1. Year 8 Reading and Writing
Paper 1

2. Describe a sweet shop Consider: Smells Colours
Textures (the wooden counter, the paper bag of sweets)
Taste
Sounds
Your feelings/reactions
-What do you notice about this shop?
-How could you use punctuation and sentences to indicate your feelings?

3. Read again the first part of the Source from lines 1 to 4.
Section A: Reading Answer all questions in this section. You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
Read again the first part of the Source from lines 1 to 4.
List four things about the sweet shop from this part of the Source. 1- 2- 3 4
What are you being asked to do in this question?

4. Section A
The sweet-shop in Llandaff in the year 1923 was the very centre of our lives. To us, it was what a bar is to a drunk, or a church is to a Bishop. Without it, there would have been little to live for. But it had one terrible drawback, this sweet-shop. The woman who owned it was a horror. We hated her and we had good reason for doing so.
Her name was Mrs. Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and a mouth as sour as a green gooseberry. She never smiled. She never welcomed us when we went in, and the only times she spoke were when she said things like, ‘I’m watchin’ you so keep yer thievin’ fingers off them chocolates!’ Or ‘I don’t want you in ‘ere just to look around! Either you forks out or you gets out’.1
But by far the most loathsome thing about Mrs. Pratchett was the filth that clung around her. Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk. It was her hands, however, that disturbed us most. They were disgusting. They were black with dirt and grime. They looked as though they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day long. And do not forget please that it was these very hands and fingers that she plunged into the sweet-jars when we asked for a pennyworth2 of Treacle Toffee or Wine Gums or Nut Clusters or whatever. The mere sight of her grimy right hand with its black fingernails digging an ounce of Chocolate Fudge out of a jar would have caused a starving tramp to go running from the shop. But not us. Sweets were our life-blood. We would have put up with far worse than that to get them. So we simply stood and watched in sullen silence while this disgusting old woman stirred around inside the jars with her foul fingers.
You can understand why we had it in for Mrs. Pratchett in a big way, but we didn’t quite know what to do about it. Many schemes were put forward but none of them was any good. None of them, that is, until suddenly, one memorable afternoon, we found the dead mouse.

5. My four friends and I had come across a loose floor-board at the back of the classroom, and when we prised it up with the blade of a pocket-knife, we discovered a big hollow space underneath. This, we decided, would be our secret hiding-place for sweets and other small treasures such as conkers and monkey-nuts and birds’ eggs.
One day, when we lifted it up, we found a dead mouse. It was an exciting discovery. Thwaites took it out by its tail and waved it in front of our faces. ‘What shall we do with it?’ he cried.
‘It stinks!’ someone shouted. ‘Throw it out of the window quick!’
‘Hold on a tick,’ I said. ‘Don’t throw it away.’
Thwaites hesitated. They all looked at me.
When writing about oneself, one must strive to be truthful. Truth is more important than modesty. I must tell you, therefore, that it was I and I alone who had the idea for the great and daring Mouse Plot. We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine.
In this extract, the writer Roald Dahl describes a funny childhood incident, entitled ‘The Great Mouse Plot’.
‘Why don’t we,’ I said, ‘slip it into one of Mrs. Pratchett’s jars of sweets? Then when she puts her dirty hands in to grab a handful, she’ll grab a stinky dead mouse instead.’
The other four stared at me in wonder. Then, as the sheer genius of the plot began to sink in, they all started grinning. They slapped me on the back. They cheered me and danced around the classroom. ‘We’ll do it today!’ they cried. ‘We’ll do it on the way home! You had the idea,’ they said to me, ‘so you can be the one to put the mouse in the jar.’

6. Q2- What are the key words in this question?
Look in detail at this extract from lines 5 to 14 of the Source:
Her name was Mrs. Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and a mouth as sour as a green gooseberry. She never smiled. She never welcomed us when we went in, and the only times she spoke were when she said things like, ‘I’m watchin’ you so keep yer thievin’ fingers off them chocolates!’ Or ‘I don’t want you in ‘ere just to look around! Either you forks out or you gets out’.
But by far the most loathsome thing about Mrs. Pratchett was the filth that clung around her. Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk. It was her hands, however, that disturbed us most. They were disgusting. They were black with dirt and grime. They looked as though they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day long.
How does the writer use language here to describe Mrs. Pratchett?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
 words and phrases
 language features and techniques
 sentence forms.
(8 marks)
How many marks is this question worth? How much information do you need?

7. Q3
You now need to think about the whole of the Source. This text is a description of an amusing childhood incident. How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader? You could write about:  what the writer focuses your attention on at the beginning  how and why the writer changes this focus as the Source develops  any other structural features that interest you. [8 marks] What is the structure of a text?

8. Structure
Look at the beginning, middle and end. How does the text start and end? Why? How does it develop? Does it become more tense or exciting? Does it end on a cliff hanger? Does the writer leave an information out deliberately? Remember to explain why this is interesting for the reader. Be specific- avoid ‘It makes the reader want to read on’.

9. Q4 – the 20 mark question
In Q4, you will be asked to look at a specific part of the extract again. There will be a statement that you will need to write about- e.g. Roald Dahl once said: ‘This part of the Source in which the boys find a dead mouse brings to life characters that have something interesting about them.’ To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could:  consider your own impressions of the characters  evaluate how the writer shows something interesting about them  support your response with references from the text

10. How to tackle Q4
Read the section carefully. Look at the statement- what are you being asked to look for? Roald Dahl once said: ‘This part of the Source in which the boys find a dead mouse brings to life characters that have something interesting about them.’ To what extent do you agree? So, how does finding the dead mouse affect the boys? How does it change them? What does the reader find out about them?

11. Look again at the extract- what is revealed about the boys?
One day, when we lifted it up, we found a dead mouse. It was an exciting discovery. Thwaites took it out by its tail and waved it in front of our faces. ‘What shall we do with it?’ he cried. ‘It stinks!’ someone shouted. ‘Throw it out of the window quick!’ ‘Hold on a tick,’ I said. ‘Don’t throw it away.’ Thwaites hesitated. They all looked at me. When writing about oneself, one must strive to be truthful. Truth is more important than modesty. I must tell you, therefore, that it was I and I alone who had the idea for the great and daring Mouse Plot. We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine. ‘Why don’t we,’ I said, ‘slip it into one of Mrs. Pratchett’s jars of sweets? Then when she puts her dirty hands in to grab a handful, she’ll grab a stinky dead mouse instead.’ The other four stared at me in wonder. Then, as the sheer genius of the plot began to sink in, they all started grinning. They slapped me on the back. They cheered me and danced around the classroom. ‘We’ll do it today!’ they cried. ‘We’ll do it on the way home! You had the idea,’ they said to me, ‘so you can be the one to put the mouse in the jar.’

12. Remember….
You need to agree/disagree with the statement. This question is asking you to evaluate- what do you think? How effective is it? You must use quotes as evidence. You need to look for devices and write about the impact upon the reader. It’s worth 20 marks, so look to use at least 4 quotes/QuADS paragraphs as evidence. Your answer needs to be detailed.

13. Look again at the bullet points- use these to structure your answer.
 consider your own impressions of the characters
How does the writer present them? Use quotes as evidence.
 evaluate how the writer shows something interesting about them
Use quotes and discuss the impact of devices.
 support your response with references from the text
Use quotes!

14. Q5- Writing section- 1 hour
You will be given a choice of two questions- choose only one! You may be given a picture to describe. Look carefully at the image- where could it be? What could have happened there? How could you describe what you could see/hear/taste/smell/feel? You will be marked on AO5- content and organisation/structure (you must use paragraphs). AO6- Vocabulary, spelling, use of punctuation.

15. How to succeed at Q5
-Spend about 10 minutes planning your answer before you begin. -Create a spider diagram or bubble map of ideas. -Remember to organise your work into paragraphs- this is very important! -Use different sentence lengths. -Use a range of punctuation (not just full stops and commas). -Use a wide vocabulary. -Use devices! Simile, metaphor, alliteration, powerful verbs, interesting adjectives…. make your work exciting to read.