English Language Paper 2 Section A Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives Total marks: 40 Suggested timing: 45 mins, plus 15 mins reading
Section A - Overview Candidates will be asked to read two sources linked by a common theme (e.g. festivals, weather, public figures). One source will be a non-fiction literary text from the nineteenth century, the other will be either a twentieth or twenty-first century non-fiction literary text. Assessment throughout Section A looks as follows:
Q1 – question format Marks: 4 Suggested timing: 4 minutes Read again the first part of Source A, lines […] to […]. Choose four statements below which are TRUE. Shade the boxes of the ones that you think are true Choose a maximum of four statements A B C D E F G H Anton is standing in water, covered in mud. Anton is being carried away by the current. Glastonbury is a scene of near-total devastation. The moorings of the tents are floating down the hillsides. The writer is shivering and caught in a thunderstorm. Half-naked people are running after their tents. At first, the writer was not pleased to be at Glastonbury. The writer was not surprised to find it was wet and muddy. Marks: 4 Suggested timing: 4 minutes
Q1 – Mark scheme Total marks: 4 AO1 • Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas. • Select and synthesise evidence from different texts. This assesses the first bullet point: identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas. Award one mark for each correctly shaded box. If candidate has shaded more than four boxes, award marks for the first four boxes they have shaded.
Q2 – question format Marks: 8 Suggested timing: 8 minutes You need to refer to Source A and Source B in this question. [Statement about the connection between the two sources, e.g. ‘The things to do at Glastonbury Festival and Greenwich fair are different.’] Use details from both sources to write a summary of the differences. Marks: 8 Suggested timing: 8 minutes
Q2 – Mark scheme Total marks: 8 AO1 • Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas. • Select and synthesise evidence from different texts. This assesses both bullet points.
Q3 – question format Marks: 12 Suggested timing: 12 minutes You now need to refer only to [either Source A or Source B], from line […] to […]. How does the author use language to… [e.g. make you, the reader, feel involved make you, the reader, dislike the character describe the location on that day describe the emotions of the main character] Marks: 12 Suggested timing: 12 minutes
Q3 – Mark scheme Total marks: 12 AO2 Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subjects terminology to support their views. This question assesses Language
Q4 – question format Marks: 16 Suggested timing: 16 minutes For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A together with the whole of Source B. Compare how the writers have conveyed their different views and experiences. In your answer, you could: compare their different views and experiences compare the methods they use to convey these views and experiences support your ideas with quotations from the text Marks: 16 Suggested timing: 16 minutes
Q4 – Mark scheme Total marks: 16 AO3 Compare writers’ ideas and perspectives and how they are conveyed, across two or more texts.