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The sample answer in this section is an example of an extended response to the longer type of questions in your exams.

You will also answer short response questions that might ask you to select and list key points from a text - or summarise and synthesise information from two texts.

Question

Refer to both Extract 1 and Extract 2.

Compare how the two writers convey different attitudes towards helping homeless people.

In your answer, you should:

• compare their attitudes
• compare the methods they use to convey their attitudes
• support your ideas with quotations from both texts

Ireland and Dickens have very different attitudes towards helping homeless people. In Extract 1, Ireland has a positive attitude towards helping homeless people, the volunteers are “at the ready”. On the other hand, in Extract 2, Dickens seems shocked and is “frightened” at first by the homeless person. He does not try to help at first.

In Extract 1, Mr Kershaw describes the sleep out as “really fun”. However, Dickens thinks that fruit and vegetables sold on the market are ‘cared for’ more than the homeless “children” are.

Feedback - basic

This answer:

• Uses key words from the question showing that the response will focus on it.
• Uses the writers’ surnames – you should always use their surname not their first name.
• Picks out some differences between the attitudes of Ireland and Dickens. Connectives “on the other hand” and “however” make this clear.
• Quotes from the texts, eg “at the ready”, “frightened”, “really fun” and “children”.
• Attempts inference, eg Dickens thinks that market produce is “cared for more” than the children are.

However it would have been better if:

• They had explored the connotations of language choices eg, “at the ready” implies that volunteers are eager to help. The quotations “really fun” and “frightened” are simply being used to retell parts of the extracts, rather than analysing language.
• They had identified methods such as puns eg, “the traditional Box Factor” is a play on words referring to the TV series ‘The X-Factor’, adding a touch of humour and creating a lighter tone. The question asks you to “compare the methods used” – this answer does not do that.