1. How has the writer structured the text to interest readers?
HOME LEARNING
The Castle of Otranto
How has the writer structured the text to interest readers?
Could include:
Beginning & ending of a text
Perspective shifts
Topic change & topic shift
Paragraph lengths (including single sentence paragraphs)
Sentence lengths
Repetition
Lists
Answer using two PEESA paragraphs

2. Question 3: Structural Analysis
Level
Skills Descriptor 4
Perceptive, detailed
7-8 marks
Analyses the effects of the writer’s choices of structure
Selects a judicious range of quotations
Uses sophisticated subject terminology accurately 3
Clear, relevant
5-6 marks
Clearly explains the effects of the writer’s choices of structure
Selects a range of relevant quotations
Uses subject terminology accurately

3. QUESTION 4

4. Question 4 – CRITICAL RESPONSE
Worth 20 marks – spend 25 minutes answering it in 2 PEEC paragraphs
AO4:
Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references
Question 4 will normally provide a quote such as:
A student, having read this section of the text said: “The writer brings the very different characters to life for the reader. It is as if you are there with them.”
It will then ask to what extent you agree, providing you with ideas you could consider including such as:
write about your own impressions of the characters
Evaluate how the writer has created these impressions
Support your opinions with quotations from the text

5. What exactly is the question asking you to do?
Focus this part of your answer on the first two pages of Lamb to the Slaughter.
Roald Dahl once said: ‘Every writer in the world has to use characters that have something interesting about them.’
To what extent do you agree that the characters in this extract have something interesting about them?
In your response, you could:
Write about your own impressions of the characters
Evaluate how the writer has created these impressions
Support your opinions with quotations from the text. [20 marks]
What exactly is the question asking you to do?
Highlight and annotate the key words in the question.

6. Skim read the story. Who are the different characters?
Every writer in the world has to use characters that have something interesting about them.
Interesting: arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention.
Skim read the story. Who are the different characters?
Would you describe them as ‘interesting’? In what ways? Why?
Underline the words/phrases that support your point of view. Try to find at least six.
If you agree and think that the characters are interesting, then underline the words/phrases that make you curious to learn more about the characters.
If you disagree and think that the characters are not interesting, underline the words/phrases you find boring and do not hold your interest.

7. What impression does it give you of the characters?
"This is going to be a big shock to you, I'm afraid," he said. "But I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided that the only thing to do is to tell you immediately." And he told her. It didn't take long, four or five minutes at most, and she sat still through it all, watching him with puzzled horror.”
Plan what to write about each quotation. Link each quotation back to the question.
Why does, or why doesn’t, the quotation make the characters interesting?
What impression does it give you of the characters?
How has the writer created these impressions?
Dahl makes the character of Mary’s husband interesting as he withholds telling us exactly why he chosen to leave his wife. Instead, he creates suspense when the husband says ‘this is going to be a big shock to you’ and Mary’s reacts with ‘puzzled horror.’ The use of powerful vocabulary here grabs the attention of the reader and encourages them to read on to find out Mary’s reaction. The use of the phrase ‘puzzled horror’ is quite ambiguous as it suggests that Mary is both confused and scared by what she has been told, therefore reaffirming her husband’s warning that it would be a ‘shock.’ Whilst the husband does not come across as a nice character as he is leaving his wife, he is interesting as it leaves the reader with answered questions regarding their marriage and the actual events which have led to this.

8. Answer in two PEECA paragraphs
Focus this part of your answer on the first two pages of Lamb to the Slaughter.
Roald Dahl once said: ‘Every writer in the world has to use characters that have something interesting about them.’
To what extent do you agree that the characters in this extract have something interesting about them?
In your response, you could:
Write about your own impressions of the characters
Evaluate how the writer has created these impressions
Support your opinions with quotations from the text. [20 marks]
Answer in two PEECA paragraphs

9. Question 4: Critical Evaluation
Level
Skills Descriptor 4
Perceptive, detailed
16-20 marks
Evaluates critically and in detail the effect(s) on the reader
Shows perceptive understanding of writer’s methods
Selects a judicious range of textual detail
Develops a convincing and critical response to the focus of the statement 3
Clear, relevant
11-15 marks
Evaluates clearly the effect(s) on the reader
Shows clear understanding of writer’s methods
Selects a range of relevant textual references
Makes a clear and relevant response to the focus of the statement

10. Then answer the following:
HOME LEARNING
The Bloody Chamber
Spend 10 minutes annotating the source focusing on language and structure.
Then answer the following:
Look again at lines List four things the speaker feels about getting married.