Here’s an extract paper that I made for AQA GCSE Language Paper 2 (Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives). The texts are both nonfiction — practical, informative writing and they are tied together by the common theme of explorers and daring adventures. I made the questions myself, closely based on the wording of the official AQA exam papers.
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Extracts from Captain Scott’s Diary
Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912) was a famous Royal Navy officer and explorer. He and his four companions went on Scott’s second expedition to the Antarctic; they reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, just one month after their rival Norwegian party, led by Roald Amundsen. They realised that they had been beaten and tried to make it back to their base camp 700 miles away, but the journey back was full of misfortunes and tragically all of the men died, the last two (Scott and one other) by being caught in a blizzard.
Tuesday, August 29th, 1911 I find that the card of the sunshine recorder showed an hour and a half’s burn yesterday and was very faintly marked on Saturday; already, therefore, the sun has given us warmth, even if it can only be measured instrumentally.
Last night Meares told us of his adventures in and about Lolo land, a wild Central Asian country … He had no pictures and very makeshift maps, yet he held us really entranced for nearly two hours by the sheer interest of his adventures. The spirit of the wanderer is in Meares’ blood: he has no happiness but in the wild places of the earth. I have never met so extreme a type. Even now he is looking forward to getting away by himself to Hut Point, tired already of our scant measure of civilisation.
[…]
We are all adventurers here, I suppose, and wild doings in wild countries appeal to us as nothing else could do. It is good to know that there remain wild corners of this dreadfully civilised world.
We have had a bright fine day.
Wednesday, January 17 1912— Camp 69. T. -22 degrees at start. Night -21 degrees. The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected.
We have had a horrible day — add to our disappointment a head wind 4 to 5, with a temperature -22 degrees, and companions labouring on with cold feet and hands.
We started at 7.30, none of us having slept much after the shock of our discovery. We followed the Norwegian sledge tracks for some way; as far as we make out there are only two men. In about three miles we passed two small cairns.
Then the weather overcast, and the tracks being increasingly drifted up and obviously going too far to the West, we decided to make straight for the Pole according to our calculations.
At 12.30 Evans had such cold hands we camped for lunch — an excellent ‘week-end one.’ …To-night little Bowers is laying himself out to get sights in terrible difficult circumstances; the wind is blowing hard, T. — 21 degrees, and there is that curious damp, cold feeling in the air which chills one to the bone in no time. We have been descending again, I think, but there looks to be a rise ahead; otherwise there is very little that is different from the awful monotony of past days. Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. Well, it is something to have got here, and the wind may be our friend to-morrow. …Now for the run home and a desperate struggle. I wonder if we can do it.
English Language Paper 2 – Practise Letter Extract
Friday, March 16 or Saturday 17 1912— Lost track of dates, but think the last correct. Tragedy all along the line. At lunch, the day before yesterday, poor Titus Oates said he couldn’t go on; he proposed we should leave him in his sleeping-bag. That we could not do, and we induced him t. In spite of its awful nature for him he struggled on and we made a few miles. At night he was worse and we knew the end had come.
Should this be found I want these facts recorded. Oates’ last thoughts were of his Mother, but immediately before he took pride in thinking that his regiment would be pleased with the bold way in which he met his death. We can testify to his bravery.
He has borne intense suffering for weeks without complaint, and to the very last was able and willing to discuss outside subjects. He did not — would not — give up hope till the very end. He was a brave soul. This was the end. He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning — yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’ He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since.”
I take this opportunity of saying that we have stuck to our sick companions to the last. In case of Edgar Evans, when absolutely out of food and he lay insensible, the safety of the remainder seemed to demand his abandonment, but Providence mercifully removed him at this critical moment. He died a natural death, and we did not leave him till two hours after his death. We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far.
I can only write at lunch and then only occasionally. The cold is intense, -40º at midday. My companions are unendingly cheerful, but we are all on the verge of serious frostbites, and though we constantly talk of fetching through I don’t think anyone of us believes it in his heart.
We are cold on the march now, and at all times except meals. Yesterday we had to lay up for a blizzard and to-day we move dreadfully slowly. We are at No. 14 pony camp, only two pony marches from One Ton DepÙt. We leave here our theodolite, a camera, and Oates’ sleeping-bags. Diaries, &c., and geological specimens carried at Wilson’s special request, will be found with us or on our sledge.
EXAM STYLE QUESTIONS
- Read again the first part of Source A, up until the line ‘We have had a bright fine day.’
Choose four statements below which are TRUE.
Choose a maximum of four statements.
- Scott has no way of measuring the sunlight hours.
- Meares is a boring person.
- Scott admires Meares’ courage and wild spirit.
- Meares likes to be alone, away from other people.
- Scott is in a bad mood at this point in the journey.
- Scott is happy because the hours of daylight are getting longer.
- Meares has accurate and detailed maps of Lolo land to show the others.
- Scott and Meares both feel that the wild parts of the world are more interesting than the civilised parts. (4 marks)
TIPS:
- Make sure to underline the keywords and focus of the question
- Be careful about positive and negative phrasing here
2. Write a summary of the main emotions that Scott experiences in the extract. Use quotations and analysis to justify your response. (8 marks)
TIPS:
- In this case, the focus is ‘the emotions that Scott experiences’. Each paragraph should explore a different aspect of the question – here, it would make sense to write different paragraphs on different emotions.
- Use a formal, academic style and essay transition words
- Aim for 2-3 paragraphs, with 3-5 quotations per paragraph. You may group quotations together and analyse them as a set if you’re aiming for higher grades.
- Remember, in the real exam this is not just a summary, but a comparative summary – you will have to compare and contrast similarities or differences between texts. You should still structure this question in a similar way – aim for 2 or 3 paragraphs, each one on a different topic that relates to the focus of the question. The only difference is that you will be comparing or contrasting both texts together in each paragraph.
3. How does Scott use language to try and inform his readers about the Antarctic? Use PEE paragraphs to justify your response. (12 marks)
TIPS:
- For a mid level grade, write 3 PEE paragraphs. Use a range of language techniques, e.g. simile, metaphor, alliteration, repetition etc.
- For a high level grade, write 3 PEE paragraphs but extend them – use multiple quotations grouped together, don’t just quickly analyse the evidence and move on but stay longer and explore more complex or subtle interpretations. Try to use more ambitious techniques e.g. extended metaphor, semantic field, tone, mood.
- Use a formal, academic style and essay transition words.
- Start with a topic sentence that is exploring one aspect of the question – in this case the focus is ‘inform his readers about the Antarctic’, so you would break that down into three different ideas that he is talking about, or three different ways in which he uses language to tell us about the place.
- Although this is a language analysis question, don’t structure your paragraphs around techniques (e.g. starting a paragraph with something like ‘The writer uses metaphors to inform his readers about the Antarctic.’). This will hugely limit you in terms of what you can talk about in the paragraph. Instead, use several techniques per paragraph and make each paragraph about a slightly different topic.
- Make sure to read lots of example answers at a high level to help boost your understanding of how to respond – don’t copy whole ideas, but you can write down phrasing, techniques, and ideas for structuring or developed and complex analysis.
4. How does Scott convey his attitudes to travelling and exploration?
In your answer, you could:
- Explore the attitudes presented in the extract
- Analyse the methods they use to convey their attitudes
- Support your ideas with references
TIPS:
- This is a discursive essay question – you are discussing a topic (in this case ‘travel and exploration’), which you need to break down into several different points.
- Bear in mind that the real exam will be a comparative discursive essay – similar, but also comparing and contrasting the writers’ attitudes, beliefs or opinions on a set topic.
- For a mid level grade, write an intro, conclusion and 3 PEE paragraphs. Try to use language techniques when analysing evidence, and make sure each paragraph is on a different attitude about travel and/or exploration that you can find in the text.
- For a high level grade, write an intro, conclusion and 3 extended PEE paragraphs. Use language devices and detailed, precise and sensitive interpretations of your evidence. Group short quotations together and analyse them as a set.
- Use a formal, academic style and essay transition words
- Start with a topic sentence that is exploring one aspect of the question – in this case the focus is ‘Scott’s attitudes to travel and exploration’, so you would break that down into three different ideas that he is talking about, or three different ways in which he uses language to tell us about the place. You might want to look at different angles on the topic – for example, the positive and negative sides to travel or exploration.
- Try to come up with developed topic sentences – you could start by saying ‘Scott has a positive attitude to travel’, but that’s not very specific. Instead, try something like ‘Scott finds travelling a rewarding and eye-opening experience’ – always make sure your topics are definitely true and ideally interesting ideas to explore.
- Although this is a language analysis question, don’t structure your paragraphs around techniques (e.g. starting a paragraph with something like ‘The writer uses metaphors to show that travel is difficult.’). This will hugely limit you in terms of what you can talk about in the paragraph. Instead, use several techniques per paragraph and make each paragraph about a slightly different topic.
- Make sure to read lots of example answers at a high level to help boost your understanding of how to respond – don’t copy whole ideas, but you can write down phrasing, techniques, and ideas for structuring or developed and complex analysis.
Thanks for reading! If you need more help with GCSE English Language, you can take a look at our full courses here.
