Using reading skills: understanding how writers achieve ...



IGCSE Language Examination Q 2 (10 marks)

Using reading skills: understanding how writers achieve effects

|Writer’s effect: |The effect on the reader created by an author’s words. This |

| |effect could be to stimulate our senses or convey a scene, idea |

| |or emotion. |

After reading a passage you need to work out what effect the writer has created.

Here is a checklist of possibilities:

• An experience has been described

• An atmosphere has been created

• A statement of fact has been made

• An opinion / emotion has been conveyed

• A reaction has been provoked

Next you need to work out what impression has been made on your mind or senses.

Here is a checklist of possibilities:

• You can see the scene that has been described

• You can hear the sounds that have been described (onomatopoeia, alliteration, consonance, assonance)

• You can almost smell or taste something that was described (vivid description)

• You can almost physically or emotionally feel something described (vivid description)

Finally you need to understand what caused this effect on you. Here is a checklist of possible causes:

• The specific meaning of a word

• The associations created by a word

• The rhythm and pace of words and sentence structures

• The positioning of words, phrases, sentences and lines on the page

Sample Question:

‘By referring closely to the language used by the writer, explain how she communicates:

a) The violence of the girl’s actions

b) Her feelings about the girl’s behaviour.’

• You are first told where to look– ‘language used by the writer’

• In the first part of the question you are given information about the impressions produced on the mind or senses – ‘violence’- so you need to look for instances of this feature of the writing and explain how they create the effect of ‘violence’

• The second part of the question does not tell you exactly what to look for; however it does give you a clue that a feeling is shown. You have to work out which feeling and how it is expressed.

Tips for success:

|1. Read the question carefully |Remember you are looking for 3 things: |

| |Does the question tell you what effect you are looking for? |

| |Does the question tell you where to look for the effect? |

| |Does the question tell you how the effect is created? |

|Be as precise as possible when identifying effects |This shows the examiner that you have thought carefully about the|

| |words of the passage and have reached a conclusion about their |

| |effect |

|Quote selectively from the passage |You will only ever need to quote single words or brief phrases. |

| |If you are copying out more than this then you are not showing |

| |that you can accurately judge how an effect is being created. You|

| |are simply showing where the effect might be. |

|Explain how the writer creates the effect |Once you have identified the effect that has been produced and |

| |where the proof of it can be found, you must then explain how the|

| |proof shows the effect that you have claimed is there. Three |

| |types of proof: |

| |Use the precise meaning of a word (denotation) to explain how it |

| |creates the effect (identify specific words / synonyms / antonyms|

| |/ groups of words that are similar / different in meaning and |

| |create a similar / contrasting effect) |

| |Use the ‘intensity’ of a word to explain how it creates the |

| |effect (think of synonyms on a continuum) |

| |Use the associations (connotation) of a word to explain how it |

| |creates the effect e.g.: |

| |A set of visual images (figurative language) |

| |Sensory impressions (figurative language, synesthesia) |

| |Distinctive atmospheres / emotions (cumulative) |

|Look out for more than one effect |Be aware that there may be more than one effect in the same piece|

| |of writing; words and phrases an do a lot of different things at |

| |the same time (if love is described as being like a rose – what |

| |possible connotations does this have?) |

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