How to Master AQA GCSE English: A step-by-step guide to Paper 2 Question 4
Hello!
I’m Steve Flook, and I teach English at Humanitas Learning.
I have a lifetime’s teaching experience preparing a wide range of ability candidates for GCSE. In addition to this, I have worked for the AQA Examinations Board, both as an examiner marking candidates’ papers and as a Subject Adviser, going round the country giving advice to teachers on what examiners were looking for in candidates wishing to obtain the highest grades.
This help sheet is designed to guide you through AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2, Question 4, where you are expected to compare two non-fiction passages in a specific way.
AQA English Language GCSE Paper 2 Question 4
NOTE: I have used technical vocabulary in this article, highlighted alongside a brief explanation of the term, where necessary. Try to use these terms in your answers whenever possible.
When the exam was introduced, AQA were very keen that the length of the exam paper should be 1 hour 45 minutes, thus allowing 15 minutes for candidates to read through the passages and questions before they began writing.
Nothing stops you writing before the end of that initial fifteen-minute period, but my experience as a teacher and examiner has shown that candidates who spend the first quarter of an hour simply reading the passages (even doing so twice) are better prepared to answer Question 4.
A Little Background
Question 4 in Paper 2 is a little more complicated than Questions 1–3. It requires you to synthesise, or bring together, information from both texts you have been given, and because of this, can sometimes seem a little daunting.
But do not worry. Questions 1–3 are so designed that, to answer them effectively, you should have scanned both texts a couple of times to extract information to answer them, and so you should be in an excellent position to answer Question 4.
Before Tackling Question 4
Notice that the marks allocated to this question are 16. The total of marks allocated to Questions 1–3 is 24. Therefore, if 45 minutes are allocated to Section A, then you should leave yourself 18 minutes to answer Question 4. You will need all this time to bring in all the points.
Before tackling Question 4, it is as well to ask yourself the following (this process can begin in the fifteen minutes’ ‘reading time’):
Where are the passages taken from? If you cannot immediately tell, the front page of the Insert will tell you this, plus what kind of writing it is (e.g., diary, memoir, newspaper article, etc.) plus the date that it first appeared.
What might this tell us about the style of writing? A diary will have a different readership from a news article. Also, a piece, for example, about nursing written in the nineteenth century will feel very different from one written in the twenty-first century. An examiner will be impressed if you show you’ve noticed such differences.
Are the passages written in the first person, where the writer's view will be subjective, written from personal experience, or in the third person, where there will be more objectivity, or standing apart from what they are describing?
The Question Itself
As with all exam questions, the key to success is reading the question carefully.
In the past few years, the Chief Examiner—the person responsible for setting the questions—has asked candidates to compare the two passages in some respect. This involves finding things in them which are similar, but also implies a contrast, which means finding things in the two passages which are different. Check carefully that you know exactly what the Chief Examiner is asking you to do.
As with all exam questions, it is useful to highlight essential words in the question. Wherever possible, repeat these words in your answers. This both keeps you focused and reassures the examiner that you understand the question fully. (Such underlining might include words such as compare, feelings and ideas, or references to both texts).
Once you have highlighted words in the question, turn your attention to the Insert. Read Source A with the words of the question in mind and then highlight on the Insert any relevant words or phrases. It might be a good idea to use a different colour highlighter for each point you find in Source A. Try to find 4–5 points which the writer of Source A makes.
Then read through Source B and see if you can find a corresponding point for each of the coloured highlights. Highlight any which cover a similar point with the same colour highlighter. They may be linked by location (where the action takes place), by people, or by a similar incident.
REMEMBER: The Chief Examiner has selected the two Sources because they think there are definite links, and it is up to you to find them.
Writing Up Your Answer
Next, all you have to do is write up your answer. Remember to keep in mind that you have to use both Sources, and it is as well to remind the examiner of this. To remind the examiner that you have understood what the question requires, use phrases such as:
In Source A we find…… whereas in Source B……
In contrast, in Source B we find……
On the other hand, in Source B……
Finally, write up your answer.
If the above seems a lot to cover in just eighteen minutes, then be assured that you will improve with practice. Use past papers, either from the AQA’s own website (aqa.org.uk) or Revision World (revisionworld.com), and work through as many as you can.
Familiarise yourself, as with all subjects, with the mark schemes for the relevant papers, which appear beside the papers on the two websites above. With English subjects, do not expect to find model answers, but you should get a good idea from the mark schemes as to the kind of points which an examiner can expect to be made by you.
