IGCSE Language Examination Q 2 (10 marks)

Using reading skills: understanding how writers achieve effects

Writers effect:
The effect on the reader created by an
authors words. This effect could be to
stimulate our senses or convey a scene,
idea or emotion.
After reading a passage you need to work out what effect the writer has created.
Here is a checklist of possibilities:
An experience has been described
An atmosphere has been created
A statement of fact has been made
An opinion / emotion has been conveyed
A reaction has been provoked
Next you need to work out what impression has been made on your mind or senses.
Here is a checklist of possibilities:
You can see the scene that has been described
You can hear the sounds that have been described (onomatopoeia, alliteration,
consonance, assonance)
You can almost smell or taste something that was described (vivid description)
You can almost physically or emotionally feel something described (vivid
description)
Finally you need to understand what caused this effect on you. Here is a checklist of
possible causes:
The specific meaning of a word
The associations created by a word
The rhythm and pace of words and sentence structures
The positioning of words, phrases, sentences and lines on the page
Sample Question:
By referring closely to the language used by the writer, explain how she communicates:
a) The violence of the girls actions
b) Her feelings about the girls behaviour.

You are first told where to look language used by the writer
In the first part of the question you are given information about the
impressions produced on the mind or senses violence- so you need to
look for instances of this feature of the writing and explain how they
create the effect of violence
The second part of the question does not tell you exactly what to look for;
however it does give you a clue that a feeling is shown. You have to work
out which feeling and how it is expressed.

Tips for success:

1. Read the question carefully

Remember you are looking for 3 things:

2. Be as precise as possible when

identifying effects
3. Quote selectively from the passage

4. Explain how the writer creates the

effect

Look out for more than one effect

Does the question tell you

what effect you are looking
for?
Does the question tell you
where to look for the effect?
Does the question tell you
how the effect is created?

This shows the examiner that you have

thought carefully about the words of the
passage and have reached a conclusion
about their effect
You will only ever need to quote single
words or brief phrases. If you are copying
out more than this then you are not
showing that you can accurately judge how
an effect is being created. You are simply
showing where the effect might be.
Once you have identified the effect that has
been produced and where the proof of it
can be found, you must then explain how
the proof shows the effect that you have
claimed is there. Three types of proof:
Use the precise meaning of a word
(denotation) to explain how it
creates the effect (identify specific
words / synonyms / antonyms /
groups of words that are similar /
different in meaning and create a
similar / contrasting effect)
Use the intensity of a word to
explain how it creates the effect
(think of synonyms on a continuum)
Use the associations (connotation)
of a word to explain how it creates
the effect e.g.:
A set of visual images (figurative
language)
Sensory impressions (figurative
language, synesthesia)
Distinctive atmospheres / emotions
(cumulative)
Be aware that there may be more than one
effect in the same piece of writing; words
and phrases an do a lot of different things at
the same time (if love is described as being
like a rose what possible connotations
does this have?)