IGCSE ENGLISH (0500) Paper 1 (2 hours) Question Question type Text Timing Marks Q1 a-e. Comprehension A 10 mins 15 Q1 f. Summary B 15 mins 15 Q2. a-b. Comprehension C 10 mins 10 Q2 c-d. Language Analysis C 30 mins 15 Magazine article, Speech, Letter, Interview, Journal, Report C 45 mins 25 110 mins 80 Q3. Total ● ● Summary ○ Find 10 key points ○ Group similar ideas together ■ Use complex sentences to synthesise points ○ Formal, objective, third person ○ Use own words (don’t lift) Analysis ○ 3 points from each paragraph stated in question (6 point total) ○ Literal meaning + effect + imagery ○ Structure of paragraph ■ “The overall effect of the language creates an image of…” ■ Transitional phrase ● “The writer begins by describing …” ● ”The writer’s use of the word..” ● “The writer’s use of imagery here is particularly striking” ■ Quotations short (4 words max) ■ Zoom in technique ● “The writer’s use of the dynamic verb..” ● “This shows” ● “This highlights” ● “This emphasises” ● “This reinforces” ● “This creates an image of” ● “instantly emphasis” ■ “The writer then goes on to describe” ■ “Lastly, the writer goes on to describe” ○ Types of Imagery ■ Imagery ● Metaphors ● Simile ○ Helps reader visualise what is being described ○ Maked descriptions vivid ● Onomatopoeia ○ Appeals to the reader’s sense of hearing ● Personification ○ Connects the reader ● Sensory details ● Alliteration ○ Create rhythm/mood ○ ■ ■ ■ ● Emphasises certain words (focuses reader’s attention) Deliver comedic effect ○ Vocabulary ● Emotive language ● Hyperbole (exaggeration) Sentence types (eg. simple, complex) Others: Sarcasm/Humour ● Irony ○ Emphasises central idea ○ Audience’s role in realizing difference between what is said & what is normal/expected Q3. (Directed writing)- Never lift (7 text types) (45min) ○ 5 points for each bullet point ○ Magazine article ■ Heading (gain attention) ■ Dramatic opening ■ Rhetorical questions for subheadings ■ Opinions and facts ■ Strong conclusion (main ideas) ■ Address reader directly ■ Think about aim of article ○ Speech ■ ■ ■ ■ ○ ○ ○ ○ Direct language (eg. you) 1st person Strong/lively sense of voice Rhetorical question, repetition, emotive language, anecdote Letter ■ Audience- informal/formal? ● Dear Sir/Madam or Hi Polly ● Yours sincerely or see you soon Interview ■ Each bullet point is a question ■ Must have 3 equal sized paragraphs ■ Responses to question ■ Emotions on brackets ■ 1st person ■ Between 2 people ● Dialogue is realistic ● 2 different characters (change voice) ■ Names on left hand side Journal ■ Begin present, change to past tense ■ 1st person/informal/emotive language ■ To reflect/describe ■ Chronological ■ Chatty/informal (well, I mean, so, note to self) ■ Humour, sarcasm, exaggeration ■ Establish sense of purpose ■ Reword/develop quotations Report ■ To inform; third person ■ Who, what, when, where in first paragraph ■ Formal (no flowery/descriptive language) ■ Key Facts/details & balanced ■ Newspaper Report ■ Formal Report ● Record of something ● Highlights problems & may offer solutions ● Structure ○ ○ Title Subheadings ■ Eg. Problems observed, feedback gathered, summary of findings & recommendations ○ ○ Overview ■ Purpose of report ■ Hope to achieve by carrying out inventions ■ Eg. This report will outline the details of an inspection carried out at (place) in which a recent visit was made to asses their (problem) This report will outline the problems observed and offer several recommendations for (place) to begin (problem) Main body ■ Problems found during investigation Solutions ○ Paper 2 ● Section A: Directed writing (350-450) ○ Letter/Article/Persuasive or argumentative speech Speech ● ● ● ● Letter Address listeners at the beginning Reference listeners throughout Rhetorical Questions Thank listeners at the end ○ ○ ● ● ● Article Address top right Date Their name, address underneath on the left Landscape ● ● Short snappy headline Subheadings summarises the next section Introductory paragraph gives overview Facts/quotes from relevant people 5 points per bullet point (3 bullet points) Writing techniques Argue ● ● ● Persuade ● ● Balanced Acknowledges the opposing view ● ● One sided More emotional ● ● ● ● ● ● Counter argument Assertion Repetition Opinion Personal pronouns Facts ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Repetition Emotive language Figurative language Personal pronoun Opinions Facts Rhetorical Question Section B: Descriptive ○ Describe 5 senses (show don’t tell) ○ Describing a scene/moment in time ■ Imagine you are looking at photographs ○ Zoom in on features (eg. hair on character’s arm) ○ Examples ● ● ● A lawn in the middle, a willow, weeping catkins; around the edges, the flower borders, in which the daffodils are now fading and tulips are opening their cups, spilling out colours. The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem; as if they had been cut and are beginning to heal there. It’s started to rain, a drizzle, and the gravid smell of earth and grass fills the air. When I walk these blocks, I see the bright flowers in wonderfully well-tended window boxes and the stunning murals painted across rooftop water towers. I hear the rhythmic clatter of elevated trains and excited shouts of kids at food all practice in the schoolyard. These streets are suffused with beauty that’s visible when you slow down, look in the right places, and listen for the right sounds. Sky ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Waves ● ● ● Emotions ● ● ● Sensory Description ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Actions ● The sky is like a monochromatic contemporary painting, drawing me in with its illusion of depth, pulling me up. The sky is clear but hard to make out, because of the searchlight; but yes, in the obscured sky a moon does float, newly, a wishing moon, a sliver of ancient rock, a goddess, a wink. The moon is a stone and the sky is full of deadly hardware, but oh God, how beautiful anyway. Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn? Yet if you look east, at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling; darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon, like a black sun behind cloud cover. Like smoke from an unseen fire, a line of fire just below the horizon, brushfire or a burning city. Maybe night falls because it’s heavy, a thick curtain pulled up over the eyes. The first golden ray of sunlight broke through the horizon, illuminating the tranquil sea and warming the pearly water droplets with its kiss. The sun beams happily in the sky as the rays bounce off the glistening waves. The golden rays look like arrows being shot from heaven The fierce light from the sun bathes the through of visitors in a romantic glow and the happy faces reflect the positive rays back towards the sky The sun, hidden behind fluffy clouds, radiated its luminescence onto towering skyscrapers. The sunlight bounced off the pristine glass panes of commercial office buildings, blinding onlookers. Soon, the sun sank into submission under the brewing storm; the sky, a hazy background of sand and leaves. The storm was now a whirling body of clouds and sand with sharp streaks of lightning cutting through the centre, It glowed eerily from inside a thunder roared across the wave. It was time to leave. The sun finally succumbs to the slow battery of the rain and retreats in defeat, allowing the storm to bask in its victory Clouds formed, engulfing sunlight in an ominous dusk Agile streams of air hustled the clouds, spiking their grudge Lighting slammed down, with harsh thunder. It’s surges purged from the sky, striking the waters ferociously. Waves assaulted the rocks with the tempest’s fury The merciless winds caused the enormous waves to crash and erupt like lava coming down from a raging volcano. It splits like an aggressive wild animal, angered by the vigorous storm. Treading water, we laughed with disbelief as the ocean moved around us with a soothing glittering sheen. Not so her eyes, which were the flat hostile blue of a midsummer sky in bright sunlight, a blue that shuts you out. In the dark parlour, we move away from each other, slowly, as if pulled towards each other by a force, current, pulled apart also by hands equally strong. Nausea and nerves gnaw at my stomach. Fear commands attention. My coffee is cold on the table, but I’m too deliciously warm and lazy to bother getting up to make myself another cup. I hear the siren, at a great distance at first, winding its way towards me among the large houses and clipped lawns, a thin sound like the hum of an insect; then nearing, opening out, like a flower of sound opening, into a trumpet. I feel the air on my almost bare skin, and realize I’ve been sweating. The smell of sweet confectioneries wafted past my nose, quickly followed by the greasy touch of smoking bacon making me queasy in the summer heat. When I came to the edge of the gorge, it felt as if my whole body had been dipped in liquid nitrogen. The wind at my legs and hair, taunting me, wanting me to fall. Memories of that summer’s road trip came flooding back; the midnight swim, his friend’s guitar, and the feeling of infinite freedom that came with each tank of gas. Thanksgiving unleashes my animal instincts. I resemble a ravenous hyena devouring my prey of turkey and stuffing. I can hear the train coming; I know its rhythm by heart. It picks up speed as it accelerates out of Northcote station and then, after rattling round the bend, it starts to ● ● ● ● ● ● slow down, from a rattle to a rumble, and then sometimes a screech of brakes as it stops at the signal a couple of hundred yards from the house. Sometimes I can hear her pacing back and forth, a heavy step and then a light one, and the soft tap of her cane on the dusty-rose carpet. Hordes of people walked past in a flurry, like a time-lapse, the noise gradually amplifying as shops opened and customers rushed in. The head exploded within an infinitesimal fraction of a second with a garish display of intense colours. The smell of gunpowder dispersed through the area, reminding me of war stories my grandpa told me as a kid. A dispersing stream of smoke-choked the ones too close as they breathed in lung-burning chemicals whilst trying to cheer through tear-filled eyes. I’m alert to the rustling of footsteps, ready to pounce if a brazen soul attempts to plunder the leftover treasures in the refrigerator. Shards of windows pierced through flesh, severing with festering wounds In Yaroslav’s hands, the scissors initially recalled the entrechat of the dancer in a ballet, his legs switching back and forth midair. But as the barber progressed, his hands moved with increasing speed until they leapt and kicked like a Cossack doing the hopak! Upon the execution of the final snip, it would have been perfectly appropriate for a curtain to drop only to be raised again a moment later so that the audience could applaud as the barber took a bow.
