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AS English Language
Paper One
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You have 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete this paper
You must complete the first compulsory passage – commentary and directed writing
You may choose whether to do the second passage or the third passage
Each passage has a commentary and a directed writing question

Commentary:
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Before you start writing, read the passage at least twice
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Show the writer that you understand what is going on
o General idea of the text is not good enough at AS level
o Regurgitating what is given to you in the blurb will give you no extra marks
o Show the progression of the content in the passage
o Centralise the overview of content, tone, structure and purpose in an introduction
Deal with all the significant points
Have an effective use of English Language – the use of the best terms to explain things
o Choose the correct technique in order to create an effect
o Choose vocabulary that is suitable and accurate
Writer’s effects are central
o Within body paragraphs, markers expect numerous pieces of evidence which are
explained and clearly link to the overall effect/idea/tone
o As early in the response as possible, establish that you know the genre, tone,
purpose, content and organisation
In a commentary, you must address the:
o Audience – know who the writer considers the audience; no pieces of writing are in
isolation, every piece has a writer and an audience (sender and receiver)
o Context – what has influenced the writer into writing the text; what scenario was
the text written and received
o Genre – classification of texts according to conventions
o Purpose – why the piece was written; usually to inform, to persuade, to provoke or
to entertain
o Content – what happens in the text
It may be easiest to divide the passage into sections and discuss each section in a different
body paragraph to ensure that equal attention is given to the different sections – some
candidates focus more on the beginning and ending of the passage

Commentary Introduction
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Your response should begin with a brief introduction to the passage so that an overview or
framework established
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These should be brief – four to five lines long
These should talk about purpose in a general way which does not close down other
possibilities
These should not use any quotations or unnecessary linguistic terminology
These should summarise and establish the tone, structure, content and purpose to be
further developed in the body paragraphs

Directed Writing:
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This must be between 120-150 words; writing more than this is wasted effort and time
This can be related to the content of the given passage or the style or voice of the writer of
the passage
Be very aware of what and who you are writing for
You will be given a genre - be familiar with the genre of the writing
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As far as possible do NOT lift words or phrases from the original text
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You will write ‘Imaginative Writing’ piece and one ‘Writing for an Audience’ piece
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For the comparison piece you should write two separate passages of 300-450 words each
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Opening of a Short Story/Story/Novel

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You will be given a title and a mood or theme you have to represent in your writing piece
You will be asked to write either a short story or a novel; the short story should get to action
quicker and generally be at a faster pace than in a novel
It is best to enter the examination with this question, with preset characters and locations,
that can be adapted to what the question requires, as to save long periods of planning which
could be better spent writing
The question may sometimes state that you are the narrator, and thus must be written in
first person
It is best to write these responses in third person
As it is the opening of the story, it is best not to write about large events that would typically
occur in a story’s climax
Flashbacks should be used

Section B - Writing for an Audience:
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You are given 3 Options chosen from the following genres:
o Speech/Voiceover
o Brochure
o Letter
o Article
o Two alternating opinions
o News Report
You must write a piece between 600 and 900 words
For each option an audience will be given e
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write for a school newspaper
Marks are awarded for content and for structure/presentation
Topics given are usually based on modern society
Discourse markers should be constantly used throughout the piece
Multiple Responses

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Some tasks involve giving two different perspectives/pieces
There does not need to be a correlation between the two pieces unless there is an obvious
requirement e
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2 Articles usually would not need to reference each other, whereas 2
Politicians in a debate would acknowledge each other
The two pieces do not need to demonstrate any similarities grammatically or structurally

Discourse Markers
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Used to clearly present an argument in ‘Writing for an Audience’ questions
Markers will look for these the see the presentation of a clear and structured argument

Ordering
Firstly, secondly
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Know your genres and what must be required by each of them as to not lose any simple
marks

Article:
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Can be an online forum, review, or magazine-style response
Online forum must be written in first person with a relaxed register and should create a
character/voice for the speaker
Review should present a bias either way; should generally be in first person but not
necessarily
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Magazine-style responses should have a clear audience and explicit references must be
made towards them e
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car jargon for a car magazine audience
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All magazine articles should generally have a
‘snappy’ headline – generally demonstrating wordplay
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A by-line should be clear and apparent
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e
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The headline should be over two lines
Shot paragraphs but does not need to be written in columns – this will waste time if you do
this
Present information with fluency and accuracy – it is very important to have clear references
to any content given
The opening paragraph of the article (also known as a lead/lede) must give the reader a
summary of the key information – who, what, when, and where
This should not be written in first person
This should have a balanced approach/no bias e
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instead of ‘criminal’, use ‘accused’

Letter:
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Must begin with a salutation e
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Dear _____
Audience must be formally addressed unless relationship is obviously casual
Full style (i
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address, name, date etc
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If dates are changed, keep them as sequential as possible
Always written in First Person and usually informal
Should be personal in nature as the only audience for this text is the writer
Do not personalise it with any extra information – do not go outside of the given text/what
the question is asking you for
Must express a character’s feelings and reaction to events
Uses a mix of present, past and future tense in ideas

Speech:
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Try to present, in written form, a spoken text
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The focus is on the text content, not on camera angles, sound effects, props or actions made
by the speaker – these are not required at all and no extra marks will be given
ALWAYS have the audience in mind – this is called writing for an audience
For persuasive speeches you are expected to use rhetorical devices but more explanatory
speeches will not require them
Write in first person
Try to obtain the ‘voice’ of the speaker
Consider your use of tenses – how will it have an effect?
Usually begin with ‘I am speaking to you today
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’ or ‘Streaming live’
Sound effects or adverts do not need to be included

TV Voiceover/Brochure:
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Reference to images, sound effects, camera angles are not required; however there should
be some reference to what the screen is showing i
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“Here is the main gymnasium”
Take a wide view and slowly go narrower i
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If promotional voiceover for high school begin
with the grounds/buildings and gradually discuss classrooms and finally students
Often in second person
Usually promotional and should contain a large amount of persuasive techniques
A brochure follows the same genre style, however no reference to the television audience

Interview:
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You must put who is speaking before each section of dialogue – if you are not given names
you are allowed to make your own names or simply place INTERVIEWER and INTERVIEWEE
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The interview questions should be short and allow a wide range of response as to allow for
the most writing on your part in the answer
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1
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e
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Survive + -al = Survival
Abuse + -ive = Abusive
EXCEPTIONS:
 Retain the ‘e’ if it is possible for the word to be confused with another
e
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Dye + -ing = Dyeing
 Words containing ‘g’ or ‘c’ before the ‘e’ retain the ‘e’
e
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Courage + -ous = Courageous
 Words ending in ‘ie’ change the ‘i’ to a ‘y’
e
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Die + -ing = Dying
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e
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Arrange + -ment = Arrangement
Forgive + -ness = Forgiveness
EXCEPTIONS:
 Judge/judgment, argue/argument, whole/wholly, awe/awful
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e
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Run + -ing = Running
EXCEPTIONS:
 If the word ends in two or more consonants, or if the final consonant is preceded by two
vowels, the rule does not apply
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Debt + -or = Debtor

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e
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Refer + -ing = Referring
Rgret + -able = Regrettable
EXCEPTIONS:
 If the accent is not on the last syllable, the final consonant is not doubled
e
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Benefit + -ed = Benefited
 If the word ends in two consonants, if the final consonant is preceded by two vowels or
if the accent shifts to the first syllable when the suffix is added, the rule does not apply
e
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Perform + -ance = Performance (two consonants)
Repeat + -ing = Repeating (two vowels)
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e
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Conceit (long ‘e’ after ‘c’)
Vein (two vowels with long ‘a’ sound)
Shield (other letters)
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Recognisable through
superlatives/comparatives and the analysis of the attitude
Casual Language – a reference to the tone of the passage – expressed through often colloquial
language and relaxed adherence to the grammar rules
Colloquial Language – highly informal; the use of everyday language e
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including slang
Conversational Language – written form expressing language synonymous with conversation which
may include standard or non-standard English
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Formal Writing – correct use of grammatical structure, vocabulary and syntax
Informal Writing – the use of non-standard English
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Tone – sense/feelings associated with a piece of writing
Narration
First Person – a story is told from the point of view of the narrator
Narrative Point of View – the perspective through which a story is communicated
Narrative Time – the placement of the story in time – past, present or future
Narrative Voice – the format through which a story is communicated
Second Person – a relatively rare type of story-telling, addressing a specific someone; often paired
with first person and used in letter-writing
Third Person – provides the greatest flexibility to the author and thus is the most commonly used
narrative mode in literature
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This is your basic type of sentence
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Interrogative – a question
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Can be used ironically
Run-on Sentence – consists of two or more main clauses that are run together without proper
punctuation
Sentence Fragment – an incomplete sentence that is lacking a subject and a verb
Simple Sentence – can have a single subject or a compound subject as well as a single predicate or a
compound predicate, however it only has one independent clause
Subject – the main focus of a sentence
Techniques
Allusion – an indirect reference to something in popular culture
Analogy – an imagined scenario to explain a situation
Anecdote – a short story inserted into the middle of conversation
Antonym – a word with the opposite meaning to another word e
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love/hate
Archaism – something is archaic when the word, spelling or construction is old fashioned
Cliché – an over-used or worn out expression that is now unoriginal
Climax – he peak of action in a narrative passage
Coinage – a newly created word, or a word that is ‘coined’ by the writer
Connotation – the association/inferred meanings which a word has that is not technically part of its
meaning
Denotation – the dictionary definition of a word
Dialogue – speech between people as features in a piece of writing
Diction – the word of choice of an author, based on correctness, clearness and effectiveness
Euphemism –a mild or vague way of stating something that is perhaps too harsh or blunt
Expletive – a swear word or exclamation used to express emotion rather than meaning
Extended Metaphor – when a metaphor is continued throughout a piece of writing
Filler – words used by a speaker when they need time to think e
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um
Homonym – a word that has the same spelling as another word, but a different meaning e
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bow of
a ship and bow in archery
Homophone – a word that sounds the same as another word but is different e
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peace/piece

Hyperbole – an exaggerated statement e
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not in a million years
Idiom – a phrase that may not make literal sense, but is understood by a group of people
Imagery – used by the writer to describe settings; can be gustatory (taste), auditory (sound),
kinaesthetic (feel), olfactory (smell), visual (see)
Jargon – specialised language used in a particular field or occupation e
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RAM
Metaphor – a figure of speech that identifies something as being the same as some unrelated thing,
thus highlighting the similarities
Methods of Characterisation – how a character is formed through a character’s actions, dialogue,
thoughts, appearance, interaction with others and others thoughts of the character
Motif – any recurring element with symbolic significance in a story
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The length and punctuation of sentences have a big impact on this
Personification – when something inhuman is given human qualities
Portmanteau Words – when two words are combined in form and meaning into one e
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Kim +
Kanye = Kimye
Quotation – using the words of someone else by inserting them in quotation marks
Redundancy/Tautology – using more words than are required to give the sense intended e
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kill
bugs dead
Simile – when one thing is compared to another using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’
Symbol – an object that represents, stands for, or suggests an idea
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g
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It is a
form of irony
Humour
Bathos – anti-climax – usually the inclusion of the ridiculous or inconsequential e
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Osama Bin Laden
is wanted for conspiracy, murder, terrorism and the theft of a small cat
Black Humour – makes fun of human pain and suffering because it is absurd rather than pitiful
Caricature – making something ridiculous by exaggerating or distorting prominent features

Colloquialism – the use of colloquial language in a formal situation
Incongruity – language is deliberately mismatched in the situation e
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“Oh Hell” said the Queen of
Parliament
Invective – speech or writing that attacks, insults of denounces a person, topic or institution
Irony – the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite,
typically for humorous or empathic effect
Litote/Meiosis – understatement
Parody – most often referred to in pop-culture as ‘spoof’; makes fun of general expected
conventions of a genre

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