Overview of GCSE English Language paper and some language features

1. English Language exam:
What’s on the paper?
Getting the timing right
Section A – Of Mice and Men extract response

2. What’s on the paper?
SECTION A SECTION B
Extract from Of Mice and Men. Open book.
Two questions about how the writer uses
language
Second question is a ‘one other part’
question.
16 marks for the extract answer
24 marks for the ‘one other part’ answer
Top marks for:
• Perceptive analysis of language
• strong understanding of the text and the
writer’s ideas
TOTAL: 40 marks
Choice of two writing tasks
Both non-fiction
8 marks for:
• Spelling
• Punctuation
• good expression
• strong structure.
16 marks for:
• how convincing and engaging your writing
is
• focusing on your audience and purpose
• mature and extensive vocabulary
• controlled, logical paragraphing.
TOTAL: 24 marks

3. Getting the timing right
SECTION A SECTION B
TOTAL: 40 marks
As a percentage: about 60% of the marks
60% of time = one hour
EXTRA TIMERS:
60% of time = about one hour, 15 minutes
TOTAL: 24 marks
As a percentage: about 40% of the marks
40% of time = 45 minutes
EXTRA TIMERS:
40% of time = about 55 minutes
Total marks for exam paper: 64
Total time for exam paper: 1 hour 45 minutes
[ 2 hours 11 minutes with extra time]

4. Section A – Of Mice and Men extract response
‘Explore how the language in the extract influences your view of…’
Key word:
Explore: requires an answer that examines the subject thoroughly
and considers it from a variety of viewpoints.
The subject you have been asked to examine thoroughly is language
use. Therefore, you should endeavour to comment on a range of
different language features in your answer.

5. Section A – Of Mice and Men extract response
Of Mice and Men
5 Answer all parts of the following question.
(a) Explore how the language in the extract influences your view of the
relationship between George and Lennie.
You must include examples of language features in your response.
16 marks
(b) In this extract, we learn about Lennie’s character.
Explore the character of Lennie in one other part of the novel.
You must use examples of the language the writer uses to support your
ideas.
24 marks

6. Section A – Of Mice and Men extract response
Of Mice and Men
5 Answer all parts of the following question.
(a) Explore how the language in the extract influences your view of the
relationship between George and Lennie.
You must include examples of language features in your response.
16 marks
1st – identify what you’ve been asked to focus on
2nd – read the extract
3rd – re-read the extract, highlighting all the possible quotations you might
include in your answer
4th – make sure to identify the language feature you are commenting on
5th – start writing, making sure to use PEEL and always checking that what you are
saying is relevant to the question

7. Section A – Of Mice and Men extract response
(b) In this extract, we learn about Lennie’s character.
Explore the character of Lennie in one other part of the novel.
You must use examples of the language the writer uses to support your
ideas.
24 marks
1st – take a moment. Explore your options.
2nd – choose a double page spread from one other part of the book
3rd – read the extract you have chosen. Is there definitely enough evidence to
thoroughly explore the idea in the question?
4th – re-read the extract, making notes on what to include in your answer
5th – start writing, making sure to use PEEL and always checking that what you
are saying is relevant to the question

8. Section A – Of Mice and Men extract response
Language features
CHARACTERISATION
How the character speaks
e.g. speech verbs: mumbled, cried, drawled, hissed
e.g. adverbs: spoke quickly, quietly, suddenly, slowly, sharply
e.g. tone: ‘I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a
crazy bastard!’
What the character says
(content)
e.g. ‘He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can tell a mean guy a mile off.’
e.g. ‘And he’s so God damn strong, you know.’
What the character does
(actions)
e. g. adverbs: ‘George put down his cards very deliberately.’
‘Slim nodded very slowly.’
e.g. verbs: ‘George grabbed him by the shoulder.’
How the character is
described
e.g. adjectives: ‘dumb bastard like he is’
e.g. description: ‘Slim’s eyes were level and unwinking.’

9. Language features
FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
SIMILE
e.g. ‘snorting into the water like a horse’
To explain why similes are effective, start with the comparison then
link it back to the character or idea:
Horses are large, strong and, generally speaking, docile. However,
they can be capable of violence, especially when they are scared. By
comparing Lennie to a horse through the simile, Steinbeck suggests
that Lennie too is strong and that, if scared or shocked, he might
harm others – but not out of spite, more out of animal instinct.
METAPHOR
e.g. ‘Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water’
To explain why metaphors are effective, start with the comparison
then link it back to the character or idea:
We associate the word ‘paw’ with animals. Animals are not
intelligent beings in the same way as humans. They can be
unpredictable. By comparing Lennie to an animal using the metaphor
‘big paw’, Steinbeck suggests that Lennie is not as bright as others
and that he perhaps relies more on instinct than intelligence. His
behaviour might also be uncontrolled and unpredictable.

10. Language features
Structure
Opening
Ending
Climax
Anti-climax
Repetition
Foreshadowing
Contrasts

11. Language features
Sentence Types
Statements
Questions
Length
Complexity
Interruptions
Exclamations
parenthesis

12. Language features
Imagery
Visual
‘willows fresh and green’
Olfactory
aural
‘leaves lie deep […] a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among
them’
gustatory
‘drank from the surface of the green pool’
tactile
‘evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the
leaves’

13. Language features
Imagery
Visual
‘willows fresh and green’
Olfactory
aural
‘leaves lie deep […] a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among
them’
gustatory
‘drank from the surface of the green pool’
tactile
‘evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the
leaves’