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Paper 2 Q5 - Language

 

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  Focus: Writing Your Views                           Marks: 40                           Time: 45 mins

 

This links to Q3 on this paper. You've analysed how writers use language for effect, and that's what you now have to do in your own writing.

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Let's look at our Level 3 example from the page on Ideas:

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Firstly, many people become famous just because they are good-looking and I don't think that they deserve it. For example, a person may post pictures on Instagram and get thousands of followers. They then get offered sponsorship by big companies which makes them even more famous. However, what many people don't realise is that the pictures they post aren't real; they use special lighting and filters to make it appear 'natural'. This leads many young people who try to copy these 'looks' to feel like failures when what they are copying is actually unachievable.

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This is clearly written and well structured with linked ideas BUT it doesn't use very effective language. Let's add some more effective vocabulary and language techniques to improve it.

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Firstly, many people become famous purely because they are good-looking and I don't think that they deserve it. For example, a person may post perfectly posed pictures on Instagram and get thousands of devoted followers. They then get offered sponsorship by billion dollar companies which makes them even more famous. However, what many innocent young people don't realise is that the pictures they post are an illusion; they use special lighting and magic filters to make it appear 'natural'. This leads many young people who try to copy these fake 'looks' to feel like failures when they are actually chasing an impossible dream.

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purely = this is a stronger, more unusual word than 'just'

perfectly posed = alliteration and description

devoted = emotive language which emphasises how much people love them

billion dollar = more interesting and descriptive than 'big'

innocent young people = emotive language

an illusion = more sophisticated than 'aren't real'

magic = links to 'illusion'

fake = emphasising the negative

chasing a dream = metaphor

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This takes this answer from a low level 3 to a high level 3.

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Top Tips!

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- To improve your vocabulary - READ!

- Don't overuse rhetorical questions.

- Practise using a variety of techniques (DAFOREST).

- Effective vocabulary is just as important as language techniques. 

- Memorise 5 positive and 5 negative sophisticated words to use in any question 5.