1. Paper 2 Section A: Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives Reading
GCSE English Language
Paper 2
Section A: Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives
Reading

2. Overview
You will be given 2 non-fiction or literary non-fiction sources:
One is from the 19th century
One is from the 20th or 21st century
Often these are extracts and could include:
Reports
Articles
Diaries
Letters
Travel writing

3. Timing You are given ONE hour for this part of the paper:
10 minutes for active reading
50 minutes to write your answers to the questions
Each question is worth a different amount of marks, so you should spend your time accordingly

4. Question Types
Q1: Close reading of explicit and implicit meanings to infer and deduce from Source A
Q2: Summarising and synthesising a particular aspect of BOTH sources
Q3: Analysing the writer’s use of language and structure from Source B
Q4: Comparing writers’ attitudes and the methods they use to convey these (BOTH sources)

5. Question Structures
These will always be the same so learn what to expect and know the requirements for each one. Source A is the more modern text from the 20th or 21st century Source B is the older text from the 19th or early 20th century

6. Key Features of Mark Schemes for all Questions
Level 4 = perceptive and detailed
Level 3 = Clear and relevant
Level 2 = some attempts
Level 1 = simple and limited

7. Question 1
Close reading of explicit and implicit meanings to infer and deduce
Source A
4 marks
5 minutes
AO1:
Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas

8. Question 2
Q2: Summarising and synthesising a particular aspect of BOTH sources
8 marks
10 minutes
AO1:
Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas
Select and synthesise evidence from different texts

9. Key terms Q2 Synthesise = blend together information from two sources
Summarise = give the main points of something
A significantly shorter text than the original
Includes key topics/ideas
Written in your own words
Does not include your own opinion
Cuts out adjectives, adverbs, repetition, facts, personal opinion, quotations, descriptions

10. What do I need to do: Don’t overcomplicate – it’s about CONTENT
Write one two paragraphs
Need to refer to two sources and write about the focus as outlined in the question/task
Must include inference. What is the writer implying about these similarities or differences?
Do not write about techniques or effects
Write a summary - reduce text to one or two paragraphs finding the similarities or differences and connections
Use short quotations to support inferences

11. Guidance FROM Exam Board

12. The skills being assessed are:
picking out the point of connection between the two texts
search out textual details relevant to the focus
what do you infer/realise/appreciate from what you have been asked to focus on?
bring the two sets of details and implied meanings in to your own writing

13. Skills to develop: Skim and scan reading skills
Skim – read t o get the gist of the sources
Scan – read to pick out particular info
Active reading - highlight/underline key details

14. Question 2 Model Answer on Scott’s Diary and Race to the Pole (Year 10 work)
Both extracts are about explorers of the North Pole who face difficulties when they awake one morning. Scott says none of them had “slept much” and Text B suggests there was a sudden, unexpected change of season from summer to winter overnight. This might suggest that both sets of writers are expecting the days ahead to be hard work. Another similarity is the inclement weather which Text A describes as “overcast” with more snow having fallen so that the tracks were “drifted up” and a wind that was “blowing hard”. Text B also depicts the “cloud cover” and wind “blowing hard”. You could infer from this, along with the sub-zero temperatures described in each text, that both sets of explorers will suffer and face difficulties on their expeditions that day due to the harsh weather conditions.

15. Question 3 Q3: Analysing the writer’s use of language and structure
Source B
12 marks
12 minutes
AO2:
Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views.

16. Language Features
Word classes: nouns; adverbs; adjectives; pronouns; verbs; conjunctions
Phrases: groups of words
Clauses: a group of words containing a verb
Sentence types: statements; commands; questions; exclamations
Sentence structures: simple; compound; complex; minor
Punctuation for impact: - -() ! ? : ; …
Structure: the order in which ideas have been presented; repetition; openings; endings
Literary devices: metaphor; alliteration; simile; onomatopoeia; personification

17. Examples of Language Features from Mark Schemes
Proper nouns
Juxtaposition: an act or instance of placing two things (ideas/characters/etc) close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast
Phrases which are linked in meaning
Emotive language
Tone: formal/informal; serious/humorous
Repetition
Hyperbole: exaggeration for effect
Simile
Semantic field: a collection of words which are connected by meaning
Cliché: a commonly used, familiar phrase
Descriptive verbs
Lists
Active verbs
Puns: a play on the meaning of words
Metaphor
Modal verbs: can/could/should/ would/might/etc
Antithesis: direct opposites placed closely together to create a strong contrast, usually two words within a sentence
Students could add examples

18. To include in answers (mark scheme – level 4):
Analysis of the effects of the writer’s choice of language
A judicious selection of quotations
An appropriate range of subject terminology

19. What do I need to do?
Summarise in a sentence what the overall effect of the language is
Write SQID paragraphs
Statement: include subject specific terminology
Quotation: to illustrate the above. Zoom in on a specific word or phrase to analyse…
I is for: INTERPRET; INFERENCE; (writer’s) INTENTION; IMPACT (on reader)
Develop: make sure you have answered the DETAILS of the question

20. Question 4
Comparing writers’ attitudes and the methods they use to convey these
BOTH sources
16 marks
16-22 minutes
AO3:
Compare writers’ ideas and perspectives, as well as how these are conveyed, across both texts

21. To Include in Answers- Mark Scheme Level 4
A detailed and perceptive understanding of the similarities and differences between the ideas and perspectives
Comparison of ideas and perspectives in a perceptive way
Analysis of how methods are used to convey ideas and perspectives
A judicious selection of quotations from both texts

22. Ideas (viewpoint) and Perspective
Idea/Viewpoint: the way a writer feels or thinks about a topic. It can be explicit (stated) or implicit (inferred) Perspective: Refers to the way that writers might view a topic differently depending on when they are writing.

23. Active reading
Highlight and annotate your texts, identifying writers’ view points (opinions/attitudes/feelings) towards the topic outlined in the question
For each text, can you identify a key paragraph which makes the overall view point clear? Label it.
For each text, identify any changes in attitude/view point.
Identify the methods used by the writers.
Are there any connections (differences/similarities between the texts)?

24. Using Your Skills to write a response:
Identify the overall viewpoints of both writers
Explain how the perspectives might be different due to the time in which they were written, the purpose for which they were written and the audience.
Identify the main ideas and view points in both texts and explain the similarities and differences in each.
Identify the methods the writers use to convey their ideas.
Analyse the methods used by both writers, commenting on similarities and differences and the effects they have on the reader
Use quotations from both texts

25. Writers’ Methods Language Structure Tone Description Tense
Use of dialogue
Interviews
Statistics
Expert opinions
Humour
Strapline
Presenting opinion as fact
Facts
Idiom
Inclusive pronoun
Colloquial language

26. Q4 Model Opening Paragraph (from sources in AQA Oxford Book 2)
Both texts are about childhood. Tim Lott’s point of view is clear from the outset that children need to be exposed to risk, even if dangerous, in order to develop confidence. Henry Mayhew’s viewpoint is that poor children in Victorian England face a harsh and cruel existence. Tim Lott’s purpose, from a twenty first century perspective in which children’s lives are relatively safer due to a change in laws and social attitudes, is perhaps to challenge the values of some of the middle class readers of The Guardian. Similarly, Henry Mayhew’s book was possibly written to expose the harsh realities of childhood to an educated readership who might be persuaded to consider that social change is needed.

27. Further paragraphs
State an idea (similar or different) and State a method
Quotation to support
Inference – interpret how meaning has been created by the method
Develop a perceptive and detailed response by unpicking the quotation (language, etc)

28. Ideas from sources in AQA Oxford Book P137 - 139
Both
Describe childhood
Describe dangers/ risks of childhood
Traumatic experiences
Leisure time
Relationships between children and parents