GCSEEnglish LanguageWJEC EduqasPaper 1Revision Notes20th Century Literature Reading & Creative Prose WritingPaper 1: Section A ReadingHow to Answer Question 4

How to Answer Question 4 (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Language)

Revision Note

Deb Orrock

Expertise

English

How to Answer Question 4

Paper 1, or Component 1, is the “fiction” paper. You will be given five reading questions to answer about an extract from a longer piece of literature or a short story in Section A. You should always begin by dividing up the reading passage into the sections specified by each question, and you should complete these questions in the order they are given.

The following guide to how to answer Question 4 includes:

  • Question 4 overview

  • How to answer Question 4

  • Exam tips

Question 4 overview

Question 4 is a very similar type of question to Question 3. It is also worth 10 marks and tests AO2. It can focus once again on how the writer presents a character or characters, a character’s thoughts and feelings, character relationships or an event or situation. However, what is different about this question is that it usually focuses on a longer section of the passage (sometimes all the way to the end of the extract).

If this question asks you about an event or situation, then it is normally a good idea to consider how the writer makes the events exciting or dramatic, or how they create drama and tension. You may then be given some bullet points to consider specifically how the writer has not only used language, but also how they have structured that particular section of the text in order to achieve tension, drama or excitement.

Whatever the focus of the question, how you approach it and answer it is the same as for Question 3. As this question is also worth 10 marks, you should also spend 15 minutes on it (including reading time).

How to answer Question 4

The following example of Question 4 is taken from the Eduqas GCSE November 2020 exam:

A screenshot of an English language exam question asking how a writer creates drama and tension in lines 44-72, with pointers on supporting points with text evidence.
Component 1 Question 4 example

Just like Question 3, you should start by identifying the correct section of the passage which the question is about, and highlight the focus of the question.

The steps are:

  1. Identify the correct section of the reading passage

  2. Read the question and highlight the focus (what you are being asked about)

  3. Scan the section of text:

    • Highlight any information directly relevant to the focus of the question

    • Annotate in the margins what your selected evidence tells you that answers the question

For the above question, you might highlight the passage like so:

Then, one Monday, I did something that was out of character. That morning, I picked up the phone and ordered myself a taxi. Eric was the name of the driver. He was more responsive than the horse and I could talk to the back of his head. The first journey he talked all the way about his late wife. I think he was lonely.


The next Thursday I asked Eric to take me to the library in Swindon, but as we drove I said, ‘It’s too hot. Let’s go somewhere else.’ To tell the truth I didn’t mind where we went and I remember Eric saying that if I’d never been there before, I should see the famous beauty spot. He started going on about how ancient it all was and how you could see three counties from up there.


The drive took ages and I started to worry about the money. But then we were driving up a narrow lane and above me was a hill, bleached in the sunlight. Eric asked me if I could see the white horse carved out of the chalk on the hill, but I felt sick. I was too far from home. I wanted my kitchen. I wanted to be safe.


I felt the panic swelling long before I saw the glint of Ranjit’s car.


In front of me was a chalky car park. I remember it exactly. A few empty cars were parked there but not many because it was a weekday lunchtime. But there was one car parked in the far corner and for a moment I thought idly: a white Ford, just like Ranjit’s.


Eric was asking me something but I didn’t hear. We bumped across the car park, closer now. I told myself it was only one head in there, not two. I told myself I must be mistaken. I wanted to go home. I was telling myself, ‘They are just looking at the view. That’s why their heads are so close together.’ Then we were close up and I saw what they were doing and I was saying to Eric, ‘Take me home.’


When we got home, I told Eric to wait. I packed two suitcases and that was it. For the first time in years, everything seemed clear. It hurt but it was clear.


I climbed into the car and told Eric to drive to London. As we turned into the main road, I told myself I wasn’t mad after all.


I’m living with my sister now. I never told her the real reason I left Ranjit. I just said I couldn’t stand living in the country.


‘Don’t blame you,’ she said. ‘All those cows for company. It would drive me round the bend.’


‘It did,’ I said. ‘No wonder I found myself talking to horses.’

4. Start your answer using the wording of the question and an overall summary statement:

  • For example: “The writer creates drama and tension in these lines by structuring the passage into three stages: the narrator’s journey, her discovery of her husband’s affair and her departure.”

5. Make as many separate points that answer the question as you can in the time:

  • For each point you make, support it with evidence from the text

  • Try to use multiple pieces of evidence to support a point; do not just limit yourself to one quote

  • Especially for an “event” question, track through the text in a logical order to demonstrate your understanding of how the writer has structured their writing to build tension and drama

Exam Tip

You can use the “summary and support” format to answer this question, just like in Questions 2 and 3, but you will need to explore the question in more depth. If you are given an “event” or “situation” question, then it is important not just to “re-tell” what happens in the section. This will limit your marks. You must consider why the writer has chosen to order those events in the sequence that they have.

Exam tips

  • Once again, do not “feature spot”:

    • This means identifying literary techniques a writer may have used without any context of how the technique contributes to the impression being created

    • You are rewarded for the use of well-considered, accurate and relevant subject terminology only where appropriate and where it supports your comments effectively

  • Make sure you make a range of points from the whole of the section of text:

    • Do not just limit your answer to the first few lines you read

    • The examiners are looking for a well-chosen “range of evidence”

  • Ensure that you provide substance and detail in 10-mark questions:

    • Responses that are too brief, or that use a PEE structure that only makes 2–3 actual points, will only score 2–3 marks out of 10

For an exemplar model answer to Component 1 Question 4, please see Question 4: Model Answer

You can find a more detailed guides to analysing language and structure in the following articles:

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    Deb Orrock

    Author: Deb Orrock

    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.