Paper 1: How to Answer Question 3 (AQA GCSE English Language)

Each question in Paper 1 Section A (reading) is worth a different number of marks, and you are being tested on specific skills for each. However, your approach to each question should be the same; the only difference is how you write each answer.

This guide will provide you with the information you need to answer Paper 1 Question 3 to a high standard.

This page includes (click to go straight to topic):

• Overview of Paper 1 Question 3
• How to approach Question 3
• Understanding the wording of the structure question
• Steps to success for the structure question
• Exam tips for the structure question
• Things to avoid in the structure question

Paper 1, Section A: Question 3 is the structure question. While Question 2 focuses on the language element of AO2, Question 3 focuses on the structure element of AO2: 

In Question 3, you will be set a question that asks you to comment on the whole of the source text in Section A. The text will always be a prose text from either the 20th or 21st century. You will be asked to consider how the writer has structured the text to interest you as a reader.

It is important to remember that writers structure their texts deliberately to make the reader think and feel certain things. Question 3 is asking you to think about what the writer is showing you as a reader and why.

When you reach Question 3, you will already have read part of the source and annotated it with language features for Question 2. You will now want to go over it again looking for structural features.

In your answer you must:

• Show you understand features of structure
• Examine and analyse the effects of the writer’s choice of structural features
• Select and use relevant examples
• Use appropriate subject terminology to discuss structure

Here is an example of Question 3:

• Question 3 tests your ability to see the text as a construct, created and ordered for narrative effect. It will always ask you
  • How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?
• The question will ask you to consider the whole source
• It will provide a relevant context, such as in the above example, informing you that the extract is from the “beginning of a novel”
• The focus of the question: “interest you as a reader” will always be the same
  • This allows you the freedom to choose your own examples, but it should also remind you to consider the effects on you as a reader
• You will also always be given three bullet points to help structure your answer
  • The bullet points provide a helpful guide and prompt you to concentrate on how the writer leads the reader through the text
  • The final bullet point intentionally prompts you to go beyond the guide in the previous two bullet points and to bring in any features that you feel are relevant to the question
• The structure of a text is how it is organised by a writer and how its parts fit together
  • It means looking at the shape of the text, the way it has all been put together and why
• Structural features can be
  • at a whole text level, for example: beginnings, endings, perspective shifts
  • at a paragraph level, for example: topic change, aspects of cohesion
  • at a sentence level when judged to contribute to whole structure
• It is important to note that sentence structure analysis should only be referenced where you think the analysis contributes to the structure of the whole text
  • For example, a recurring motif or pattern that informs meaning
• You need to explain why a certain detail is located at that particular point in the text
• One possible approach is to cover points from the beginning, middle and end of the extract
  • This approach will enable you to show a greater understanding of the movement across the whole extract and support you to find contrasts and developments in events 
• You must read through the extract and consider WHY the writer has put the text together in the way they have
  • What is the reader being shown and why?
  • What does the reader learn from being shown these things?

It is important that you understand the wording of each part of the question so that you know how to respond to it accurately. An explanation of each part of the question is explored below:

Steps to success for the structure question

Following these steps will give you a strategy for answering this question effectively:

1. Grab your highlighter and read the question first:
   • Read the question carefully
   • Highlight the focus of the question
2. Scan the section of text:
   • Highlight only the information directly relevant to the focus of the question
   • Annotate in the margins. For example, in the question below, annotate as you read why the writer might have used a particular structural feature (not just what the feature is)
3. Start your answer using the wording of the question:
   • For example: “The writer structures the start of the text by focusing the reader’s attention on the main character of Zoe.”
   • This demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood both the question and the text
4. Go into detail:
   • Now you need to make as many points as possible, ranging throughout the section of text
   • It is a good idea to make your points in chronological order, if possible
   • Use the annotations you have made in the margins to form the basis of each point
   • For the highest marks, you should zoom in on particular choices the writer has made and write about their effects
   • For a full example of this, please see Paper 1 Question 3: Model Answer
5. Sum up:
   • Finish your answer with a “So overall…” statement
   • Your finishing statement should sum up what you have discovered about the writer’s structural choices

• Having a focused approach will help you to structure your response and will enable you write more about less
• Quality over quantity is key to achieving a high grade in the exam 
• Make sure that selections are precise and that your comments and analysis relate to the question being asked
• Deconstruct the structural features you choose, analysing each one in detail
• You need to think about how these elements combine to create meaning
• Focus on the effects of the writer’s choices, thinking about what the writer is doing and why
• Higher responses typically focus on the effects of structural choices rather than writing about complex structural techniques
• You should only ever use terminology to support your analysis and help to explain your ideas

• Avoid over-generalised comments and speculative comments on how ‘the reader’ might respond
• For example, “it interests the reader” or “it makes the reader want to read on”
• These statements do not show any understanding of the effect(s) of a particular structural feature and will not be credited above a Level 1
• Avoid getting distracted by shoe-horning in complex technical terms
• You must not simply spot techniques without demonstrating your understanding or acknowledging the effects achieved by the writer 
• Do not stray into writing about language
• Some of the structural features you may comment on may also be considered a language feature (e.g. foreshadowing)
• However, you must ensure your comments focus on how the writer has used it as a structural device, rather than how they have used it as a language device
• For example, “The writer foreshadows the dramatic events at the end of the text by describing the tranquillity and silence at the start of the extract.”