English Language Paper 1

CONTEXT: 

• warns that we risk serious culture misunderstanding if only consider "single story" for each country
• forget that everyone's identities are composed of many overlapping stories

genre: people generally challenging staereotypes 

language: designed to be accessible 

purpose: educate people about descrimination

THEMES : 

• dangers of stereotyping
• cultural identity
• narrow-mindness
• ill-informed judgment
• the power of stories

'I wrote exactly the kind of stories I was reading: all my characters were white ...' - paragraph 2

• shows her early reading of Western stories influenced her own writing 
• powerful sentence to conclude paragraph

lines 6-10 and lines 11-14

• juxtaposition between characters in Western books and people at home

'I could not personally indentify' - line 17

'characters were foreign' - line 15

• found difficulty realting to the characters in the books that she was 

'I discovered African books' - line 18

'I started to write about things I recognized' - line 24

• her introduction to African literature influenced and changed her writing

'It saved me from having a single story of what books are' - line 27

• the discovery of African literature extended her imagination
• the phrase is after a colon which emphasizes the final clause

ANECDOTE - 'new house boy ... name was Fide'  - line 31

• personal which engages the reader

'So I felt enormous pity for Fide's family'- line 35

'Their poverty was my single story of them' - line 40-41

• presents herself as an equal to reader - not morally superior

ksnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

'no possibility ... no possibility ... no possibility.. ' - line 53-54

• use of tricolon to list the differences in cultures

'If I had not grown up in Nigeria ... if all I knew about Africa were from popular images' - line 55

• despite her critism towards her roommate's cutural misunderstanding she understands the ignorance

repetition of 'beautiful' to describe Africa enhances the point about a 'singe story' as the same word is used for the description of Africa

'fighting ... dying ... waiting' - line 58

• shows the feeling of the constant feel of danger, chaos and catastrophe 

'white foreigner' - line 58 

'I too am guilty in the question of the single story' - line 61

'I was overwhelmed with shame' - line 69

• it shows that she is guilty again of a 'single story'
• she is aware of her mistake and regrets it

'I had bought into the single story of Mexicans and I could not have been more ashamed of myself '

• she interposes a 'single story'

conclusion - 'stories matter' - lime 75

repetition of 'stories' in third to last paragraph emphasises that everyone's identities are composed of overlapping stories

contrast between the different uses of 'stories' - negative  'disposses' and 'malign', and positive 'empower' and 'humanize'

'repair that broken dignity' - line 77 contrast between 'repair' and 'broken'

'I would like to end with this thought: ...' - line 82

• makes a reference to a black writer and adapts that quote in the last paragraph to conclude her speech
• overall - refrain from judging. discrimination

CONTEXT:

• powerful and emotional article
• gives a brutal and honest account of famine in Somalia in 1990s
• mentions the suffering of the people that he encountered there

THEMES

• poverty, starvation and suffering
• the contrast between the lives of the starving Somalians and the readers at home
• hopelessness, guilt, loss of dignity
• desensitisation to suffering

LANGUAGE

• powerful adjectives, imagery of journalists as predators
• sensory imagery, rhetorical questions
• repetition
• all combine to create pathos, pity and shock in the reader

'hungry, lean, scared and betrayed faces' - line 1

• short, basic words
• massive impact
• triplet

'but there is one I will never forget' - line 2

• cliff hanger which creates tension as reader wants to read more 
• one-sentence introductory paragraph and then writer zooms in on the tales of the individuals

personal opinion - connects with the reader and contrasts with the statistics 

'liitle hamlet' - line 3 

• remoteness/beyond

'... like a ghost village' -line 7

• death/absence of life/isolated
• crescending feel of suffering

'In a ghoulish manner ... on the hunt for the most striking pictures' - line 8

'The search for the shocking is like a craving for a drug' - line 11

• predator/prey on the hunt for images and story
• enjoys the thril and interested in finding out about death and suffering
• pleasure/ addition

lines 12 - 15

'Pictures that stun the editors one day are written off as the same old stuff the next' - line 12

• negative / criticism in own profession
• juxtapostion - collecting horrifc images of people suffering and people at home

'the images' vs 'people in comfort of their siting rooms back at home'

Several paragraphs begin with 'There was...; and the there is a one-sentence fragment paragraph "And then there was the face I will never forget' 

the 1st individual - 'Amina Abdirahman'

'terminal hunger' - line 18

'Habiba had died' - line 20

• description shows how the normality of the suffering in the community
• swift death 
• brutal and honest account

'No rage, no whimphering ... simple, frictionless, motionless' line 20-21

• mother is helpless in the situation
• tragic/ hard-hitting

'half-life to death itself' - line 21 

• never had a proper life - constant suffering/ weak

''quiet suffering and lonely death' - line 23

2nd individual - 'the old woman'

'abandoned by relations who were weak to carry her on their journey to find food' - line 25

'smell of decaying flesh' / 'shattered leg' / 'It was rotting: she was rotting.' 

'yellow eyes'

• dehumunisation / bluntness facts
• detail allows reader to imagine it
• emotions can relate

lines 34- 40

brutal and honest on 'pity and revulsion'  as he craves for the story to come out linking to paragraph 2

''We never say so in our TV reports'

repetition of 'To be ..' presents the situation as the general truth which engages reader

'An old woman will cover her shrivelled body' - line 42

• loss of dignity
• wants to look human

repetition of 'smile' and the rhetorical questions suggets that he can't define it

'how could it be?'

'What was it about the the smile?'

• beyond human understanding
• unforgettable
• mysterious / no explanation

'It's just that he was embarrased to be found in this condition'  - creates an epiphany - a moment of sudden insight and understanding 

'feeble smile' - line 55 

the effect of the 'smile'

• gives the person suffering power to act or make a change the horrible situation
• the man is ashamed/embarrassed

the 3rd to last paragraph Alagiah re-evaluates his knowledge of journalists 

'The journalist observers, the subject is observed'

'The journalist is active, the subject is passive'

• contrasts between rich and poor
• journalist is powerful and subject is weak
• questions morality

last paragraph - better understanding of the situation 

• should've helped howver creates poignancy by not knowing his name
• wants to give man dignity - equal intimacy

'So, my nameless friend ... I owe you one' - line 74

'

CONTEXT:

• the experience of watching a hunt for the narwhal
• she is torn between the respect for the narwhal and an understanding of the people's need for food, and admiration and awe for the narwals

text - non-fiction/ memoir

intention - decribe beauty of world/ inform us about their lives - absolute necessity/ explains her own thoughts

target audience - people enjoy foreign travel / conservationalitst / curious about cultures / impact of modern world upon certain tribes

THEMES:

• ethinics of hunting
• relationship between the hunt and the hunted
• hardships of life in Artic
• respect for the natural world

Herbet uses a balance of language to engage, excite and inform.

1st paragraph - there is rich language and poetic imagery to convey the beauty and majestic narwals

lexical field of wealth and royalty - mythical and rainbow

• 'plumes of spray' / 'catching the light in a spectacle play' 
• 'slowly. methodically'
• 'glittering kingdom' / 'butter-gold' / 'catching the soft biillows of smoke'
• 'mischievous tricks of shifting light'

tension slowly builds as hunters are mentioned - link between hunters and hunted 

• 'hunters were dotted'
• 'hunters were close enough to touch the narwhal with their bare hands'

The viewpoint changes from the observers to that of the narwhals themselves

the general layout - beauty - information - tension - conflict - resolution

informative language and the knowledge of the history of the narwals used to provide reader with information so that they can understand them and the need for the Inuits to hunt for their survival 

• 'essential contributor to the survival of the hunters' - line 17
• 'rich in necessary minerals and vitamins' / 'staple diet'
• 'For centuries ... ' 
• 'intelligent 

the tension builds from paragragh 4 - 6

• 'binoculars pointing in every direction'
• 'watched their progess intently'
• 'Every hunter was on the water'

'split second my heart leapt for both hunter and narwhal' - line 46

• conflict between admiration for the narwals and the necessity for the hunters to survial in the harsh conditions

tension increases to build 

• 'hunter had no rifle, only one harpoon with two heads'
• 'same time my heart ... urges the narwhal to dive, to leave, to survive'

last paragraph  - resolution - reflecting back in her mind/ dilemma between her heart and head

• 'the harshness of life in the Arctic and the needs of the hunters'
• 'They use every part of the animals they kill'

The final sentence with its use of a very strong qualifier 'absolute necessity' gives the writer's final thoughts

'Hunting is still an absolute necessity in Thule' - reassures herself, reflective tone, presents both sides of the arguement

CONTEXT:

• reporter gives an account of situation
• newspaper article - very short paragraphs
• it is clear in the derisive and indignant tone adopted that he feels that not only were they foolhardy but careless of the risk and costs involved in saving them

THEMES

• social responsibilty
• nature of courage
• consequences of reckless behaviour 

title - 'boys' for the two men and dimissal of their expedition as 'messing about' sets tone

'the pair' - dimissive term used for foolish boys - nuisance 

other words that show dissaproval 'farce' - highlighst that the 'last expedition' ended in ridiculous circumstances

doubt about men's 'claimed' qualifications

words 'threatened' and 'tradegy' show the serious implications of what was attempted

'new adventure' / 'men's adventure'- shows they sdidn't take it seriously

'plucked' - suggests their insignifance 

'icy water' - serious threat

'Experts questioned the wisdom ... ' convey that the men aren't experts, wrong choice, not thought

'confusion' - not clear plan

'trusty helicopter' - old piece of equipement - foolish, naive

'... also known as Q' - shows childish behaviour - overgrown children pretending to be on an adventure'

'called his wife' - amateur nature of the endeavour

'ditched helicopter'

the Royal Navy had to save them, there's suggestion that were interupted from something important 'surveying uncharted waters'

the Navy's efforts were determined and effective 'steaming towards the scene'

'picked up' - reference to children

'nothing short of a miracle' - put themselves at riak - Mr Brooks' wife

lack of responsibility for their actions 'not the first time they have hit the headlines'

might have started a war with careless attitudes 'call a halt ... Russian authorities'

'pushing it to maximum' - unplanned, chaos

'bottoms kicked' - infantilise him as a naughty child 

things to consider:

structure

• headline
• contrast
• repetition
• the way the passage ends
• choice of interview

CONTEXT:

• account he describes the build up to the accident and the horrifying moments following it

THEMES:

• survival
• danger, pain
• fear
• determination

TONE: detached [time slows down], desperation, hard-hitting [tension

The language changes with the accident to become more emotive with references to fear, hope, disbelief and anxiety, and violent verbs such as 'smashes' and 'crushes'

the first 4 paragraphs explain, in a matter-of-fact manner, the techniques in manoeuvring through narrow passages with reference to the author’s current location

‘short tunnel’
‘claustrophobic’
‘slot narrows’

• he assesses each section of the descent in advance and it is dangerous

‘Sometimes in narrow passengers like this one’
‘This technique is known as stemming or chimneying’
‘I kick at the boulder to test how stuck it is’

• shows that he is an experienced climber

there is a sense of danger and tension as a chalkstone ‘teeters’ under his weight

paragraph 5 - the drama builds rapidly
‘I feel the stone respond to my adjusting grip’
‘scraping quake’ - personification - emphasises the violence of the fall and idea of scale of hostile situation
‘I know this is trouble’ - assesses the danger and apprehensive
‘Fear shoots my hands over my head’ - active verb which has malevolent intent
‘My only hope is to push off the falling rock ...’ - tension is building

the final three paragraphs describe the horror of the accident - each of these paragraphs ends with a very short emphatic statement

there is a repeated use of ellipsis, short sentences and listings
tension is caused as clauses get shortened

paragraph 6 - shocked / confused / detachment of language

‘Time dilates, as if I’m dreaming, and my reactions decelerate’ - reference to time

onomatopoeia such as ‘smashes’ and ‘crushes’ create tension and unease for reader as well as the unknown circumstance - suggests that boulder is actively trying to hurt him

‘tearing off the skin’ - shows the violence of the accident

paragraphs 6, 7, 8 show that:
*he will have to do something extreme to escape
*on his own/ isolates
*powerless

Examples of emphatic statements:
‘Then silence’ - increases tension and emphasise his feeling is isolation
‘But I’m stuck’ - powerless, desperation, unable to move, panic
‘Nothing’ - expresses his hopelessness

Use of ‘- ing’ conveys his ongoing struggle
*’heaving’, ‘pushing’ , ‘lifting’ and ‘grunting’
Use of verbs to demonstrate his desperation to escape - ‘thrust’

CONTEXT:

• gives an account of how he got into trouble at school, particularly due to his dyslexia
• later learned how to read and write and became a successful author

genre - an article
intention - informative and offers advice to others who may be dyslexic / to encourage young dyslexic students and make them believe that they can succeed

THEMES:
*overcoming obstacles in life
*respect
*education system
*building confidence

TONE - calm, defiant, confident, reassuring

starts with a negative statements but then turns it into positive, which sums up the piece as a whole

begins with a strong verb ‘suffered’ suggests physical abuse which engages sympathy from the reader
ends 1st paragraph - ‘We are the arichtects, we are the designers’

he then describes his struggles at school due his dyslexia
‘no compassion, no understanding and no humanity’ - lines 4 -5
*tricolon to emphasise how the teachers in the past viewed dyslexia
‘weren’t allowed to’ / ‘just wasn’t done’ - negative language to describe system
‘The idea of being ... :the past is a different kind of country’ - line 7
*the metaphor used to iterate the way of thinking was foreign
‘At school my ideas always contradicted the teachers’ - use of contrast between himself and the teachers.

lines 14-23
ANECDOTE - used to reveal how ignorant the teachers were

‘Shut up, stupid boy’ - lines 14
*aggressive insults reinforce the negative view of the education system that didn’t support him
‘How dare you challenge me?’ - line 18
*unfair treatment from teachers in the past education system
‘We can’t all be intelligent’ - line 21
*use of contrast between himself and the teachers

‘I could read basically ... I would give up’ - lines 25-26

• a phrase that makes us feel sympathy
  reinforces how much of a challenge reading and writing was to him

‘I remember him telling us the Nazis weren’t that bad’ - line 31
*evokes our anger against the teacher
examples of the language of crime to reflect how bad the writer’s situation had become - ‘fighting’, ‘stab’, ‘revenge’ , ‘stole’, ‘stole’

paragragh 9

use of contrast between two different parts of society who have a high percentage of bing dyslexic to increase our understanding of scale - ‘prison population’ and ‘architect population’

‘If you look at the statistics, I should be in prison: ...’ - line 37
*listing after the colon that remind us that he has overcome stereotypes
*use of the direct pronoun ‘you’ to engage the reader in his individual situation

• modal verb ‘should’ to emphasise what society assumes his route in life will be

‘I just had self-belief’ - line 46
*shows inner conviction through simple declarative sentence

generally formal but some use of colloquialism such as ‘kids’, ‘don’t be heavy on yourself’ and ‘really took off’

repetition of ‘I have’ - temporal markers that indicate his ongoing struggles

lines 73-88
there is a switch in the tone - advisory which creates an uplifting mood
‘dyslexic is a natural way to be’ - line 74
‘creativity muscle’ - line 83
*implies that it is important to keep it working in order for it to expand

last paragraph
collective pronouns , ‘us, ‘we’, creates a sense of camaraderie
parallel sentences to generate a climatic scenes of optimism as the writer reaches his conclusion / also starts the article
*’we are the architects. We are the designers’ - line 86
a colloquial, light-hearted question, ‘... who do they think they are are?’, aimed to create support between writer and children

CONTEXT

• Levine gives a humorous account of a donkey race in Pakistan

THEMES
*the seriousness with which sport can be viewed
*cultural traditions’

Title - ‘A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat’ - creates a juxtaposition between our knowledge and understanding with barbarity
Effect?

• peaks the reader’s interest
  stepping into unknown territory/ different culture

hyperbole is used to emphasise the waiting time ‘eternity’
the other characters in the extract are referred to as the ‘lads’ which portrays the light-hearted and friendly relationship between the characters at the start
anolagies such as ‘Wacky races’ and ‘Formula One’ are used to convey mayhem

uses humour break the tension at the start - ‘wobbly bicycle’ - line 9
words associated with the chaos and entertainment of the race
‘dwarfed’
‘jostled’
‘without rules... city centre rush hour gone’
‘two races’ instead of one
‘swerved’ and ‘tumbled over’ enforce chaos
‘survival of the fittest’ - hyperbolic metaphor conveying the life or death situation/ life is at stake / dangerous / wild and chaotic

words associated with the built up of tension
‘cloud of fumes and dust’
‘neck-and-neck’
onomatopoeia is also used - language that emphasises an assault on the senses such as ‘tooting’, ‘ringing, ‘ rattles’
‘motorised spectators ... running close ... uproar’

‘the hospital gate’ enhances the danger as it implies that someone might need it
‘The race was over’ - anticlimax - stillness

there is a use of the ellipsis to indicate the editing of parts of the race from the account and excitement builds as the speed increases further towards the race

‘And then the trouble began’ - line 43

• mood changes as the aftermath of the race becomes threatening and problematic
  danger continues as situation between the spectators erupts

‘Voices were raised, fists were out and tempers rising’ - line 47
*become violent amongst men as people risk their money

the situation becomes even more dangerous through the delayed information about the driver , ‘I don’t even have my licence yet ... I’m underage!’

• this emphasises the danger as it ‘could have caused problems’ as they might have died
  they found it ‘hilarious’ highlights that the rules are more lenient as they don’t seem to care

CONTEXT:
*the memoir describes Zeppa’s experiences working as a lecturer in English in Bhutan

Title - derived from an expression of thankfulness in Bhutanese language - ‘I am thankful for you!

present tense - involves reader so as they read through the text they experience her travels immediate

1st person - personal - good communication between reader and writer / relatable and engaging at a personal level

Uses different types of writing I.e narrative; opinion, Bhutanese life, historical and geographical information

• makes text engaging
• detailed description recreates her sense of being overwhelmed by different culture

End - ‘I am full of admiration...’ - praising the country, initially negative feelings and then evaluates her thoughts

purpose - inform reader on her experiences in Bhutan from an outsider’s perspective of place / offering an insight on an unfamiliar place

audience -people that want to learn about other cultures

Use of Bhantanese words - informative, engaging, shows her understanding and admiration of the life they have made of themselves, incorporates culture and gives reader a good perspective of Bhutan

the dynamic landscape creates a sinister tone
‘climbing up to peaks, rolling in valleys ...’ - line 1
*suggest movement of landscape - endless
‘all and only mountains’ - line 2
*negative description of remoteness and isolation

‘rise’ - active verb - implies entrapment and unpredictability
the use of the polysyndeton suggesting chaotic and random movement
‘convulsions of crests and gorges and wind-sharpened pinnacles’ - line 15
‘thin and dry and very cold’ - line 18

paragraph 3 - description of the hotel
unappetising food which creates a sense of uneasiness
‘instant coffer, powdered milk .... flavourless jam’

there is a contrast between the ‘two other Canadians’ and her reactions to the hotel as they were both ‘ecstatic’ and she hoped to ‘pick up some of their enthusiasm’

paragraph 5-6 - description of town
paragraph 7-8 - description of the people
paragraph 9-10 - description of the history of the country expresses her admiration for Bhutan

CONTEXT:

*memoir that shows how this experience with the hawk helped her cope with the overwhelming grief

THEMES:
*anticipation
*hope
*fear, desperation, panic
*respect
*wildness

WRITER - protective, understanding and empathy
END - ‘There was a moment of total silence’ - ends in suspense as she pleads for her bird to be swapped / reader doesn’t know what will happen - ambiguous

‘Another hinge untied ...’ - describes step by step process in short sentences x builds tension and presents Helen’s eagerness, relief amazement, happiness and anticipation

‘Thump’ - onomatopoeia which is reference to sound
‘The last few seconds before a battle’ - foreboding what is about to come

1st bird - majestic, beautiful uses rich, dense language and poetic imagery
‘great flood of sunlight ...’ - metaphor for the beauty of the bird
‘ ... like the scattered quills’ - simile which describes the beauty and structure of bird
‘enormous eyes’ - captivating, intriguing
‘My heart jumps sideways’ - shows her excitement/ fascination
‘A fallen angel’ - shows majesty
‘ ... like gold falling through the water’ - reference to sight -senses as shows admiration and amazement through sensory description

repetition of ‘Her’, ‘she personifies the bird and shows the instant connection which replaces her loss of father
‘her eyes were the colour of sun ... ‘ - admiration and enhance

the shock and realisation that the 1st hawk is the actually the wrong hawk is signalled by 4 short sentences in lines 46-47

single-word exclaimed ‘Oh’ - talking to the reader and captivating
*turning point and realisation that her dream is dissipating
*tense changes - narrating from a different perspective

the horror at 2nd hawk shown in panic repetition of ‘This is my isn’t my hawk’ - confusion, panic and thought process - disappointed
the bird is also ‘larger, older’
pronoun - ‘Her’ to ‘my’