GCSE · English Language · AQA · Spec 8700
Using subject terminology to analyse language and structure
Ever written 'the writer uses a simile' and then stopped dead? Here's the secret: the term is the easy bit. What earns it a place is what you say next.
English Language · Source analysis
Read like a writer: term, then effect
This short extract was written for this lesson. Tap each highlighted phrase. Every note names the feature, then keeps going: what does it do to the reader, and why did the writer choose it?
The Last Bus
The shelter was empty except for me and a crisp packet scraping along the ground. Rain drummed on the plastic roof . Across the road, ; on my side, one streetlight buzzed, . I checked my phone again. Then, at the bottom of the hill, two lights appeared. They grew. They swung round the corner, and when the doors finally folded open with a sigh, I realised I had been holding my breath.
AQA's language question credits terminology in rising steps: simple and not always appropriate, then some and mostly appropriate, then clear and accurate, and finally sophisticated and accurate. The top level also needs analysis of the effects of the writer's language choices and a range of well-judged textual detail, so terminology is credited as part of the analysis, never on its own.
AQA examiners' reports on both papers describe students who correctly name a feature, such as a semantic field or personification, and then fail to comment further or explain how it works. They also note students trying to use labels like alliteration or personification where those labels did not readily or accurately apply.
English Language · Does the term fit?
Which term fits, if any?
Pick a phrase, then pick the term that fits it, or 'No special term fits'.
Still to sort
Simile (0)
Compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.
Where the line is: 'Like' or 'as' on its own isn't enough. The two things being compared must be unlike each other.
Semantic field (0)
A set of words or phrases whose meanings are related.
Where the line is: It has to be a set. One war-like word on its own is not a semantic field.
Juxtaposition (0)
Two things placed close together so that they contrast.
Where the line is: Two things side by side only count if they contrast with each other.
No special term fits (0)
Comment plainly on the words: what do they suggest?
Where the line is: This isn't a failure. A precise comment on a word's connotations, the ideas and feelings it suggests beyond its basic meaning, is real analysis.
That last-place answer forced labels that didn't fit. So how do you tell? Put each phrase under the term that genuinely describes it, or in the plain-comment group if none does.
English Language · Sentence forms
Sentences are choices too
Words and techniques are two levels. The third is the sentence itself. Tap each highlighted part, then compare the two footsteps sentences: the same words, with one clause moved.
Tap each highlighted part to see its label and what it does.
“Is anyone there?”
Interrogative (a question)Note
A question puts us inside the narrator's uncertainty. We don't know the answer either.
English Lit · Paragraph craft
Writing about structure, one sentence at a time
Back to the bus shelter. Tap a slot to see the job that sentence has to do, then switch to 'Worked example' to see it written.
The Last Bus · How has the writer structured the extract?
Tap a slot to fill or empty it.
Selected slot
Tap a slot above
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
Name the feature, then show what it does to the reader, and why the writer chose it.
What you need to know
- A technical term earns its place only when you say something specific about the effect of the feature it names.
- You can analyse language at three levels: individual words and phrases, techniques, and sentence forms.
- Terms have to fit the text. If none fits, comment plainly on what the words suggest.
- Structure means what the writer focuses our attention on in each part of the text, and why.
- Analysing a writer's methods is really working out the effect the writer wants to have on the reader.
The big picture
Subject terminology, such as simile, semantic field and juxtaposition, helps you analyse, but it can't do the analysing for you. A term earns its place only when it fits the text and you go on to say something specific about what that feature does to the reader, and why the writer chose it. You can comment on words and phrases, on techniques and on sentence forms. Structure is about what the writer makes us focus on in each part of a text, and why.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
Improve this weak comment on the sentence 'The corridor stretched ahead like a throat, dark and narrow.' The weak comment is: 'The writer uses a simile.'
⚠ Watch out
Naming a feature and stopping ('The writer uses a semantic field'), or forcing a label that doesn't fit the text. Always ask: does this term really fit, and what does it do here?
Memory hook
A term is a ticket, not the show. It gets you in, but what you say about the words is what everyone came for.
Check yourself
Cover up the technical term in your last analytical sentence. Is there still a specific comment on what those exact words do to the reader? If not, the term was doing all the work.
Flashcards
(14)What is subject terminology for in an analysis?
Name the three levels you can comment on when analysing language.
What are connotations?
What is a semantic field?
What is juxtaposition?
What is a simile?
Name the four sentence types writers vary to convey emotion.
Why might a writer move a subordinate clause to the front or end of a sentence?
Besides sentence types, what else do writers use for emphasis and to change pace?
When we talk about how a text is structured, what do we mean?
At what three levels can structural features work?
Do you need specialist device names to write well about structure?
How do time conjunctions help when you write about structure?
Why is 'it engages the reader' a weak comment on effect?
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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Keep me postedMore AQA GCSE English Language topics
- Analysing form and structure of a text
- Citing evidence and quotation effectively
- Evaluating texts critically with textual references
- Identifying and interpreting explicit information and ideas
- Identifying bias and misuse of evidence
- Maintaining a consistent point of view across a text
- Producing clear and coherent writing for purpose and audience
- Reading in different ways for different purposes
- Reflecting critically and evaluatively on text
- Selecting structural and organisational features for impact
- Synthesising information from more than one text
- Using a range of sentence structures
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