Revision NotesPast Papers
GCSEEnglish LanguageEdexcelRevision NotesPaper 2: Non-fiction and Transactional WritingSection A: ReadingQuestion 7(a): Model Answer

Question 7(a): Model Answer (Edexcel GCSE English Language)

Revision Note

Deb Orrock

Written by: Deb Orrock

Reviewed by: Nick Redgrove

Question 7(a), the synthesis question, is a 6-mark question which tests your ability to bring together similarities across two texts.

The following guide includes:

  • Question 7(a) example

  • Question 7(a) model answer

  • Why would this get full marks?

Question 7(a) example

The following example is taken from the November 2022 exam paper:

Question 7a asks about similarities in animals in two wild extracts, requiring evidence from both texts to support the answer, worth 6 marks.
Paper 2 Question 7(a)

Following the advice given in the How to answer Question 7(a) revision note, you should be able to identify the focus of this question as:

  • The similarities the animals share

The next step is to note down three or four similarities the animals share, and find the evidence in the texts that show these similarities.

You can find both texts in full at the bottom of the November 2022 question paper.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Remember, you will already be familiar with Text 1 and Text 2 by this stage of the exam, so use this knowledge to quickly identify the similarities you remember. You can then go back and scan each text to find the evidence to support your points. This is quicker than trying to carefully re-read each text in full, as you only have limited time to answer this 6-mark question.

Question 7(a) model answer

In both texts, the animals are shown in their natural habitats. [Marking comment] In Text 1, even though the lioness has been raised in captivity, she is being returned to her natural environment, as the writer tells us that she “appeared from across the river” in both letters and the country is described as “very dry” and “everything has to come to the river to drink”. [Marking comment] In Text 2, the penguins are in the Antarctic, “trapped in gully as a storm raged around them”, and it also features an elephant calf which “starved to death in a drought” in Africa, as well as cheetahs and hyenas in their natural habitats.


Also, in both texts, there are animals which are supported by humans. [Marking comment] In Text 1, even though Adamson is trying to return Elsa to the wild, he still “brought her meat on Sunday morning”, and in Text 2, the penguins are saved from “freezing to death with their chicks” by the film crew’s intervention.


In addition, the animals featured in both texts are hunters. In Text 1, Elsa appears looking “very fit” and with “plenty of flesh on her bones”, which leads the writer to believe that “she must have killed at least once”. In addition, the fact that other animals come to the river to drink “makes it easier for Elsa to hunt”. In Text 2, we are told that everyone who makes wildlife films has “witnessed a predator and prey scenario” and the text gives the example of hyenas “coming to kill” some cheetah cubs. [Marking comment]


Finally, in both texts the animals behave independently. [Marking comment] In Text 1, Elsa becomes increasingly independent as the text progresses, and at the end Adamson says “she is becoming more independent” and “does not mind being left alone”. In Text 2, even though the film crew “dug a ramp in the snow” for the penguins to escape, it was made clear that the choice to use it was the birds’ to make, as “if the birds wanted to they could get a grip and escape”. [Marking comment]

Why would this get full marks?

The top level of the mark scheme for this question rewards the following:

Level 3:

5–6 marks

  • There is detailed understanding of similarities

  • There is detailed synthesis of the two texts

  • The selection of evidence is appropriate and relevant to the point being made

This answer would receive full marks because it meets all of the criteria for a Level 3 response:

  • The answer synthesises the relevant similarities from both texts, using phrases such as “both texts”

  • It focuses specifically on the similarities the animals share

  • The understanding of the similarities is detailed, and includes both texts equally

  • A good range of quotes is used to support each similarity, and references are taken from both texts

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    Author
    Reviewer
    Deb Orrock

    Author: Deb Orrock

    Expertise: English Content Creator

    Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into vocational curriculums. She most recently managed a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing educational content and resources.

    Nick Redgrove

    Author: Nick Redgrove

    Expertise: English Senior Content Creator

    Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.