English paper 1, non-fiction texts

Exam tips from the begging KEY IS TIMING

Answer all the questions in this section you are advised to spend an hour on this section 

• spend 10 minutes preparing the materials 
  • skim read the items read quickley so know what the genral idea is take
    •  2 minutes
    •  (some people prefer to miss this section out it is personal chioce
    • read the questions carefully so you know what you are looking for
    • take 2 minutes 
• this means you have taken 4 minutes of your allotted 10 minutes 
  • annotate the texts- make notes, underline important bits write question numbers in the margin so you know where to come back to and dont repeat your self 
    • take 6 minutes to do this this means that you to minutes is over and you have to start answering the questions (no more delaying)

Predicting the questions (Wouldn't it be great to know what was coming up before you went in )

There is likley to be a question about the use of fact and opinion 

There is likiey to be a question asking you to follow an argument 

There is likiey to be a question asking you to compare the two items

There is likiey to be a question asking you about presentational and organisationaldevices, often including discussion of any pictures or images 

Fact or opinion

Fact- CAN BE PROVEN  quite often have a figure                       Opinions- someones own personal beleif 

*watch out for opinions that say 'it is fact that' they are trying to get you to think the way they do by presenting a fact as an opinion 

*you may not always be asked to simply give the fact or opinion but to write about how they have used it and you need to quote the opinion or fact to back up your argument 

examples of fact and oppinion try to sort them your selves *answers on last slide

• my favourite colour is green
• it is a well known fact that the green party care the most for their supporters 
• i think that get revising is the best revision site 
• get revising has 2 site awards 
• the sky is blue 

Purpose of the text

what is the purpose of the text ?

inform/explain/persuade/argue/advise or combination?

usually easy to work out but if not think stereotyplically who will be reading the text? 

the texts audience

who is the text aimed at? who is the target audience?

be as precise as you can: children/teenagers/adults/men/women/experts/begginers

this is the target demographic

language used in the text

the words and sentences have been chosen to suit the purpose and audience of the text.

is the text:formal/informal/funny/serious/technical/descriptive/poetic?

look for launguage techniques: similies,metaphores etc 

is the language factual or informative

lay out of the texts

how is the text organised on the page

bullet points,captions

images- how are they used are they photographs cartoons diagrams why have they been chosen how do they suppport the text

columns 

font styles whats lettering like classical formal old fassiond modern

graphics/diagrams 

headlines,italics emphasis, paragraphs-easy to read short or long realte to audience

8 of 9

question help

MAKE SURE 

that you use appropriate quotes/examples from texts

that you know the differences between fact and opinion

that you understand the writer's argument and can be objective

that you can choose approoriate quotes/examples from both texts

that you understand how writers use language, form and presentational devices to achive effect