’re always mutually influenced by particular devices the author
uses. So, essentially, here you’re being asked to demonstrate how these whole-text
aspects influence the writer’s individual word choices and how those words choices
demonstrate the authors awareness of audience and purpose.

Let’s take these two examples. Imagine one author is writing an article about a video
game in a gaming magazine. Another writer is writing an article about the same
game for Wikipedia.

These texts have very different audiences (the first one being gamers, the second
one just about anyone on the internet).

They also have different purposes. The Wikipedia article aims to provide general
information about the game, while the gaming magazine article needs to provide
much more detailed information in order to maintain the interest of the readers.

So, what can the author do to make sure his text suits his audience and fulfills its
purpose?

One of the main ways to appeal to an audience and to fulfill your purpose is through
tone and register. Tone is the writer’s attitude towards the subject and register is the
level of formality the author uses, so whether he is being very formal, using
sophisticated language or informal, using chatty and colloquial style.

Although students sometimes find them confusing, understanding tone and register
is important. In the example we gave here, the writer who writes for the gaming
magazine will most likely use a semi-formal style, to make his piece entertaining for
his readers and to make them feel closer to him. The gaming community itself is
rather relaxed, so there is no need for a high level of formality. On the other hand, an
article on Wikipedia needs to meet the standards of an encyclopedia and needs to
be written in a more formal register.

At the same time, the readers of the gaming magazine probably have a lot of
knowledge about the subject matter. The author will not shy away from using specific
jargon – specialist language, for describing the game. On the other hand, the
Wikipedia article will use more standardized lexis, sticking to well-known
expressions. If specialized terms are used, they will likely be explained and defined.

Also, when explaining certain concepts and issues, the authors will be likely to use
examples that are close to their audience. Take this video for example. Because I
am talking to high school students, I chose to use the gaming example in this case,
because this might appeal to you as young people. I would have made a big mistake
if I chose a topic most teenagers are not interested in. All writers pay attentions to
details like that, and your task, in analyzing form is to notice those elements.

STRUCTURE

Structure, again, goes back to how particular parts are connected to the whole.

It refers to the way in which the write organizes the information in the text and in
which order he chooses to reveal it. It also refers to how part of the text fit together to
make a whole.

Structure is content-driven and we can look at how information is organized both on

the level of the entire text, but also within each paragraph.

So, what are we looking at when commenting on structure?

Firstly, we’re looking at the beginning and ending, I’m sure your teachers have told
you many times that these are perhaps the most important parts of a text. We’ll also
look at development, contrast, shifts and pace.
The beginning of any text is very important because the writer has only a few second
to interest the reader to read the text. Authors use different techniques to hook the
reader in, and depending on the text, you may wish to analyze how the author
achieves that purpose.

The ending on the other hand leaves the biggest emotional impact on the reader.
Depending on the topic, the ending may be conclusive or non-conclusive. Non-
conclusive ending in fiction works can be cliffhangers and in non-fiction works the
author might want to leave a question open to debate, without offering a final word
on it.

A common strategy writers use to make their work very well-organized is using a
cyclical structure. This is when the story ends in the same place it began, or, in non-
fiction, where the author uses the same idea at the end of the text that he used at the
beginning. This can make the text feel very well-rounded, no pun intended. So you
might want to look at the beginning and ending and see if there are elements of
cyclical structure.

In between the beginning and the end, most texts progress in a linear manner,
meaning there is some natural development or progression of ides. So you want to
look at how the author develops his ideas and what topic he deals with. Another
thing you may wish to look at is whether there is a change in the intensity of tone and
mood in the text, for example where the tone moves from being slightly melancholic
at the beginning towards openly depressing towards the end of the text.

Sometimes the authors organize different elements of the text in such a way that
they don’t gradually build upon one another, but instead clash. This is the use of
contrast, when two neighboring paragraphs in a text discuss completely opposite
topics or deal with a topic in a completely opposite manner. If you find juxtaposition
between different elements of the text, that is contrast and it might be worth
commenting on.

Another thing you may want to look at are shifts. Any major shift in focus or topic and
theme of the text should be commented on.

When I say focus, I mean what the author is focusing on in each paragraph. So, you
might notice how there is a shift from focus on the exterior to the interior of the
building. Or the author might shift focus from describing the environment to
describing a particular characters or his own mental state and thoughts. The
environment and thoughts might often be intertwined and reflect one another, so you
might comment on that too.

The author might also shift focus from a general discussion of an idea to a specific
example. Or from a generic phenomenon to an individual’s experience of that
phenomenon. These are all worth analyzing and commenting on.

You can also comment on the change of subject or the theme, which refers to more
subtle, underlying meaning of the text.

To indicate such shifts, authors sometimes use one-sentence paragraphs. Look for
them to give you a clue.

Finally, another element of structure is pace. Pace simply refers to how fast the text
progresses. Think of it in this way – an action film usually evolves much more quickly
than a slow romantic film. How do authors slow or speed up the pace of a text?

Faster paced texts usually have shorter paragraphs, and shorter sentences with
more action, dialogue and exciting events. On the other hand, slow-paced texts
feature longer sentences and paragraphs with more narration and description that
dialogue. Authors add details and may use flashbacks or foreshadowing to slow
down the main action.

I hope you now have a better understanding of what to look for when analyzing form,
structure and language.

One thing I have to point out though, is that all the information I gave here is by no
means some kind of a checklist you need to go through for every text. Instead, this is
just a framework to help you think about the different elements that usually appear in
texts. Every text is different and there is no one unique approach that fits every text.
But practicing analysis using these elements will hopefully help you out no matter
what kind of text you face in the exam.

https://youtu.be/bogSCBfmwNs

https://youtu.be/xWB-UvJBYPI

https://youtu.be/8_f_uZeJpE

https://youtu.be/8_f_uZeJpEk

Today, we’re looking at the annotation process for Paper 1, Question 2. As you
already know, in this question you will be given one text to read and you need to
wrote your commentary or analysis essay based on that text.

Annotation is a big word that essentially means making notes on the text identifying
any interesting word choice or language features the author used. As we already
mentioned before, examiners don’t grade your annotations but this is a really
important step in the process of analyzing a text that will help you do your best in
writing your commentary.

Before we head onto a sample text analysis, we need to understand some key
principles that will help you avoid common mistakes.

First of all, before you even start reading the text, you need to know what you’re
looking for, otherwise you will waste valuable time focusing on irrelevant things. I can
never stress enough how important it not to waste time in this exam, so make sure
you’re focusing on the right things in your reading process.

What are those things? What are you looking for in a text?

First of all, you’re trying to identify what I call, the big 3. Those are audience (who the
text is intended for), purpose (why the author wrote the text) and tone (what is the
writer’s attitude towards the topic he is writing about.

In addition to this, you need to correctly identify the genre. Remember why? We
spoke about this in one of our previous videos. Every genre has its own rules and
knowing those rules helps you focus on the important thing in the text. The good
news is that genre/text type is almost always clearly spelled out for you in the task
itself.

What genres can you expect to se in this question? Anything ranging from memoirs,
autobiographies, diaries, blogs, articles, reviews, speeches, letters and a wide
variety of descriptive and narrative texts. You can never know what you’re going to
get, so make sure to be familiar with the basic characteristics of all of these types of
texts.

Another major aspect of the text you need to focus on is the form and structure.

How does the author layout his text?

Is there some form of development or progression, from, for example, a melancholic

tone in the begin towards a more hopeful tone towards the end?

Or, is there perhaps a major turning point at some point in the text, where the author
changes the topic or the focus of the text?

Is there a contrast between two sections of the text?

You need to be able to identify these and comment on them.

Some aspects of structure and form are also conditioned by the gerne, so that’s
another thing to pay attention to.

The aspects of text that we spoke about so far are, so to speak, higher order
language features. By that I mean to say that they’re more related to the text as a
whole than individual words and phrases in the text. Students often focus on the
individual language devices and forget these big issues, which is a big mistake, so I
mentioned them first to make sure you always remember them.

Examiners expect you to constantly link individual words, phrases and language
devices the author used with the text as a whole, its structure, audience, purpose
and one. This is why it is really important to constantly keep this in focus as you go
through the text.

Of course, structure, tone and purpose are created through the use of individual
words and phrases, so when we move down from whole-text level to individual word
and phrase level, there are other features you need to be looking for.

These include:

Figurative language – all kinds of figures of speech, including simile, metaphor,

imagery, onomatopoeia, personification and so on, and word choice, which can
include different parts of speech and phrases with strong positive or negative
connotations.

Here it’s important to mention that you need to be able to and precisely identify all
kinds of grammatical features, like parts of speech, different types of sentence
structure, and different kinds of phrases. Individual words, even as small as
conjunctions, can have a major impact on the development of a text, so you need to
be able to precisely identify them, using the correct linguistic terminology.

Finally, if the text has the purpose to persuade, you need to be able to identify and
comment on a wide variety of different persuasive techniques.

Now, let’s move on.

Knowing what to focus on is important. However, merely identifying language

features and quoting the words from the text won’t get you far in terms of your grade.
On this level you’re expected to do a much more in-depth analysis of the exam.

To do this you need to use what is called the P-E-E approach. Yes, I chose this
abbreviation on purpose. Hopefully, the toilet humor will help you remember it better.

P-E-E stands for point-example effect.

P stands for point – what language device did the author use?

As we already mentioned, you need to precisely and correctly identify the language
devices used.

E is example.

For every important language device you identify, you need to mention a specific
quote from the text. Here, it is important to note that you should avoid using long
quotes. Please, don’t quote entire sentences. Precision is really important in this
exam, so, when choosing what to quote, always try to focus on one or two, maximum
four words at a time. I promise, this is always a better approach.

Finally, E stands for effect.

That means, and this is an absolutely crucial step in the process, you need to explain
why the author used those precise words.

What effects did he want his words to have on the reader?

How did he want to make the reader feel, or what did he want to make the reader
do?

Here, it is also extremely important to be very precise and explain in as much detail
as possible what exact emotions the author was trying to incite. Also, in this part it is
very important to focus on connecting the effects of thew individual words and
phrases with the purpose, tone, audience and structure of the entire text.

https://youtu.be/Sqch2NGM93w

Question 2, Paper 1: Text Analysis.

This video will show you the process of responding to this question and in our next
videos we’ll go in depth and analyze all of the steps of this process further.

As you already know, in this part of the exam you will be given one text to read and
asked to write an analysis of the language used in that text.

So, how do you go about it? What steps are included in the process of responding to
this question?

There are four steps.

The first step is to carefully read the task and the text.

As you read the text, which you should do at least two times, annotate the text. This
means you need to make notes for yourself on the exam paper, highlighting and
underlining any important words and phrases.

Next, you need to plan the analysis essay that you will write.

Finally, you need to write the essay itself.

Let’s take a look at each step.

Step one tells us to read the task and the text.

The task will always include the following sentence:

Analyze the text focusing on form, structure and language.

Here, it’s important to note that the command word is analyze. That means you
should not focus on WHAT the author wrote but HOW and WHY he wrote it the way
he did.

Imagine you are analyzing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. We all know the story.
A child can tell you the story. This play is not famous because of its content, because
of the plot. The plot is very straightforward. They fall in love, their families hate each
other, they all die in the end. This plot was familiar in Shakespeare’s time too; he
didn’t do anything new by telling that story.

So, if a 5-year-old can retell it, why do we still read and praise Shakespeare today?

Not because of what he wrote, but because of how he wrote it – because of his word
choice, his beautiful metaphors and similes, because of the originality and beauty of
his language.

Therefore, in your analysis, you must make sure not to comment on the content of
the passage. The examiners know very well what the passage is about. You need to
focus solely on the linguistic choices the author made and discuss why he made
those choices.

As you read the text, you need to annotate it.

To annotate means to make notes for yourself on the exam paper. These notes will
be very useful to you in the later stages of your analysis.

In the exam, you are allowed to use highlighters and different colored pens on the
text itself. This will make it much easier for you to do the annotation. However, you
are not allowed to highlight anything on the answer booklet.

Bear in mind that the examiners do not grade your annotations. The annotations are
there to help you make sense of the text. So, don’t worry if your notes are all
squiggly and weird. The only thing that matters is that they make sense to you. Don’t
waste time trying to make them all tidy and pretty. No one cares, really. All the
information you want to convey to the examiners needs to be in your analysis essay.
And that should be neat and pretty.

So, how do you write the analysis essay?

Well, first you need to plan it.

I know, I know, why on Earth would you do that? Doesn’t planning sound like a big
waste of time and you really don’t have much time in the exam? Why do I insist on
this?

Bear with me!

Imagine this scenario. You want to build a house. No, no, no, wrong metaphor.
You’re not trying to get a D, you’re trying to get an A. let’s go big, you’ll build a
mansion with 35 bedrooms, ten walk-in closets and and a secret basement.

In your head you have an approximate idea of what a house looks like, so you just
start building. How hard can it be?

What do you think the outcome will be?

Will your house end up looking like this?

Or like this?

It’s a pretty safe bet to say that, without a plan, you’re doomed to fail.

Planning isn’t a waste of time, it’s an investment.

If you don’t plan what you’re going to write, your essay, just like the metaphorical
mansion will come crashing down. We don’t want that now, do we?

So, again, why am I insisting so much on this?

Two reasons.

Number one, planning helps you organize your thoughts and make sense of the
annotations and notes you’ve made.

Number two, planning helps the examiner better understand your thoughts.
Examiners are not mind readers, you know. They don’t have access to the inner
workings of your brain, so they need a well-organized, carefully constructed essay to
help guide them along your train of thought.

Additionally, proper organization of your essay is one of the elements they’re

grading, so please, make sure to plan. Or else – do you hear that creaking noise?
It’s that house someone tried to build without having a plan first.

As I always say to my students, if you plan carefully, the essay practically writes
itself. Yes, let that sink in. If you plan carefully, the essay writes itself.

Well, metaphorically speaking. You will have to actually write it… But I promise, it will
be so much easier than it would be without a plan.

Now, onto the writing.

First of all, without even getting into the actual contents of your writing, you need to
write in paragraphs and those paragraphs need to be somehow logically connected.
In one of our next videos, I’ll show you one method of organizing your ideas, but of
course, there is a bunch of different ways you can go about it.
How ever you do it, make sure not to waste time writing about obvious things and
avoid including information that is clearly spelled out in the task. The examiners
already know that information, they wrote it. Instead, try to give new information with
every new sentence you write.

In terms of your style, don’t think that, just because you’re writing an English essay,
you need to be poetic and use flowery language filled with metaphors and similes.
You’re not Shakespeare. Save that for other parts of the exam. This question calls
for an analysis essay, so your style of writing should be objective, matter-of-fact,
straightforward. You should of course, still use formal language and proper complex
vocabulary and sentence structure, just make sure you stay on the right track.

https://youtu.be/xQGvHlMxzuM

Question 2 of Paper 1 is called Text analysis. Teachers will note that this part of the
new exam is very familiar. That is because part A of Paper 1 in the previous version
of the exam looked almost identical and called for a very similar type of an answer.

So, let’s look at an example of this question.

For this part of the exam, you will be given one text to read.

Before we delve more deeply into the text itself, let’s look closely at the task and see
what we can learn from there.

The task says:

Read the following text which is an excerpt of a speech made by African-American

abolitionist Frederick Douglass who fought for abolition of slavery in the USA.

Analyze the text, focusing on form, structure and language.

You will notice that a lot of important information is hidden in the task itself.

So in this video, we will be focusing on how you can use the information given in the
task itself to provide the answer the examiners are looking for.

From the task, we usually get the following information:

What type/genre of text we’ll be reading

What context the text was written in

what we need to focus on in our analysis

All this, as you will see, is vital information.

The task says that you should analyze form, structure and language.
We also get the information about the number of points this part of the exam carries
– in this case 25.

Now, why is all this important?

It is very important because the task itself includes vital clues that will help you
answer the question properly.

What are those clues?

The information about the genre or type of text is extremely important because it
helps you focus on the correct elements of language you need to analyze. Every
genre has its own conventions or rules – the language of a letter, for example, is
usually very different from the language of say, a speech. The form and the structure
of any written text are also directly influenced by the genre.

Examiners want to know that you know these rules and conventions.

Focusing on the genre from the very beginning, from the very moment you read the
task, helps you focus on the important information and helps you look for the most
significant language devices in the text. Obviously, in an exam like this, when time is
a major constraint, being able to select the most relevant information is of utmost
importance.

Context helps you establish important facts like purpose and audience of the text.
Examiners want students to show awareness of the audience and purpose of the
text throughout their text analysis, and you need to be able to demonstrate how the
author uses different language devices to cater to his particular audience and
achieve his purpose. Focusing on this important information before you even begin
reading the text helps you make vital connections in your analysis between the
particular language devices used and the overall purpose of the text.

The final part of the task tells you exactly what you need to write about in your
analysis.

Let’s delve deeper.

The task requires you to analyse form, language and structure.

In order to be able to do that, you need to demonstrate two separate, but closely
related skills: Understanding the text and analyzing it.

Understanding the text means you understand the content that the author wrote, you
understand what he/she wanted to say and express. This is a small portion of the
overall grade for this part of the exam.

On a deeper level, you need to demonstrate that you can effectively analyze the
language, form and structure of the text.
This means that not only do you understand what the author wrote, but HOW and
WHY he wrote it the way he did – why did he use this word, not that, why did he
choose that particular structure, why did he write in long sentences as opposed to
shorter ones?

Answering critical questions like these helps you establish the effect the author
aimed his text to have on his readers. In this sense, it is important to focus both on
particular language devices and the text as a whole. This helps you establish the
vital link between form, structure and language used in the text.

Finally, the last piece of information that is given in the task is the number of points.
Why is this relevant?

The number of points helps you with the time management in your exam. This
particular task gives you a total of 25 points, which is half of the total number of
points for Paper 1. That means you should spend roughly half of the time in this
exam session focusing on this question.

In conclusion, we can see that there is a lot of useful information hidden in the talk
itself.

The task helps us establish the genre of the text, which helps us focus and choose
the most important language devices used.

It also usually gives us information about the purpose and audience of the text, so
we can link particular language devices we identify in the text with the overall
purpose of the entire text and the audience it was intended for.

Finally, the task tells us to give equal attention to form, structure and language,
making sure to constantly relate the inividual parts of the text to the whole.

I hope this introductory video to Question 2, Paper 1 has been helpful. New videos,
focusing on how you are supposed to approach this question and how to avoid
common mistakes, along with a detailed analysis of one sample text, are coming
soon.

https://youtu.be/dmsuK4iY7mE