KS3 English Homework Booklet

AQA English Language Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing.

AQA English Language Paper 2: Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives

Name: ________________________________________________________________

Class: ______________________

Teacher: _____________________________________________________________

1
1: Identifying Figurative Language Techniques
Match the language techniques to the correct definitions. If there are any that you are
unsure about, look them up online.
Adjectives Language intended to create an emotional
response.

Verbs A word that modifies a verb, adjective or another

adverb.

Adverbs Figure of speech when one thing is compared to

something else.

Metaphor A word that describes a noun.

Simile A use of obvious exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Onomatopoeia Figure of speech when one thing is compared to

something else using ‘like’ or ‘as.’

Personification A word that conveys an action.

Hyperbole A metaphor attributing human feelings to an

object.

Emotive Language A written form to show that two or more

characters are having a conversation.

Dialogue The use of words that imitate the sounds

associated with the objects or actions they refer
to.

a) Write your own example including the following techniques as a sentence in the table below:

Metaphor

Simile

Onomatopoeia

Personification

Emotive language

2
 2: Identifying and Commenting on the Effect of Figurative Language

Read the following fictional quotes, identify the language technique used and comment
on its effect.
Quote Technique Used Effect (what does it suggest?)

The circus was a

magnet for the
children.

The blazing hot sun

scorched through the
day.

The autumn leaves and

twigs cracked and
crunched underfoot.

A heart-breaking aroma
of death filled the air as he
surveyed the devastation
and destruction that had
befallen them all.

The sun smiled at the

hills, ready to begin a
new day.

She laughed like a

hyena.

3
3: Identifying and Commenting on the Effect of Figurative Language in an Extract

Read the following descriptive extract:

A gun is fired. Startled antelopes look up from their grazing as the noise echoes across
the savanna. As the reverberation fades, one of Africa’s most incredible animals
struggles to take his last breath through his punctured lungs. All is quiet apart from the
sound of the hunter’s footsteps on the brittle grass. He squats by the bloodstained
carcass, still holding his gun, and smiles as his picture is taken. Victory shots are fired
into the air as the proud hunter gets into the car, driven by his guide, and goes back to
the hunting camp where he is served a meal and a stiff drink. The skinners then get to
work carefully removing the tawny coat from the carcass. Vultures circle above the
mass of meat and, as the last car leaves, they descend and finish off what the hunter has
left behind.

Complete the table below using specific quotes from the text. Try to identify three
different techniques used:

Quote Technique Used Effect (what does it suggest?)

4
4: Using Figurative Language in our Writing

Look at the picture below:

Complete the table below by describing the picture using the given language
techniques:

Technique Example

Simile

Metaphor

Personification

Hyperbole

Onomatopoeia

Emotive language

5
5: Extracting details from a text

Read the following extract taken from Louis Sachar’s Holes:

The Warden
It didn’t take long for the pickup to return. Mr Pendanski stepped out of the
cab. A tall woman with red hair stepped out of the passenger side. She
looked even taller than she was, since Stanley was down in his hole. She
wore a black cowboy hat and black cowboy boots which were studded with
turquoise stones. The sleeves on her shirt were rolled up, and her arms were
covered with freckles, as was her face. She walked right up to X-Ray.

a) Complete the mind map below by adding everything you learn about the Warden in
this extract:

The
Warden

b) Write one thing you can infer from the Warden’s character below:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

6
6: Making Basic Inferences

Inference involves using clues from the text to form your own opinions or conclusions
based on the text.

Use your skills of inference to complete the table below:

Textual Detail What can we infer?

Jacob stepped out of his house

It is raining.
and opened his umbrella.

Richard ripped his work into

pieces and stormed out of the
room.

The sound of the alarm

screeches through the school.

The child grimaces as he eats

the vegetables his mother has
given him.

Maria lets out a groan as she

finishes the last strand of
spaghetti.

Shreds of newspaper covers

Susan’s floor as her dog hides
under the sofa.

Mr. Jones sighs as he reads

through the student’s
assessment paper.

The truck spreads grit over the

road on the December
evening.

Naomi shakes the piggy bank

but no sound is heard.

7
7: Making Basic Inferences from a Text

It had grown busy while I had been in the water. Deck chairs had been dragged out.
Families had pitched little tents. Balls, Frisbees and kites seemed to be everywhere.
Hundreds of adults were just laid there, rigid on their towels while the children ran
around shouting and squealing irritatingly.
It always got like this at the weekend. I had warned Granddad. It would have been
better to have come in the evening when all the crowds had gone home. I sighed.
Granddad seemed oblivious, sat in his chair reading his book, his feet buried in the
sand.
The sun was at its height and beat down mercilessly.
“Perhaps you should put some cream on Granddad,” I said with concern.

1) Where is the scene set? Find evidence from the text to support your answer.
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2) Why did the narrator think it would have been better to have come in the evening?
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3) Why is the narrator concerned about Granddad?

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4) Do you think the narrator is having fun? Explain your answer.

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8
8: Becoming Familiar with 19th Century Language
Read the following extract from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879) by Robert
Louis Stevenson:
It was already hard upon October before I was ready to set forth, and at the high
altitudes over which my road lay there was no Indian summer to be looked for. I was
determined, if not to camp out, at least to have the means of camping out in my
possession; for there is nothing more harassing to an easy mind than the necessity of
reaching shelter by dusk, and the hospitality of a village inn is not always to be
reckoned sure by those who trudge on foot. A tent, above all for a solitary traveller, is
troublesome to pitch, and troublesome to strike again; and even on the march it forms a
conspicuous feature in your baggage. A sleeping-sack, on the other hand, is always
ready - you have only to get into it; it serves a double purpose - a bed by night, a
portmanteau by day; and it does not advertise your intention of camping out to every
curious passer-by. This is a huge point. If a camp is not secret, it is but a troubled
resting-place; you become a public character; the convivial rustic visits your bedside
after an early supper; and you must sleep with one eye open, and be up before the day.
I decided on a sleeping-sack; and after repeated visits to Le Puy, and a deal of high
living for myself and my advisers, a sleeping-sack was designed, constructed, and
triumphantly brought home.

This child of my invention was nearly six feet square, exclusive of two triangular flaps
to serve as a pillow by night and as the top and bottom of the sack by day. I call it 'the
sack,' but it was never a sack by more than courtesy: only a sort of long roll or sausage,
green waterproof cart-cloth without and blue sheep's fur within. It was commodious as
a valise, warm and dry for a bed. There was luxurious turning room for one; and at a
pinch the thing might serve for two. I could bury myself in it up to the neck; for my head
I trusted to a fur cap, with a hood to fold down over my ears and a band to pass under
my nose like a respirator; and in case of heavy rain I proposed to make myself a little
tent, or tentlet, with my waterproof coat, three stones, and a bent branch.

It will readily be conceived that I could not carry this huge package on my own, merely
human, shoulders. It remained to choose a beast of burden. Now, a horse is a fine lady
9
among animals, flighty, timid, delicate in eating, of tender health; he is too valuable and
too restive to be left alone, so that you are chained to your brute as to a fellow galley-
slave; a dangerous road puts him out of his wits; in short, he's an uncertain and
exacting ally, and adds thirty-fold to the troubles of the voyager. What I required was
something cheap and small and hardy, and of a stolid and peaceful temper; and all these
requisites pointed to a donkey.

Answer the following questions based on the text above:

Why was the narrator ‘looked upon with contempt’?

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Why did he decide not to take a tent?

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What did he plan to do if it rained?

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How was he going to carry all of his equipment?

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10
9: Analysing Language from 19th Century Texts
Complete the table below which explores Mr Hyde’s introduction through the story
told by Mr Enfield taken from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde
Quotation What this suggests

‘ … the man trampled calmly over

the child's body and left her
screaming on the ground.’

‘It wasn't like a man; it was like

some damned Juggernaut.’

‘He was perfectly cool and made

no resistance, but gave me one
look, so ugly that it brought out the
sweat on me like running.’

‘There is something wrong with his

appearance; something
displeasing, something downright
detestable. I never saw a man I so
disliked, and yet I scarce know
why.’

‘He must be deformed somewhere;

he gives a strong feeling of
deformity, although I couldn't
specify the point. He’s an
extraordinary-looking man, and yet
I really can name nothing out of the
way.’

11
10: Comparing Different Non-Fiction Texts
Read the quotes in the column below. Source A quotes are taken from Helen Keller’s
autobiography; Source B quotes are taken from David Walliams’ autobiography. Both
sources describe the writers’ experiences of teachers. Complete the comparison table
below:
Quotations Comparison
A: ‘It was my teacher's
genius, her quick
sympathy, her loving tact
which made the first years
of my education so
beautiful.’

B: ‘The pupils only met [Mr

Richardson] when he
wanted to punish some
minor wrongdoing. ‘
A: ‘My teacher is so near to
me that I scarcely think of
myself apart from her.’

B:’[The] headmaster was a

furious little man with a
beard who reeked of cigars
and dog. We boys didn’t
see him much.’

A: ‘There is not a talent, or

an aspiration or a joy in me
that has not been
awakened by her loving
touch.’

B: ‘As he punished them,

so he would grab their
wrists and hold them in
place so he could keep
whacking.’

12
11: Arguing For/Against a Statement
Read the following statement:
‘There should be a curfew from 9pm-7am for young people in order to reduce the rate of
crime on the streets.’
Complete the table below with as many reasons for/against this statement that you can
think of:
For Against

13
12: Analysing Language Techniques in a Non-Fiction Text
Read the following extract taken from Ellen Newbold La Motte’s The Backwash of War
and complete the language analysis table below:
From the operating room they are brought into the wards, these bandaged heaps from
the operating tables, these heaps that once were men. The clean beds of the ward are
turned back to receive them, to receive the motionless, bandaged heaps that are lifted,
shoved, or rolled from the stretchers to the beds. Again and again, all day long, the
procession of stretchers comes into the wards. The foremost bearer kicks open the
door with his knee, and lets in ahead of him a blast of winter rain, which sets dancing
the charts and papers lying on the table, and blows out the alcohol lamp over which the
syringe is boiling. Someone bangs the door shut. The unconscious form is loaded on the
bed. He is heavy and the bed sags beneath his weight. The brancardiers gather up their
red blankets and shuffle off again, leaving cakes of mud and streaks of muddy water on
the green linoleum.

Quote Technique Used Effect (what does it suggest?)

14
13: Skimming and Scanning a Non-Fiction Text for Details

Read the following extract taken from a 2002 article published in The Guardian called
Badgers Fall Prey to Blood Sport Revival:

Badger-baiting has become Britain's deadliest blood sport, with a record 20,000 deaths
forecast this year.
An unexpected resurgence in the gruesome pursuit, in which dogs are set on badgers,
has prompted the RSPCA and the police to launch the first national campaign next
month aimed at capturing offenders. A £1,000 reward will be offered for anyone with
information leading to a conviction for badger-baiting.

Chief Inspector Terry Spamer, of the RSPCA's special intelligence unit, said there had
been an 'explosion' in killings of the protected species, Britain's largest carnivorous
mammal, particularly in Wales, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland.

The RSPCA has collated intelligence on 4,000 individuals suspected of involvement in

the practice.

A decade after the introduction of the Protection of Badgers Act, 1992, the comeback of
badger-baiting has stunned animal welfare groups. The estimated death toll this year is
double last year's, and far higher than the 13,987 foxes officially killed by hunts last
season.

'It has become very prevalent in the last few months after dying off in the Eighties and
Nineties,' said Spamer.

Circle the letters of the four statements below that are true:

a) A reward of £100 will be paid for information leading to a conviction for

badger baiting.

b) The badger is Britain’s largest carnivorous mammal.

c) The death toll is far higher than that of foxes killed through hunting.

d) The RSPCA are launching a national campaign.

e) Five convictions were made in Scotland.

f) There were many killings in Wales.

g) Badger baiting died off in the Seventies.

15
14: Drawing Conclusions from a Text
Read the following extract taken from The Lion Children:
A gun is fired. Startled antelopes look up from their grazing as the noise echoes across
the savanna. As the reverberation fades, one of Africa’s most incredible animals
struggles to take his last breath through his punctured lungs. All is quiet apart from the
sound of the hunter’s footsteps on the brittle grass. He squats by the bloodstained
carcass, still holding his gun, and smiles as his picture is taken. Victory shots are fired
into the air as the proud hunter gets into the car, driven by his guide, and goes back to
the hunting camp where he is served a meal and a stiff drink. The skinners then get to
work carefully removing the tawny coat from the carcass. Vultures circle above the
mass of meat and, as the last car leaves, they descend and finish off what the hunter has
left behind.

One of the most magnificent male lions in our study area has been killed. Armagnac will
soon be flown halfway across the world, where on arrival his head will be stuffed and
mounted on the hunter’s wall, along with the photograph. His skin will be used as a
carpet, and the hunter will tell his friends about his trip to Africa, with a few
embellishments. Above him Armagnac will stare into oblivion with his new glass eyes.

A student, having read this extract, claimed: ‘The writer makes the reader feel as
though they are deeply saddened and disgusted by the death of the lion.’

Complete the table below by finding three quotes that prove this statement, and explain
why. Try to refer to the specific use of language by the writer:

Quotation from the extract Explanation

16
15: Tackling Unfamiliar Language

19th and 20th century English language is often very different to the language we read
today.

Use a dictionary or an online resource to find the definitions of the following popular
words used during this time that may appear in one of your unseen texts:

Word Definition

hearth

tolerable

rotund

dynastic

amiable

ruffian

infallible

beguile

malodorous

diminutive

infatuated

benevolence

17
16: Identifying Figurative Language in an Extract

Read the following description of setting taken from Bram Stoker’s Dracula:

Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched right over the roadway till
we passed as through a tunnel. And again great frowning rocks guarded us boldly on
either side. Though we were in shelter, we could hear the rising wind, for it moaned
and whistled through the rocks, and the branches of the trees crashed together as we
swept along. It grew colder and colder still, and fine, powdery snow began to fall, so
that soon we and all around us were covered with a white blanket. The keen wind still
carried the howling of the dogs, though this grew fainter as we went on our way. The
baying of the wolves sounded nearer and nearer, as though they were closing round on
us from every side. I grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear.

Complete the following table analysing the use of figurative language in this extract:

Quote Technique Used Effect

vivid vocabulary:
‘great frowning rocks guarded adjective
us boldly on either side’ adverb
verb

‘we could hear the rising wind,

onomatopoeia
for it moaned and whistled’

‘soon we and all around us

were covered with a white metaphor
blanket’

‘the keen wind still carried the

personification
howling of the dogs’

18
17: Considering an Author’s Word Choice
Read through the extract below. Some of the words have been removed. Use the word
bank at the bottom of the page to fill the gaps with appropriate vocabulary:
The room in which the boys were fed, was a large .................. hall, with a copper* at one
end, out of which the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose, and assisted by one
or two women, ladled the gruel at meal-times; of which composition each boy had one
porringer*, and no more – except on festive occasions, and then he had two ounces and
a quarter of bread besides. The bowls never wanted washing – the boys polished them
with their spoons till they shone again; and when they had performed this operation,
(which never took very long, the spoons being nearly as large as the bowls,) they would
sit staring at the copper with such
.................. eyes, as if they could .................. the very bricks of which it was composed;
employing themselves meanwhile in sucking their fingers most assiduously, with the
view of catching up any stray splashes of gruel that might have been cast thereon. Boys
have generally excellent appetites. Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the
.................. of slow starvation for three months: at last they got so voracious and ..................
with hunger, that one boy, who was tall for his age, and hadn't been used to that sort of
thing (for his father had kept a small cook’s shop,) hinted .................. to his companions,
that unless he had another basin of gruel *per diem, he was afraid he should some night
happen to eat the boy who slept next him, who happened to be a weakly youth of
tender age. He had a wild, hungry eye, and they implicitly believed him. A council was
held; lots were cast who should walk up to the master after supper that evening, and
ask for more; and it fell to Oliver Twist.
The evening arrived; the boys took their places; the master in his cook's uniform,
stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him;
the gruel was served out, and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel
disappeared, and the boys whispered each other and winked at Oliver, while his next
neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was .................. with hunger and reckless
with ................... He rose from the table, and advancing, basin and spoon in hand, to the
master, said, somewhat alarmed at his own temerity –
“Please, sir, I want some more.”
The master was a fat, healthy man, but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupefied
astonishment on the small .................. for some seconds, and then clung for support to the
copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder, and the boys with ..................
1) eager 6) darkly
2) tortures 7) stone
3) devour 8) wild
4) fear 9) rebel
5) desperate 10) misery

19
18: Analysing the Author’s Use of Characterisation

Read the following extract taken from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men:

A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes,
heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like
sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were
little bouquets of red ostrich feathers. ‘I’m lookin’ for Curley,’ she said. Her voice had a
nasal, brittle quality.
George looked away from her and then back. ‘He was here a minute ago, but he went.’
‘Oh!’ She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her
body was thrown forward. ‘You’re the new fellas that just come, ain’t ya?’
‘Yeah.’
Lennie’s eyes moved down her body, and though she did not seem to be looking at
Lennie she bridled a little. She looked at her fingernails. ‘Sometimes Curley’s in here,’
she explained.
George said brusquely, ‘Well, he ain’t now.’
‘If he ain’t, I guess I better look some place else,’ she said playfully.
Lennie watched her, fascinated. George said, ‘If I see him, I’ll pass the word you was
looking for him.’
She smiled archly and twitched her body. ‘Nobody can’t blame a person for lookin’,’ she
said. There were footsteps behind her, going by. She turned her head. ‘Hi, Slim,’ she
said.

Answer the following question using the P.E.E. guidelines below:

How does the writer use language to present the character of Curley’s wife?

Point:
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Evidence:
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Explanation:
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20
19: Identifying Persuasive Techniques in a Speech
Read the following speech by a father whose son was killed in a hit and run while trying
to protect his neighbourhood from looters and rioters during the 2011 London riots:
I don’t blame the Government, I don’t blame the police, I don’t blame anybody. I’m a
Muslim. I believe in divine fate and destiny, and it was his destiny and his fate, and now
he’s gone. And may Allah forgive him and bless him.
Tensions are already high in the area. It’s already bad enough what we are seeing on
the streets without other people taking the law into their own hands. My family wants
time to grieve for my son. People should let the law deal with this.
Today we stand here to plead with all the youth to remain calm, for our communities to
stand united. This is not a race issue. The family has received messages of sympathy
and support from all parts of society.
I lost my son. Blacks, Asians, Whites – we all live in the same community. Why do we
have to kill one another? Why are we doing this? Step forward if you want to lose your
sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home – please.

Identify the persuasive techniques used in the speech in the table below and comment
on their effect on the listener:

Technique Example Effect

Rhetorical
question

Emotive
language

Repetition

Use of personal
pronouns

Imperatives

21
20: Punctuating Writing for Clarity and Coherence
Re-write the following extracts below, adding appropriate punctuation to add control
and coherence:

When the history of sport comes to be written one of the greatest most enduring
chapters will be devoted to englands world cup win in 1966 why was it such an
achievement perhaps because the manager sir alf ramsey said very simply a year
before the tournament england will win the world cup and they did.

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Would you make a child drink dirty water of course you wouldn’t but that is what
millions of children in Africa do every day and thousands die every year from water
borne diseases think of this for just 60 pence a day you could provide clean water for a
village and ensure that children have a better to chance to live to adulthood surely that
isn’t too much to ask or is it

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22
21: Comparing Non-Fiction Texts

Read the following non-fiction extracts and complete the comparison table below:

Source A – George Orwell – “Down and Out in Paris and London”

Published in 1933, this is an autobiographical extract on the theme of poverty.
Paddy was my mate for about the next fortnight, and, as he was the first tramp I had
known at all well, I want to give an account of him. I believe that he was a typical tramp
and there are tens of thousands in England like him.

He was a tallish man, aged about thirty-five, with fair hair going grizzled and watery
blue eyes. His features were good, but his cheeks had lanked and had that greyish, dirty
in the grain look that comes of a bread and margarine diet. He was dressed, rather
better than most tramps, in a tweed shooting-jacket and a pair of old evening trousers
with the braid still on them. He was careful of his appearance altogether, and carried a
razor and bootbrush that he would not sell though one would have known him for a
tramp a hundred yards away. There was something in his drifting style of walk, and the
way he had of hunching his shoulders forward, essentially abject.

He had been brought up in Ireland, served two years in the war, and then worked in a
metal polish factory, where he had lost his job two years earlier. He was horribly
ashamed of being a tramp, but he had picked up all a tramp’s ways. He browsed the
pavements unceasingly, never missing a cigarette end, or even an empty cigarette
packet, as he used the tissue paper for rolling cigarettes. He had no stomach for crime,
however. When we were in the outskirts of Romton, Paddy noticed a bottle of milk on a
doorstep, evidently left there by mistake. He stopped, eyeing the bottle hungrily.
‘Christ!’ he said, ‘dere’s good food goin’ to waste. Somebody could knock dat bottle off,
eh? Knock it off easy.’

I saw that he was thinking of ‘knocking it off’ himself. He looked up and down the
street; it was a quiet residential street and there was nobody in sight. Paddy’s sickly,
chap-fallen face yearned over the milk. Then he turned away, saying gloomily: ‘Best
leave it. It don’t do a man no good to steal. T’ank God, I ain’t never stolen nothin’ yet.’

Source B - Taken from the Daily Mail Online, February 10th, 2014
A beggar that police believe isn't even homeless has boasted of raising £800 in just
three days. The unidentified man was found to be carrying the substantial sum of
money when officers arrested him in Nottingham city centre on an unrelated matter on
February 4th, but they were forced to let him keep the cash when they could find no
evidence to prove he had obtained it illegally.

Nottinghamshire Police now fears the man could be one of 10 'hardcore' beggars
operating in the city, none of who are thought to be genuinely homeless or in need of
help. Police officers originally arrested the unidentified man last week after he failed to
turn up at Lincolnshire Court on an unrelated matter. Upon searching him they
discovered a haul of £800 in notes and coins in his pockets. Police said that although
23
the man is well known as a prolific beggar, they were forced to hand the money back to
him as he had been arrested for something else and it could not be proven that he had
broken any law in obtaining it. The man was later released without charge.

A police spokeswoman told Mail Online: 'As far as we know the man isn't actually
homeless. He is just sitting shivering and people feel sorry for him. If he doesn't actually
ask for money, he hasn't broken the law.'

She added: 'People will just feel sorry for him and say 'here's a tenner mate'. That's
what we believe to be happening. The money may have been taken away for safe-
keeping after his arrest but it will definitely be handed back to him, if it hasn't been
already,' she went on to say. Officers say the large sum of money suggests the man may
be one of a group of all-British 'hardcore' beggars they fear are operating in the city.

Feature Source A Source B

GAP
(Genre,
Audience,
Purpose)

Narrative
perspective
(1st, 3rd
person, etc.)

Language
features
(e.g.
description,
dialogue)

Tone (e.g.
positive,
negative)

24
22: Summarising a Non-Fiction Text

Read the following article published in The Telegraph in 2015:

Junk food kills bacteria that protect against obesity, heart disease and cancer,
study finds.

Eating junk food kills good stomach bacteria which protect against obesity,
diabetes, cancer, heart disease and inflammatory bowel conditions studies
have found. The human gut contains around 3,500 different microbial species,
which together make up some three pounds in weight.

Scientists now believe a diet based on a limited range of highly processed foods,
rather than those found in a balanced, healthy diet, can wipe out the number of
good stomach microbes (stomach flora) by more than a third. The discovery
could explain why some people put on weight while others don’t, despite eating
roughly similar amounts of fat, sugar, protein and carbohydrates.

The finding emerged from studies conducted by Tim Spector, professor of

genetic epidemiology at King’s College London. He enlisted the help of his
23-year-old genetics student son Tom, who agreed to spend 10 days on a fast-
food-only diet of McDonald’s hamburgers, chips, chicken nuggets and Coca
Cola.

Tom said: “Before I started my father’s fast food diet there were about 3,500
bacterial species in my gut, dominated by a type called firmicutes. Once on the
diet I rapidly lost 1,300 species and my gut was dominated by a group called
bacteriodetes. The implication is that the McDonalds diet killed 1,300 of my gut
species.”

However, Professor Spector’s findings appear to support existing research

which indicates the problem is far more complex than simply eating too much.

Stomach flora also play a key role in warding off potentially harmful microbes -
they regulate the metabolism. They produce digestive enzymes, alongside
vitamins A and K, which are needed to aid the absorption into the body of
important minerals such as calcium and iron. Bacterial imbalances have been
linked to increased chances of developing conditions such as colitis and
inflammatory bowel disease.

Yet the precise make up of our microbial populations may vary from country to
country, and there are even suggestions that obesity may be contagious. Tests
conducted by the University of Colorado in the US found that transferring bacteria
from an obese human to a mouse led to the animal gaining weight, and lean
mice placed in cages with obese ones also became fat.

Professor Spector said: “Unfortunately, microbes get a bad press, but only a few
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of the millions of species are harmful, and many are vitally crucial to our health.
Alarmingly, what is emerging is that changes in our gut microbe community, or
microbiome, are likely to be responsible for much of our obesity epidemic, with
frightening consequences such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease”.

Professor Spector oversees a UK registry of 12,000 twins who are monitored

over the course of their lives for the effects of a variety of genetic and
environmental factors. The findings are the result of early work carried out by
the British Gut Project, of which he is a founding member.

Surprisingly, excluding fat and sugar is less important to a healthy diet than
making sure the food we eat is as diverse and natural as possible, Professor
Spector said. His advice chimes with studies suggesting that Belgian beer,
garlic, coffee, leeks and celery are ideal foods for promoting healthy gut flora.

Professor Spector said: “Fifteen thousand years ago our ancestors regularly
ingested around 150 different ingredients in a week. Worryingly, most people
nowadays consume fewer than 20 separate food types and many, if not most,
are artificially refined. Most processed food products come, depressingly, from
just four ingredients: corn, soy, wheat or meat”.

A spokesman for McDonald's said: "We have a wide range of foods available
in our restaurants and McDonald's can be enjoyed as part of a healthy balanced
diet. We have also reformulated our ingredients to reduce the amount of salt, fat
and sugar and removed trans fats entirely from our menu."

Use the space below to summarise the article in your own words:

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23: Analysing the Use of Language to Achieve a Particular Effect
Read the following extract taken from a 2011 online article reporting on the treatment
of animals in circuses:
“With each repeated blow, the pitchfork makes a sickening thwack as it slams into Anne
the elephant's hide. She flinches, at one point even appearing to lose her footing under
the weight of a particularly savage strike. The disturbing images come from a secretly
shot video which campaigners say lays bare the cruel reality of her life as Britain's last
circus elephant.

In secretly shot video, a worker swings a vicious kick into the belly of 58-year-old Anne
the elephant. Animal Defenders International planted the device because of concerns
about how Anne was being treated at Bobby Roberts's Super Circus. It shows Anne
enduring the abuse at the hands of her so called ‘carers’ while shackled in a dingy barn
during the circus' winter break.

As well as being repeatedly hit with a pitchfork by one worker employed to feed and
look after her, the 58-year-old elephant also appears to be stabbed in the face with the
tool's metal prongs during one attack. A total of 48 strikes, including kicks to her body
and head, were recorded as she was left chained to the spot by her legs.”

How does the writer use language in this extract to convey the cruelty suffered by
Annie the circus elephant? Write one detailed paragraph to answer this question
below:

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24: Identifying Persuasive Language Techniques
Match the language techniques to the correct definitions. If there are any that you are
unsure about, look them up online.
Rhetorical question Language intended to create an emotional
response.

Anecdote Using adjectives of the highest form to exaggerate or

reinforce a point, e.g. biggest, most successful

Facts/statistics Repetition of the same sound at the beginning of two

or more words within the same
sentences/paragraphs.
Expert opinion When evidence and detail is given to support a point
using realistic language.

Repetition A use of obvious exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Personal pronouns Expression of a viewpoint or judgment based on

one’s own ideas.

Alliteration A short account of a particular incident or event

related to the topic matter.

Hyperbole Using words such as ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘me’, ‘you’ and ‘I’ to
directly appeal to the audience.

Emotive Language Directing statements posed as questions to

get the audience thinking; no answer is
required.
Superlatives Repeating certain words or phrases for impact.

b) Write your own example including the following techniques as a sentence in the table below:

Rhetorical question

Facts/statistics

Expert opinion

Anecdote

Emotive language

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25: Identifying Punctuation and Its Usage
Match the punctuation with its definition:
Punctuation Type Usage
Full stop (.) Used at the end of an exclamatory
sentence.
Comma (,) Used to separate clauses, adverbials, or
items in a list.
Exclamation mark Used to separate related independent
(!) clauses or items in a complicated list.
Question mark (?) Used at the end of a declarative or
imperative sentence.
Hyphen (-) Used to introduce explanations, speech
or lists – formal.
Dash (–) Used to separate extra information
(also known as parenthesis).
Brackets ( ) Used at the end of an inquisitive
sentence.
Apostrophe (‘) Used to introduce explanations or
further information – informal.
Semi-colon (;) Used to highlight direct speech or
quotations.
Colon (:) Used to join words that have a
combined meaning.
Inverted commas Use to indicate omission, contraction
(“) or possession.

Write an example of each of the given punctuation marks in a sentence below:

Semi-colon (;)

Colon (:)

Parenthesis (brackets
or pair of commas or
dashes)

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26: Commenting on the Effect of Opening Lines
Read the extracts taken from the opening of various fictional sources. Using the table,
comment on the effect of the sentence as an opening line.

Quote Comment on effect

1. His children are falling

from the sky.

2. It was a bright cold day in

April, and the clocks were
striking thirteen.

3. All children, except one,

grow up.

4. That was one of the

hardest jobs I ever took on.

5. It was the day my

grandmother exploded.

Which of the previous quotes do you believe is the most successful source opening and
why?

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27: Identifying the Effects of Structural Features

Match the structural feature to its particular effect or purpose.

Sequencing Use of direct speech by one or

more characters; can bring the
character to ‘life’.
Dialogue Telling a story in the time order in
which it happens.

Narrative Developing a particular image over

chronology a series of sentences or paragraphs
to build a stronger picture.
Narrative Used to indicate changes in time,
shifts place, topic or person. Can be an
introduction or conclusion.
Repetition Repeating words, phrases, images
or ideas over parts of a text to
connect them together.
Changing The telling of a story from a point of
focus view – 1st, 2nd or 3rd person. Can be a
character or omniscient narrator.
Extended Changing from the narrative
imagery description of small, close-up details
to larger ones – or the opposite.
Tone/mood Changing attention to different
things, e.g. description of setting,
character thoughts, dialogue, etc.
Narrative Putting information about a
voice/ character into a particular
perspective order, e.g. appearance,
behaviour, etc.
Paragraphs The attitude of a narrator to what
they are talking about, e.g. positive,
negative, mocking, humorous, etc.

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28: Commenting on the Effects of Structural Features

Read the following extract taken from Ian McEwan’s Atonement:

She was one of those children possessed by a desire to have the world just so. Whereas
her big sister’s room was a stew of unclosed books, unfolded clothes, unmade bed,
unemptied ashtrays, Briony’s was a shrine to her controlling demon: the model farm
spread across a deep window ledge consisted of the usual animals, but all facing one
way – towards their owner – as if about to break into song, and even the farmyard hens
were neatly corralled. In fact, Briony’s was the only tidy upstairs room in the house. Her
straight-backed dolls in their many-roomed mansion appeared to be under strict
instructions not to touch the walls; the various thumb-sized figures to be found
standing about her dressing table – cowboys, deep-sea divers, humanoid mice –
suggested by their even ranks and spacing a citizen’s army awaiting orders.

Complete the table below, commenting on how each of the structural features help to
build the overall impression of Briony:

Structural
Evidence Effect
Feature
‘She was one of those
Opening children possessed by a
sentence desire to have the world
just so.’

Simple
sentence ‘In fact, Briony’s was the
contrasted with only tidy upstairs room
complex in the house.’
sentences
‘controlling demon’
Extended (metaphor)
imagery of ‘neatly corralled’
control ‘under strict instructions’
‘awaiting orders’

Repetition of
prefix ‘un’ ‘unclosed’, ‘unfolded’,
contrasted with ‘unmade’, ‘unemptied’
Briony’s room

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29: Evaluating the Success of the Author’s Language

Read the following extract from Monica Ali’s Brick Lane. The scene describes the birth
of the character Nazneen. who was initially thought to be stillborn:

Mumtaz took hold of Nazneen, who was still dangling by the ankle, and felt the small,
slick torso slide through her fingers to plop with a yowl onto the bloodstained mattress.
A yowl! A cry! Rupban scooped her up and named her before she could die nameless
again.
Banesa made little explosions with her lips. She used the corner of her yellowing sari to
wipe some spittle from her chin. ‘This is called a death-rattle,’ she explained. The three
women put their faces close to the child, Nazneen flailed her arms and yelled, as if she
could see this terrifying sight. She began to lose the blueness and turned slowly to
brown and purple. ‘God has called her back to earth,’ said Banesa, with a look of disgust.

How does the writer make you feel about this scene? Include quotations to justify your
opinion.

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