GCSE English Language Knowledge Mats

Reading: inference, summary, synthesis

What the Text Will Let You Say

Every text in the exam is one you have never seen, so what is there to revise? Inference as a three-part answer shape; summary and synthesis; evaluation and bias; an extract written for the sheet, annotated four ways; an inference answer built in the order the marks are given; the DfE’s own weightings for reading, writing and accuracy. Eight terms to define, a model answer on what a writer leaves out, and the misconceptions that cost marks.

Analysing language

Say What the Other Word Would Have Lost

Everyone can name a simile. What is the sentence that turns naming a device into analysing it? What AO2 actually asks; word, effect, why, with the substitution test; sentence form, semantic fields and personification; the opening of Bleak House, out of copyright and verified against the text, annotated; a noticing turned into an AO2 answer; four moves worth more than naming a device. Seven terms to define, a model analytical sentence, and the misconceptions that cost marks.

Structure, and comparing texts

One Sentence, Both Texts

You have written a page about each text. Why might that score nothing for comparison? Structure as order, not paragraphs; finding the turn; comparison held in one sentence; two extracts written for the sheet, same subject and opposite perspectives, annotated; a comparison sentence built in three moves; four questions that produce a structural point every time. Seven terms to define, a model answer comparing two attitudes, and the misconceptions that cost marks.

Writing to describe, narrate and argue

Half the Marks Are for This

Writing is 50% of the GCSE and accuracy alone is 20%. So what actually changes a paragraph? Describing by refusing things; narrating one moment rather than a plot; arguing against yourself first; the same beach written twice, inventory against selection; one sentence improved in three moves; where the fifth of the marks for accuracy actually goes. Six terms to define, a model analytical sentence, and the misconceptions that cost marks.

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