GCSE English Language for AQA Sample Preview

Blended digital and print resources specifically created for the new AQA GCSE English Language specification, available from early 2015.

Brighter Thinking

Brighter thinking for the new curriculum: • Written by an experienced author team of teachers, partners and advisers.

• Rich digital content to engage and motivate learners.

• Differentiated resources to support all abilities.

• Progression and development at the heart of all our resources.

For more information or to speak to your local sales consultant, please contact us:

www.cambridge.org/ukschools ukschools@cambridge.org 01223 325 588 CUPUKschools

ENGLISH LANGUAGE GCSE for AQA Sample

Written from draft specification

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Foreword Welcome to the new AQA GCSE English Language resources from Cambridge University Press. These resources adopt an engaging and progressive approach, specifically supporting the AQA 2015 GCSE English Language specification, and founded in the core skills for reading, writing and spoken language as defined in the new GCSE Curriculum.

This is a time of change, challenge and opportunity. For the first time in decades, teachers of English Language face a scenario where assessment is 100% exam based, exams are no longer tiered, and the familiar grading of G to A* is replaced by 1 to 9. The best of English Language and English Literature will be double weighted, provided a student has taken both qualifications. The second best score of English Literature and English Language can be counted in the ‘other’ group of subjects for Attainment 8, if it’s one of the student’s highest scores in this group.

These resources help you meet the challenges and maximise on opportunities during this period of change, by providing practical and purposeful support for classroom and independent use. With a combination of enhanced digital resources and print Student Books they engage students with a rich range of reading sources and stimuli for writing, drawn from across the 19th-, 20th- and 21st-centuries and carefully selected for both purpose and appeal.

Our aim is to enable students to develop confidence and skills in reading closely and writing fluently, and motivate them through a clear focus on Assessment Objectives, and regular feedback on achievement and assessment of progress.

We have strived to make progress visible and attainable across the ability range, ensuring challenge for the more able and support for those who need it with two student books, Progress and Progress Plus. Free Teacher Resources offer expert support for course planning, teaching and assessment, and there will be significant opportunities for online assessment and progress tracking.

I believe these resources offer you and your students an engaging, supportive, challenging and comprehensive experience of the study of English Language.

They develop students’ skills and knowledge so they are confident and equipped to gain the best grade they can in their GCSE, whilst also seeking to make English a source of pleasure and power in their lives.

Imelda Pilgrim, Series Editor

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Authors Series Editor and Author: Imelda Pilgrim Imelda taught English for many years before leaving teaching to allow more time for writing and providing workshops for teachers and students. Imelda has written many bestselling textbooks.

Clare Constant Clare is an experienced English teacher who has run an Outstanding English Department (OFSTED 2010) and is Director of Teaching and Learning in a small London school. Clare has written a number of best-selling secondary English books over the last 18 years.

Mike Ferguson Mike has been an English Teacher for 30 years in 11–18 schools, with 18 years spent as Head of Department.

He has written a number of educational publications and has contributed to various journals. Mike has also made contributions to Teachit and has written for a number of poetry publications.

Lindsay McNab Lindsay worked for almost 40 years as an English and Media Studies teacher and was a Head of Department for twenty of those years. He was also an Assistant Head with responsibility for CPD and staff development.

Martin Phillips Martin taught English in 11–18 comprehensive schools and after a spell as a Vice Principal he moved into advisory work. Martin has also worked as an Ofsted Registered Inspector and ran his own consultancy focusing specifically on raising attainment in English. Working as the Director of the Digital Media Education Centre he produced over 30 books and DVDs supporting the teaching of English and Media Studies and has also written textbooks for major publishers.

Marian Slee Marian is an experienced English teacher. She now works as a freelance English consultant and trainer and has contributed to many bestselling text books.

Peter Thomas Peter has previously been a Lecturer in Education, an English Teacher and an Advisory Teacher and is involved in English curriculum development and assessment. He has been an Associate Fellow of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth and is currently working with The Globe Education department as well as the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Peter has written for the national press, educational journals, and NATE Classroom on various aspects of the English curriculum and assessment.

Bernard Ward Bernard has been teaching since 1989 and in 2000 became English Co-ordinator at a Pupil Referral Unit.

He has been Literacy Co-ordinator in a special needs unit, a Behavioural Advisor, and Head of English.

In 2011 he gave up teaching to concentrate on freelance work as a poet, philosopher and as an Educational Consultant. Bernard is Consultant PhD Supervisor for Napier University.

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Our offering for AQA Cambridge University Press is delighted to have entered an approval process with AQA to publish resources for their new 2015 GCSE English Language specification.

We are driven by a simple goal: to create resources that teachers and students need to ignite a curiosity and love for learning. As England enters a new educational chapter, we are publishing a comprehensive suite of blended print and digital English resources specifically written for the new AQA English specifications, available from early 2015.

Written by an experienced author team of teachers and advisers, our differentiated GCSE English Language resources have a strong focus on progression and developing transferable skills, and are designed to prepare all students for the untiered linear examination. Supporting the development of reading, writing and spoken language skills through a range of active learning approaches, students will learn how to apply these skills to a range of familiar and unfamiliar contexts. Our resources are specifically designed to prepare students for the challenges of 19th-century texts and support for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) is embedded throughout.

With rich digital content to engage and motivate learners, our simple and affordable resources build on subject knowledge and understanding, and prepare students for achievement in the new GCSE specification.

Progress

Progress Plus

Component entering the AQA endorsement process.

Student Book A print Student Book bundled with our Elevate‑enhanced Edition, these differentiated student resources cover all the knowledge, understanding and skills for the GCSE English Language course.

Other series components not entering the AQA endorsement process.

Elevate-enhanced Edition An enhanced digital resource for students and teachers with customisable content, including engaging videos and opportunities to track and report on students’ progression.

Teacher’s Resource Everything necessary for teachers to plan and deliver the specification.

Writing Workshops Additional student resource of enriching Writing Workshops to engage, build and develop writing skills with a specific focus and outcome.

Our inclusive print Student Book and Elevate-enhanced Edition bundle offers a sophisticated and cost‑effective solution, including everything necessary for the effective teaching and learning of the new GCSE specification in one package.

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Our AQA resources Student Book

Elevate-enhanced edition

Entering the AQA endorsement process.

Not entering the AQA endorsement process.

Bundled with our Elevate-enhanced Edition, our print Student Books have been created specifically for the AQA 2015 GCSE English Language specification.

Student Books are available at two differentiated levels, Progress, developed for those students who would have previously sat the Foundation paper, and Progress Plus for students working from grades 5–9.

Available as a standalone product or as part of print Student Book and digital bundle, our Elevateenhanced Edition provides you with a flexible solution to deliver the new 2015 qualifications. This enhanced digital resource provides a range of tools, allowing students to take ownership of their learning.

Both Student Books include: • spelling, punctuation and grammar fully integrated throughout, addressing the new SPaG requirements • high-quality 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century texts across a range of genres, selected to help students prepare for the more challenging historical texts • dedicated support to help students develop the skills necessary to write about unseen texts in timed conditions • a spoken language section to develop students’ skills as speakers, presenters, listeners and responders • a progressive teaching sequence to support accessibility and engagement and enable teachers to build skills right across the ability range.

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Our Elevate-enhanced Editions: • feature rich digital content including a range of videos, audio and differentiated interactive resources • allow students and teachers to annotate text, add audio notes and hyperlinks • enable teachers to create specific student groups to share notes and resources with – ideal for differentiation • allows for tracking and reporting in tests and includes a My Work folder that can be used to submit work to teachers • is available online through browsers, or offline through iOS or Android apps, so students can access the content anytime, anywhere.

24/09/2014 13:36

Writing Workshops

Teacher’s Resource

Not entering the AQA endorsement process.

Not entering the AQA endorsement process.

Writing Workshops is an additional print component to develop students’ writing skills through creative, narrative, descriptive and discursive writing, while also building communication, organisation and accuracy skills. Our motivating Writing Workshops:

Specifically developed for the AQA 2015 GCSE English Language specification, our FREE Teacher’s Resource will help with the planning and delivery of the course.

• will help students’ progress in the Assessment Objective skills of communication, organisation and accuracy • will inspire students as writers at GCSE and beyond • draw on the authors’ experience in successfully running writing workshops at GCSE for many years.

Packed with best-practice teaching guidance our Teacher’s Resource includes: • a full Scheme of Work mapping the Student Book content to the qualifications and highlighting opportunities to co-teach • support for the integrated teaching and delivery of both the English Language and English Literature specifications • maps where spelling, punctuation and grammar are taught within the units, for clarity of coverage and application in different contexts • Assessment for Learning to help monitor individual and group progress • transition support from Key Stage 3 to GCSE and from GCSE to A Level • differentiation opportunities to stretch the more able and provide support for those who need it most.

You can access the Student Book sample chapters featured here online, and to view a sample demonstration of the Elevate-enhanced Edition, contact your local sales consultant through

www.cambridge.org/ukschools

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Using the Student Book

r

GCSE English Language Progress Plus

2

source J

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.

c

5

S w s fr

10

15

From The Lion Children by Angus, Maisie and Travers McNeice

Generic icons

Assess your progress Assessment for Learning (AfL) end of unit tasks to monitor and track progress. Supported by digital AfL mark schemes and transferrable skills to support improvement and independent learning.

English icons Tip Icon

Assess your progress

Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for the circle

Marketing icons Writing exercise

Read Source J and answer the questions that follow. TheyCritical willlenshelp you assess Key point/terms icon Checklist/summary Use strand colour for the circle how well you: • identify, explain and infer meaning based on detail Connect to the text • use Test evidence to support your ideas • summarise detail. a Take A gun is fi red twice in the passage. Explain why.

Core level it further Research Take it further b What will happen to Armagnac’s head and skin?

Maths icons c Work out the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: Elevate audio

reverberation

embellishments

Exploring (one icon for

all concepts) oblivion

d How do you think the writer feels about the hunter and what he has done?

Use evidence fromExam the passage to support your ideas.

Elevate video hint Text to performance e List the points you would include in a summary of the passage. f Compare your answers to questions 1 to 5 with another student’s.

Correct or add to your answers be improved.

Show your skillsif you feel they can Debating Elevate question type point

Further progress

fUrther ProGress

Ebook icon

One of the best ways to develop reading skills is to read widely. In this unit, you have read a range of non-fi ction and fi ction texts. Aim to spend an extra two hours a week reading. Keep a record of what you read Calculator/Calc icon and make sure that over the next few months you read both fi ction and Did you know non-fi ction texts.

No Calculator

16 Elevate evidence of work

Cross reference External hyperlink

At the end of the unit – suggestions for linked wider reading/extension/ richness, to connect different parts of the book (e.g. links between reading and writing).

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Make progress Unit opening learning objectives showing the attainment progress within the the unit.

reading

2

Explore the ways writers use language for effect

comment on the effects of words So far you have explored the possible effects of writers’ choices of words. Before you move on, spend some time reading Source F, two extracts from a nineteenth-century novel.

ACTIVITY 6 1 Work on your own. Focus on the writer’s

use of adjectives, noun phrases, adverbs and verbs. Comment on the ways the writer uses language to give an impression of the narrator's state of mind.

2 When you have finished, read through what

you have written. Highlight where you have: • • •

Make progress 7 Reading: Research and synthesise information and ideas Explore:

identified adjectives, noun phrases, verbs and adverbs commented on the effects of the identified words and phrases covered a possible range of effects.

s

• • • •

how writers’ purposes affect their language choices the effects of grammatical features how writers use imagery how writers use language to create tone.

Activities source f

The evening, I remember, was still and cloudy; the London air was at its heaviest; the distant hum of the street-traffic was at its faintest; the small pulse of the life within me, and the great heart of the city around me, seemed to be sinking in unison, languidly and more languidly, with the sinking sun. …

Activities that include a variety of approaches and purposes as built into the unit focus.

The quiet twilight was still trembling on the topmost ridges of the heath; and the view of London below me had sunk into a black gulf in the shadow of the cloudy night, when I stood before the gate of my mother’s cottage.

When I rose the next morning and drew up my blind, the sea opened before me joyously under the broad August sunlight, and the distant coast of Scotland fringed the horizon with its lines of melting blue.

From The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

s

25

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Using the Student Book Texts Use of language is explored in a wide range of engaging 19th- 20th- and 21st-century texts

Make progress

GCSE English Language Progress Plus READING

5

Develop comparison skills

Generic icons

•

English icons Tip Icon

Assess your progress

Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for the circle

1 To help you in Key point/terms iconassess the skills Checklist/summary

Use strand colour for the circle comparison you have developed in this unit, read Sources F and G. As Test you read make notes on points a–c as preparation for answering question 2.

a

• •

Take it further

Marketing icons Writing exercise

Source F

•

• •

Research

•

Maths icons

T R

Calculator/Calc icon

Exploring (one icon for all concepts)

Did you know

IW o

Text to performance

2 UseElevate your notes from the answers to Show your skills question type

T n e a c

No Calculator Debating point

points 1a–c to write your response to the question: Cross reference

Compare the perspectives and ideas about earthquakes and the language used to present them.

External hyperlink

I g b sw th

Remember to: •

refer to the writers’ purposes, audience and perspectives Icon • Tipshow how the ideas in both Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for texts are similar the circle • show how they are different point/terms icon the effects of Checklist/summary • Keyconsider Use strand colour for the circle language, making interpretative comments

Generic icons

Test

3 When you have finished, re-read

your work using the list above to help you check that you have Core level Take it further Take it further included everything needed for a comparison of ideas and language.

If you have missed anything make Elevate audio additions to your work.

Glossary Emboldened key terms that appear in the glossary, and also may contain a definition in situ if useful, with pop up definitions in the Elevate‑enhanced Edition.

GCSE_EnglishLang.indd 8

58

English icons

1

R

Connect to the text

Core level

R

Y

Ebook icon

In this piece, novelist and journalist Jack London Critical lens gives an account of the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

List the damage causedTake byit further earthquakes in each text. b Elevate What audio did each writer think and feel about the earthquake they witnessed? c Elevate Listvideo the features of language Exam hint that stand out for you in each of the texts.

Elevate evidence of work

develop comparison skills compare the ideas and language of two texts study the features of a written comparison before writing your own

Marketing icons

F in fa ab b

Writing exercise Ebook icon

Critical lens

Connect to the text

From Collier’s magazine, May 5, 1906 Research

Glossary

2

NabobExploring person or Calculator/Calc icon status (one icon of for conspicuous wealth all concepts)

Contrivances ingenious devices Did you know

Elevate video

Exam hint

Text to performance

Elevate question type

Show your skills

Debating point

Elevate evidence of work

Cross reference

1

Maths icons

No Calculator

External hyperlink

22/08/2014 14:19

6

READING

11

Test your progress 2

Test your progress Assessment for Learning is further supported in two key ‘Test your progress’ units within the reading section, and two key ‘Test your progress’ units within the writing section.

You have 45 minutes.

Route to success: • • • •

Read the passage closely. Remember to think about what you are reading.

Read all the questions carefully before starting to answer.

The number of marks for each question will give you a clue as to how much time you should spend on each one.

Remember to refer to the text to support points you make.

The following passage is taken from the opening of the memoir Cider with Rosie. In it the writer recalls his arrival at the remote Cotswold village of Slad.

I WAS set down from the carrier’s cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began.

The June grass, amongst which I stood, was taller than I was, and I wept. I had never been so close to grass before. It towered above me and all around me, each blade tattooed with tiger-skins of sunlight. It was knife-edged, dark, and a wicked green, thick as a forest and alive with grasshoppers that chirped and chattered and leapt through the air like monkeys.

5

I was lost and didn’t know where to move. A tropic heat oozed up from the ground, rank with sharp odours of roots and nettles. Snow-clouds of elderblossom banked in the sky, showering upon me the fumes and flakes of their sweet and giddy suffocation. High overhead ran frenzied larks, screaming, as though the sky were tearing apart.

10

For the first time in my life I was out of the sight of humans. For the first time in my life I was alone in a world whose behaviour I could neither predict nor fathom: a world of birds that squealed, of plants that stank, of insects that sprang about without warning. I was lost and I did not expect to be found again. I put back my head and howled, and the sun hit me smartly on the face, like a bully.

15

From Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee 1

Focus on lines 1 to 17 only. Explain why the narrator put back his head and howled (line 17).

6 marks

This question tests your skill in selecting and using detail to explain.

2

Focus on lines 18 to 30 only. What do you learn about the relationship between the narrator and his sisters?

8 marks

This question tests your skill in using detail to infer meaning.

105

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Using the Elevate-enhanced Edition Students can personalise their resources through text or audio annotations, adding links to useful resources, inserting bookmarks and highlighting key passages.

The user’s data synchronises when online, so their annotations and results are available on any device they use to access the Elevateenhanced Edition.

Additional functionality includes image galleries, zoomable images, animations, videos and interactive questions.

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Features available online only Teachers can send their annotations to students, directing them to further sources of information, adding activities or additional content.

GCSE_EnglishLang.indd 11

Supports deep links, so teachers can link from the Elevate-enhanced Edition to their VLE, and vice versa, helping integrate this exible resource into your teaching with minimal disruption.

Media galleries and fully searchable content help users find the information they need.

22/08/2014 14:19

Brighter Thinking

English Language Progress Plus

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READING

Unit 1

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

Identify and explain information and ideas Make progress

• • • •

identify detail use detail to explain summarise detail infer meaning based on detail

ss Plus

Developing AO1 skills

ACTIVITY 1 1 Create a table to list the different types of things

you might read in a normal week, your reasons for reading them and whether you read them closely or quickly glance at them.

What I read

YOUR READING Every day you need to read a wide range of items.

However, you don’t read them all in the same way.

When reading the ingredients list in a recipe, you need to read every word to make sure you don’t miss anything. In contrast, when reading a text message a quick glance is sometimes all that is needed.

From Progre

Reason

Close/Glance

Sports news

interest

close

Lesson timetable

to find next lesson

glance

2 In small groups:

a

b c

compare your records of reading to find out if you read more or read less than the others in your group talk about what you most and least enjoy reading list in order of importance reasons why it is important to have good reading skills.

3 Your group has been selected to give a

televised presentation as part of a government campaign targeting teenagers to promote the benefits of reading. Work together on your presentation. Discuss: a b c

10

the points you want to make the order in which you should make these points how to make your presentation interesting, lively and effective.

Practise your presentation in front of another group.

1 Reading: Identify and explain information and ideas

READING FOR DETAIL You read for many reasons. Sometimes this may be to find a specific detail. You don’t need to read every word closely. Think about how you scan the pages of a bus timetable. Your eyes move over the text quickly until they focus on the key words that locate the detail you are looking for. Sometimes you need to find several details and link them together. This requires closer reading.

ACTIVITY 2

Find out how well you read for detail by reading Source A from Guinness World Records 2014 and answering the questions.

Source A

1 Finding specific details:

a

b

c

What name is given to videos which quickly spread across the internet?

Which type of video dominates the YouTube chart?

What is the nationality of the star who has had over a billion views?

2 Selecting and linking

details to answer a question: What, according to the passage, are the potential results of video uploading?

3 Check your answers with

another student. Amend them if necessary.

From Guinness World Records 2014 © Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

11

GCSE English Language Progress Plus

From Progress Plu

s

The end of U nit 1 assesses AO 1 skills developed th rough the unit

Source J

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.

5

10

15

From The Lion Children by Angus, Maisie and Travers McNeice

Generic icons

English icons Tip Icon

Assess your progress

Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for the circle

Marketing icons Writing exercise

Read Source J and answer the questions that follow. TheyCritical willlenshelp you assess Key point/terms icon Checklist/summary Use strand colour for the circle how well you: • identify, explain and infer meaning based on detail Connect to the text • use Test evidence to support your ideas • summarise detail. a Take A gun passage.

Explain why. Research Core level it further is fired twice in the Take it further b What will happen to Armagnac’s head and skin?

Maths icons c Work out the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: Elevate audio

reverberation

embellishments

Exploring (one icon for

all concepts) oblivion

d How do you think the writer feels about the hunter and what he has done?

Use evidence fromExam the passage to support your ideas.

Elevate video hint Text to performance e List the points you would include in a summary of the passage. f Compare your answers to questions 1 to 5 with another student’s.

Correct or add to your answers be improved.

Show your skillsif you feel they can Debating Elevate question type point

16 Elevate evidence of work

Cross reference

FURTHER PROGRESS

Ebook icon

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification External hyperlink

One of the best ways to develop reading skills is to read widely. In this unit, you have read a range of non-fiction and fiction texts. Aim to spend an extra two hours a week reading. Keep a record of what you read Calculator/Calc icon and make sure that over the next few months you read both fiction and Did you know non-fiction texts.

No Calculator

READING

2

Explore the ways writers use language for effect

COMMENT ON THE EFFECTS OF WORDS So far you have explored the possible effects of writers’ choices of words. Before you move on, spend some time reading Source F, two extracts from a nineteenth-century novel.

ACTIVITY 6 1 Work on your own. Focus on the writer’s

use of adjectives, noun phrases, adverbs and verbs. Comment on the ways the writer uses language to give an impression of the narrator's state of mind.

2 When you have finished, read through what

you have written. Highlight where you have: • • •

Make progress 7 Reading: Research and synthesise information and ideas Explore:

identified adjectives, noun phrases, verbs and adverbs commented on the effects of the identified words and phrases covered a possible range of effects.

• • • •

how writers’ purposes affect their language choices the effects of grammatical features how writers use imagery how writers use language to create tone.

Source F

The evening, I remember, was still and cloudy; the London air was at its heaviest; the distant hum of the street-traffic was at its faintest; the small pulse of the life within me, and the great heart of the city around me, seemed to be sinking in unison, languidly and more languidly, with the sinking sun. …

The quiet twilight was still trembling on the topmost ridges of the heath; and the view of London below me had sunk into a black gulf in the shadow of the cloudy night, when I stood before the gate of my mother’s cottage.

When I rose the next morning and drew up my blind, the sea opened before me joyously under the broad August sunlight, and the distant coast of Scotland fringed the horizon with its lines of melting blue.

From The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

From Progress Plu

s

Developing skills in AO2 by exp loring use of language in a wide rang e of engaging 19th-, 20th- and 21 The end of stcentury text the un it teaches the s effects of grammatical features, moving the student to independent learning.

25

Make progress

READING

GCSE English Language Progress Plus

5

Develop comparison skills

Generic icons

•

English icons Tip Icon

Assess your progress

Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for the circle

1 To help you in Key point/terms iconassess the skills Checklist/summary

Use strand colour for the circle comparison you have developed in this unit, read Sources F and G. As Test you read make notes on points a–c as preparation for answering question 2.

a

• •

Take it further

Marketing icons Writing exercise

Source F

Ebook icon

In this piece, novelist and journalist Critical lens Jack London gives an account of the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

Connect to the text

Core level

From Progress Plu

s

The end of assesses AOthe unit developed th 3 skills ‘Assess your roughout. will be acco progress’ opportunitiempanied by s fo assessment r online progress trac and king.

Research

List the damage causedTake byit further earthquakes in each text. b Elevate What audio did each writer think and feel about the earthquake they witnessed? c Elevate Listvideo the features of language Exam hint that stand out for you in each of the texts.

Maths icons Calculator/Calc icon

Exploring (one icon for all concepts)

Did you know Text to performance

2 UseElevate your notes from the answers to Show your skills question type

No Calculator Debating point

points 1a–c to write your response to the question: Elevate evidence of work

develop comparison skills compare the ideas and language of two texts study the features of a written comparison before writing your own

Cross reference

Compare the perspectives and ideas about earthquakes and the language used to present them.

External hyperlink

Remember to: •

refer to the writers’ purposes, audience and perspectives Tip Icon • show how the ideas in both Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for texts are similar the circle • show how they are different point/terms icon the effects of Checklist/summary • Keyconsider Use strand colour for the circle language, making interpretative comments

Generic icons

Test

Marketing icons Writing exercise Ebook icon

Critical lens

Connect to the text

3 When you have finished, re-read

your work using the list above to help you check that you have Core level Take it further Take it further included everything needed for a comparison of ideas and language.

If you have missed anything make Elevate audio additions to your work.

58

English icons

From Collier’s magazine, May 5, 1906 Research

Glossary

Maths icons

NabobExploring person or Calculator/Calc icon status (one icon of for conspicuous wealth all concepts)

Contrivances ingenious devices Did you know

Elevate video

Exam hint

Elevate question type

Show your skills

Text to performance © Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification No Calculator Debating point

5 Reading: Develop comparison skills

Source G In March 1835, after nearly five years on board the HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin, a naturalist and geologist, was sailing the seas off Valparaíso, Chile. He wrote this letter to his sister Caroline.

FURTHER PROGRESS On the letters page of a newspaper such as the Times, the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph or the Guardian, look for two letters written on the same subject, possibly with opposing views. Compare the letters, pointing out similarities and differences in: • • •

their ideas and perspectives the language in which they express these the effects of the above on readers.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

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Make progress

READING

GCSE English Language Progress Plus

9

Develop responses to language and structure in texts

• • •

explore writers’ use of language explore the way texts are organised improve your level of comment on writer’s techniques

FROM EXPLANATION TO ANALYSIS

Read Source J.

When you explain, you show understanding of the meaning of a text and the writer’s use of textual detail. When you analyse, you look at the detail of the text more closely and in a more methodical way. Analysis requires you to break the text down into parts to find meaning. To analyse effectively, you should also use your exploration and interpretation skills.

Here is one student's explanation of the passage:

The writer describes the impact of a terrible hurricane on her island. The passage is full of details of the destruction such as ‘tin roofs were on the ground’. This gives the reader a picture of the force of the hurricane, that roofs had been blown off buildings.

Source J

No living person should ever see the underside of a tree. The roots – that gnarled, tangled mess of prongs that plummet unruly into the earth in search of sustenance. As I fled from the schoolhouse after the hurricane had passed, the world was 5 upside down. The fields to my left, to my right, undulated with this black and wretched chaos.

Trees ripped from land that had held them fast for years. Branches that should have been seeking light snuffled now in the dirt – their fruit splattered about like gunshot. Tin roofs were on the ground while the squeaking wheels of carts rotated high in the air, disordered and topsy-turvy. I stumbled through this estranged landscape alarmed as a blind man who can now see.

From Small Island by Andrea Levy

From s Plus Progres kills

g AO2 s Extendin (language) 2 it n from U 3 (structure) it n U d an ken from ple is ta elop m a s is v h T s that de activitie lysing writers' na skills in a language. use of

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© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

10

15

9 Reading: 7 Reading: Develop Research responses andto synthesise languageinformation and structure and inideas texts This explanation shows understanding of the meaning and the use of some textual detail.

The quotation ‘tin roofs were on the ground’ is appropriately selected. In order to improve this answer and demonstrate skills in analysis, this student needs to: • • •

examine and explore the impact of particular words and phrases interpret meaning based on detail look for patterns and make connections.

ACTIVITY 5

The passage is reproduced in Source K. Key words which could be grouped together for analysis are highlighted, and questions are asked to prompt analysis.

Work on your own:

Source K

No living person should ever see the underside of a tree. The roots – that gnarled, tangled mess of prongs that plummet unruly into the earth in search of sustenance. As I fled from the schoolhouse after the hurricane had passed, the world was upside down. The fields to my left, to my right, undulated with this black and wretched chaos.

Trees ripped from land that had held them fast for years. Branches that should have been seeking light snuffled now in the dirt – their fruit splattered about like gunshot. Tin roofs were on the ground while the squeaking wheels of carts rotated high in the air, disordered and topsy-turvy. I stumbled through this estranged landscape alarmed as a blind man who can now see.

From Small Island by Andrea Levy

1 Think about the first question. Make notes on

the following: • • •

What does each of the highlighted words or phrases suggest?

Which single yellow highlighted word might sum up all of them?

What is their cumulative effect?

• • •

yellow words have what in common? green words suggest what about the hurricane? blue words suggest what about the effect of the hurricane on the narrator?

2 Think about the second question. Make notes

on the following: • •

How do the descriptions help you to picture the trees?

How does the writer suggest violent death?

3 Think about the third question. Make notes on

the following: • •

How do the highlighted words reveal the narrator’s feelings?

How does the final simile link with what has come before?

4 Choose one of the questions. Use your notes

and any further ideas you have to help you write an answer to it. Remember to refer to the text to support your analysis and interpretation. © Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

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Make progress

READING

10

Develop evaluation skills

WRITING AN EVALUATION OF STRUCTURE ACTIVITY 3 1 Read the first three paragraphs of

Source C, a student’s response to the second question: To what extent does the writer use structure to manipulate the reader’s emotions?

It has been annotated to show you the features of critical evaluation.

You will notice that throughout the student refers throughout to how different readers might respond to this text.

2 Continue the response by writing

about the remaining paragraphs of the text. You should: • • • •

keep your focus on examining and analysing the structure consider the effects on yourself and other readers make balanced judgements about the skills of the writer make references to the text to support your points.

From s ress Plu g o r P 4

g AO Extendin skills n o ti evalua nit 6 from U s how ple show This sam s work with activitie sponses, to re student p skills. lo e v e d

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• • • •

develop your skills in evaluation understand the meaning of critical evaluation evaluate the organisation of texts evaluate presentation of character

In the first paragraph the writer sets the scene by letting the reader know that the children have disappeared and that Nick is looking for them. Some readers may instantly identify a father who has lost sight of his children and feel his fear; other readers may simply be curious about what happens next. The reference to the ‘largest lake’ at the end of the paragraph could lead the reader to fear that the children are perhaps in danger.

establishes writer’s purpose

In the second paragraph the writer begins to lead the reader through the search by describing what Nick can see. It seems as if the writer is trying to manipulate the reader’s response by hinting that something bad could happen to the missing children here.

The writer manipulates the reader’s response very well at the end of the paragraph; Nick appears to see a child only to find it is not one of his: ‘His children are nowhere to be seen’. This is an effective way to maintain the reader’s attention as you feel you have to keep reading to see what happens.

shows awareness of structure

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

considers alternative reader responses

supports judgement with textural reference suggests possible effect on reader

maintains focus on key feature in question

supports judgement with textural reference makes judgement relating to structure and reader response

READING

11

From Progress Plus

Test your progress 2

Four units provide feedback for key learning steps in reading and writing.

This sample shows part of a 20th-century text and two of the fo cused accompanyi ng questions used for feed back on skills develop ment.

You have 45 minutes.

Route to success: • • • •

Read the passage closely. Remember to think about what you are reading.

Read all the questions carefully before starting to answer.

The number of marks for each question will give you a clue as to how much time you should spend on each one.

Remember to refer to the text to support points you make.

AfL will be accompanied by opportunities for online assessment and progress tracking.

The following passage is taken from the opening of the memoir Cider with Rosie. In it the writer recalls his arrival at the remote Cotswold village of Slad.

I WAS set down from the carrier’s cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began.

The June grass, amongst which I stood, was taller than I was, and I wept. I had never been so close to grass before. It towered above me and all around me, each blade tattooed with tiger-skins of sunlight. It was knife-edged, dark, and a wicked green, thick as a forest and alive with grasshoppers that chirped and chattered and leapt through the air like monkeys.

5

I was lost and didn’t know where to move. A tropic heat oozed up from the ground, rank with sharp odours of roots and nettles. Snow-clouds of elderblossom banked in the sky, showering upon me the fumes and flakes of their sweet and giddy suffocation. High overhead ran frenzied larks, screaming, as though the sky were tearing apart.

10

For the first time in my life I was out of the sight of humans. For the first time in my life I was alone in a world whose behaviour I could neither predict nor fathom: a world of birds that squealed, of plants that stank, of insects that sprang about without warning. I was lost and I did not expect to be found again. I put back my head and howled, and the sun hit me smartly on the face, like a bully.

15

From Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee 1

Focus on lines 1 to 17 only. Explain why the narrator put back his head and howled (line 17).

6 marks

This question tests your skill in selecting and using detail to explain.

2

Focus on lines 18 to 30 only. What do you learn about the relationship between the narrator and his sisters?

8 marks

This question tests your skill in using detail to infer meaning.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

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Generic icons

English icon Tip Icon

WIDER READING 1

Fro Progresm sP

lus

Novel openings

Two wider reading un its promote cu riosity and a love of reading . This samp le shows how the un it engages with wider read ing, and m akes clear the p rocess that experience d readers bring to a text.

In this unit you will read and explore a variety of openings of novels. Start by reading Source A from Ordinary Thunderstorms and the thoughts of an experienced reader on this opening.

Key point/terms icon

Make progress

•

Test

Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for the circle

Checklist/summary Use strand colour for the circle

read and explore a variety of openings of novels

Take it further

Core level Take it further

Elevate audio

Listen to the opening of Ordinary Thunderstorms on Elevate Elevate video

Exam hint

Source A

Let us start with the river – all things begin with the river and we shall probably end there, no doubt – but let’s wait and see how we go.

Soon, in a minute or two, a young man will come and stand by the river’s edge, here at Chelsea Bridge, in London.

There he is – look – stepping hesitantly down from a taxi, paying the driver, gazing around him, unthinkingly, glancing over at the bright water (it’s a flood tide and the river is unusually high). He’s a tall, pale-faced young man, early thirties, even-featured with tired eyes, his short dark hair neatly cut and edged as if fresh from the barber.

He is new to the city, a stranger, and his name is Adam Kindred. He has just been interviewed for a job and feels like seeing the river (the interview having been the usual tense encounter, with a lot at stake), answering a vague desire to ‘get some air’. The recent interview explains why, beneath his expensive trenchcoat, he is wearing a charcoal-grey suit, a maroon tie with a new white shirt and why he’s carrying a glossy solid-looking black briefcase with heavy brass locks and corner trim. He crosses the road, having no idea how his life is about to change in the next few hours – massively, irrevocably – no idea at all.

From Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd, 2009

106

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

That’s clever – I’m put in the same place as the narrator

Elevate question type

Sounds ominous

Elevate evidence of work

Show your skills

Cross reference

That’s a strange shift in tense – who is he?

I know where I am All these dashes and brackets make it feel as though the narrator is actually talking to me Is he in danger?

It sounds like he’s going to be an important character I wonder what’s in that case?

I feel as though I’m actually watching him Sounds like he’s in for a rough time

Make Progress

SPOKEN LANGUAGE

From Progress Plus

Prepare and give a presentation

Developing AO 7– leading to an en 9, dofunit presentatio n. checklists build Useful on the learning from the unit, for use in teac hing and revision

• • • •

consider the importance of speaking and listening research and plan a presentation practise and develop your skills in presentation give a presentation.

MAKING YOUR PRESENTATION Look again at the plan you made for your presentation and for your opening and ending. Before you proceed, you may want to make changes to this. You may also need to do further research or prepare slides or other helpful material.

Read the points in the checklist carefully. They will help you to make a good presentation.

CHECKLIST

Vary your vocabulary and sentence structures.

Use rhetorical devices such as rhetorical questions and deliberate repetition to engage your audience or emphasise a point.

First and foremost, make sure that you have something interesting to say.

Make sure that any visual aids are relevant and well-presented. Do not put too much detail on a slide. If you do, your audience will read it rather than listen to you.

Show confidence in your body language and speech. Look directly at your audience and speak fluently without hesitation.

Use pace and intonation to give colour and variety to what you say.

Use simple prompt cards to help you remember your points. Do not read from a script or from slides.

Time your presentation carefully. It should last for no less that three minutes and no more than five minutes.

Speak in Standard English. You are demonstrating your presentation skills in a formal setting, for which slang or dialect is not appropriate.

Practise your presentation. Ask another student to record you and comment constructively.

Practise again before giving your presentation.

Generic icons

English icons Tip Icon

Assess your progress

Chapter Review icon Use strand colour for the circle

The following list shows the main elements of an Key point/terms icon Checklist/summary strand colour for the circle effective presentation. ConsiderUseeach one carefully and decide how well you did on it. Give yourself a markTestfrom one to five for each one, then write a short commentary on your presentation. Start with what you did well. End with commenting on the areas where you feel you wereCore weakest and give level Take it further Take it further suggestions on how you could improve.

Writing exercise Ebook icon

✔ Critical Relevant and well-presented visual aids lens ✔ Effective use of prompt cards ✔ Sustained use of Standard English to the text ✔Connect Variety in vocabulary and sentence structures ✔ Confidence in body language and speech ✔ Research Use of pace and intonation ✔ Efficient timing.Maths icons

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Exploring (one icon for all concepts) Written from draft specification

Elevate audio

Elevate video

Marketing icons

Calculator/Calc icon

Did you know Exam hint

Text to performance

127

Make progress

WRITING

6

Investigate description

Developin g AO6 skills AO5 and in writing a descripti models are on. Effective used to su ppo students in developin rt g their own wri a range of ting, with genres an d types prov ided

CHOOSING A STRUCTURE FOR YOUR DESCRIPTION

• •

1 Read the description of a city in Source C

before answering the following questions: a b c

d There are many different ways to structure a description. For example, descriptions can be organised:

• •

•

investigate features of descriptive writing and use them for effect explore ways of creating tone and atmosphere explore the effects of varying sentence structures in descriptive writing choose a structure for your descriptive writing

ACTIVITY 3

You have focused on some features of descriptive writing that can be seen in examples from different genres. Writers choose words and phrases to engage the reader’s interest at the start, then sustain it by making the description vivid. They also need to organise and structure these words and phrases to guide and influence the reader by triggering emotions and attitudes.

• •

•

Fro Progresm s Plus

What is the main focus of this description?

What is the main organisational feature?

The first paragraph is two words long and the final one is over a hundred words long.

Why is there such a difference?

The final paragraph is one very long sentence. Why do you think the writer chose to organise the paragraph this way rather than writing it in several sentences?

What effect was the writer trying to achieve?

as a time sequence (chronologically) from a ‘wide angle’, through to a more selective focus and then a close-up looking down on a scene or seeing from inside around one sense or different senses.

Source C

So listen.

Listen, and there is more to hear.

The rattle of a dustbin lid knocked to the floor.

The scrawl and scratch of two hackleraised cats.

The sudden thundercrash of bottles emptied into crates.

The slam-slam of car doors, the changing of gears, the hobbled clip-clop of a slow walk home.

166

The rippled roll of shutters pulled down on late-night cafes, a crackled voice crying street names for taxis, a loud scream that lingers and cracks into laughter, a bang that might just be an old car backfiring, a callbox calling out for an answer, a treeful of birds 5 tricked into morning, a whistle and a shout and a broken glass, a blare of soft music and a blam of hard beats, a barking and yelling and singing and crying and it all swells up all the rumbles and crashes and bangings and slams, all the 10 noise and the rush and the non-stop wonder of the song of the city you can hear if you listen the song

15

20

25

From if nobody speaks of remarkable things by Jon McGregor

6 Writing: Investigate descriptionEnglish icons

Generic icons Tip Icon

e

To organise the long list of sounds, the writer sometimes uses commas to separate the different sounds and sometimes uses ‘and’. Look at the following two examples of the writer using the conjunction ‘and’:

a whistle and a shout and a broken glass all the rumbles and crashes and bangings and slams

B

I think he uses ‘and’ here simply to add some variety. If the list was structured only using commas it would be very boring.

I think that by using and repeating ‘and’ he somehow suggests the noise building up; ‘and’ makes it seem as though things are accumulating or being added to a list.

Aim to write five paragraphs. As in the model, Test one should be only two words long the first and the second, third and fourth should be quite short but of increasing length. The final Core level Take it further Take it further one should be one long sentence controlled by commas and use of ‘and’.

Elevate video

Exam hint

3 When you have finished your piece of writing

show it to another student and ask for their comment on it. Read it yourself again and then Show your skills Elevate question type comment on how well you have: • • • •

Connect

Researc

Exploring all conce

Elevate audio

Create a 'So listen' description by listening to a soundscape on Elevate

2 The previous description is structured around

a series of sounds, and opens with a very brief topic sentence, ‘So listen.’ The paragraphs following that simple opening build up towards a final long paragraph that is packed with descriptive detail using a very wide range of vocabulary.

Critical

Use strand colour for the circle

Give your opinion of the following two comments made by students about these: A

Writing

Chapter Review icon

Use strand colour for Attempt a version of this structure, the circleonly begin with ‘So look’ and follow with visual details.

Use Source Dicon as your prompt. Checklist/summary Key point/terms

structured it so that the paragraphs Elevate evidence of Cross reference work increase in content focused purely on what could be seen found a wide vocabulary to describe a range of different sights controlled the organisation of your final long paragraph.

Source D

167

Text to pe

Debating

External h

Brighter Thinking

English Language Progress

GCSE-English-Lang_section_starts.indd 1

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Make progress

READING

8

•

Exploring structure in fiction

• • •

USING TECHNIQUES – ZOOMING IN AND OUT The technique of zooming in or out is also used by writers. The two men described earlier live in a bunkhouse, a place where American ranch hands live in the 1930s. Source D describes the bunkhouse.

Read it closely and then investigate its structure in Activity 5.

investigate the use of contrast in descriptions learn about the technique of ‘zooming in’ track links between paragraphs explore the effects of structure on the reader.

From Progress

Focusing o n AO2 and the st ructures of fictio Steps in le n texts arnin students' sk g build independ ills to e they move nce as through the units

ACTIVITY 5 1 The first sentence starts with a view of the bunkhouse from the

outside. What word in the second sentence tells you this?

2 Track how the writer has structured this description by answering

these four questions: • • • •

What’s in the walls?

What’s against the walls?

What’s near one wall?

What’s in the middle of the room?

Source D

The bunk house was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted. In three walls there were small, square windows, and, in the fourth, a solid door with a wooden latch.

5 Against the walls were eight bunks, five of them made up with blankets and the other three showing their burlap ticking. Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves 10 for the personal belongings of the occupant of the bunk.

And these shelves were loaded with little articles, soap and talcum powder, razors and those Western magazines ranch men love to 15 read and scoff at and secretly believe. And there were medicines on the shelves, and little vials, combs; and from nails on the box sides, a few neckties. Near one wall there was 20 a black cast-iron stove, its stove-pipe going straight up through the ceiling. In the middle of the room stood a big square table littered with playing cards, and around it were grouped boxes for the players to sit on.

From Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

80

8 Reading: Exploring structure in fiction 3 Reread lines 8 to 12 in which the writer lists in detail the

contents of the apple boxes. Below are three possible reasons which would explain why he does this. Which of these reasons would you place first, second and third? a b c

To tell us what the men keep in their apple boxes To show that this is the men’s home, where they keep all their personal belongings To show how few possessions the men have

4 The following paragraph explains the structure of Source

D. Some of the words and explanations are missing. Write down your suggestions to fill in the gaps.

The writer takes the reader from [a] the bunk house to inside. He then describes the walls of the bunk house and then the [b] which stand against them. Clear detail is given about the [c] above each bunk and what they contain. He gives this detail to [d] . Then the writer moves the reader inward, leaving the walls, to focus on [e] which is near but not against or on a wall. Finally the reader is drawn to the [f] of the room and the table which is ‘littered with playing cards’ and has [g] for the players to sit on. By moving gradually from the outside to the middle of the room, the writer helps the reader to [h] .

He also leads the reader to expect that something is about to happen at this table. It’s at the middle of the room and it’s the last thing mentioned in the paragraph.

6 Compare your answers to 1 to 4 with another student.

Talk about the reasons for any differences.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

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Make progress

WRITING

3

Use a varied vocabulary

ress

Focusing o n AO5 & 6 , a range of text genre and types s are as models provided to support students in developin g their own writing.

CREATE TONE

• • • • •

increase your word power choose words for clarity and impact build atmosphere and impressions create tone affect your readers’ emotions

ACTIVITY 5

1 The word tone is used to describe a

writer’s attitude towards his subject. The tone may be sad, serious, angry, sarcastic, friendly or many others. A writer creates tone by: • •

From Prog

Read Source E, the opening of a newspaper article. As you read, think about what word (or words) you would use to describe the writer’s tone.

choosing particular details choosing words to show feelings.

Source E

136

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

From the Daily Mail

3 Writing: Use a varied vocabulary

ACTIVITY 7 1 You are going to write about something that really

annoys you. But you are not going to tell the reader directly that you are annoyed. You are going to show your attitude through the details you choose and the words you use.

Here are a few suggestions to start you thinking of a subject: • • • •

adverts during your favourite TV programme too much homework trolls on the internet a celebrity

2 Once you have made your choice, follow these steps:

Step 1: Plan to write three or four paragraphs. List the ideas and details you want your reader to know.

Step 2: Think about the words you could use to show your reader you are annoyed.

Step 3: Before you start to write, remember: ✓

Write 3 or 4 paragraphs

✓✓ Choose details you want your reader to know ✓✓✓ Do not actually say you are annoyed – use words to show your feelings and attitude.

Clear, step ped activities w ith succes s criteria bu ild studen ts’ skills for s uccessful writing an d peer revie w

Step 4: When you have finished, read through your writing. Check it makes clear sense and that you have achieved three ticks.

Step 5: Swap your writing with another student. Tell them what you think is effective in their writing. Make any helpful suggestions for improvement. © Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

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Brighter Thinking

English Language Writing Workshops

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Writing workshop 2 Setting the scene Your writing improvement focus for this this workshop will be:

• •

using language imaginatively selecting vocabulary to create impact

When authors write novels or short stories, one thing they must do is give the reader a sense of where the action is happening. We call this the setting. It is an important part of building a picture in the reader’s mind.

1 a

b

Write a sentence or two that describes the classroom you are currently sitting in. The sentences should not just list things you can see. They must convey your feelings about the room. Is it a lively and interesting place in which to learn? Or does it need brightening up?

Swap your writing with a partner. What word would you choose to describe the feelings your partner has about the classroom? If you could improve their piece by changing one word, what would that change be? rom WritingFw orkshops

The engag ing writing wo range of rkshops is informed by as 'Excelle research such nc and uses m e in English' o purposefu tivating and l approach es to writing, wit h sup teacher gu portive idance

138

READING 2 The author George Orwell is best known for

his novels 1984 and Animal Farm. But he also wrote many non-fiction books. Read Source A from a book he wrote about the living conditions in northern England just before the Second World War:

Source A

I remember a winter afternoon in the dreadful environs of Wigan. All round was the lunar landscape of slag heaps, and to the north, through the passes, as it were, between the mountains of slag, you could see the factory chimneys sending out their plumes of smoke. The canal path was a mixture of cinders and frozen mud, criss-crossed by the imprints of innumerable clogs, and all round, as far as the slag heaps in the distance, stretched the ‘flashes’ – pools of stagnant water that had seeped into the hollows caused by the subsidence of ancient pits. It was horribly cold. The ‘flashes’ were covered with ice the colour of raw umber, the bargemen were muffled to the eyes in sacks, the lock gates wore tears of ice. It seemed a world from which vegetation had been banished; nothing existed except smoke, shale, ice, mud, ashes and foul water. from The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell (1937)

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

WRITING WORKSHOP 2: Setting the scene

DISCUSSION

Source B

3 In pairs, discuss these questions about the

extract: a

What does the following line suggest Orwell thinks about the landscape he is describing?

nothing existed except smoke, shale, ice, mud, ashes and foul water. b c

What are the connotations of these words?

Choose another short section of the extract and explain to each other how you think it presents a negative view of the scene.

For writers, it is the choice of words which enables them to create the scene in their reader’s mind in a particular way. When a photographer takes a picture of a landscape, they also make choices which affect the way people viewing the image will respond to it. A colour photo of a field of sunflowers shot in golden light on a summer evening will feel very different from a black and white shot of a derelict housing estate in mid winter.

EXTENDED WRITING 4 Choose one of the photos in Source B and

then select one or more of the words in the word bank that you think best matches the mood created by the image.

idyllic

awesome

wild

desolate

depressing

nightmarish

lonely

stressful

soothing

relaxing

enigmatic

picturesque

communal

lush

deserted

serene

colourful

exotic

bleak

dilapidated

intense

epic

barren

inhospitable

5 a

b

Write a paragraph about the photo you chose from Source B. Present a very strong viewpoint on the landscape depicted.

Your paragraph should be about the same length as the Orwell extract in Source A: 150 words.

When you have finished, swap your work with another student. Suggest improvements to each other’s writing.

© Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

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Brighter thinking for the new curriculum: • Written by an experienced author team of teachers, partners and advisers.

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