AQA GCSE English Language Model Answers - Nov 2020 Paper 1 - English Language (8700) (NEW SPEC)

Sep 5, 2026

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Model answers for AQA GCSE English Language (8700) under the NEW SPEC for November 2020 Paper 1. The content covers responses to Q1–Q4, focusing on how students select evidence from the specified lines and explain both explicit and implicit ideas. It highlights AO1 identification and interpretation, and AO2 analysis of language and structure using subject terminology, including themes such as personification, metaphor, simile, repetition, and narrative withholding to create tension. Examiner’s reports summarize assessment strengths and techniques used.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

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Pages6

Reading Time15 min

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GCSE English Language Model Answers: English Language (8700) (NEW SPEC) Nov 2020 Paper 1 Q1 . ● Rosie has just moved house ● She sees a child she does not recognise ● She drove up from London the evening before ● Rosie has a car Examiner’s report: ● Evidence is selected directly from the text, within the specified lines 1-4. ● The points can be direct quotes or paraphrases from the text. ● This question assesses the first part of AO1-identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas. Q2 . In the passage, the writer uses a range of language techniques to describe the garden. The passage has a consistent theme of personification to describe the garden and the different plants and trees in it. The ‘ancient mulberry tree’ is described as being ‘stood’ in the centre, which suggests it is looming over the garden, right in the middle, almost as if it is protecting the garden; a supernatural force of nature. Furthermore, with the phrase ‘the gnarled growth threw long, twisted shadows’, the writer creates dark and foreboding imagery. The personification in the words ‘gnarled’ and ‘twisted’ also suggests anger and bitterness , further contributing to the tension of the passage as Rosie journeys towards the locked door. The writer describes the ivy as ‘choking’ the tree as it was ‘snarled’ with it, and this imagery suggests that the garden is almost at war with itself, and is in chaos. The descriptive language here once again has connotations of vindictiveness and anger, as if the garden is angry and sprawling, which further builds the tension of the text. Furthermore, the writer uses metaphorical language and similes throughout the passage in order to describe the garden. The writer uses a metaphor and simile to describe the huge tree in the garden, in ‘its knuckles in the earth like a gigantic malformed hand’. This personification in the comparison of the tree to a hand, through ‘malformed hand’ and ‘knuckles’, allows the reader to intensely imagine the scene. The connotations of these words are harsh and © 2023 MME Revise unwelcoming, even scary, and the reader is left feeling like the garden is an unfriendly and terrifying place. Furthermore, the theme of anger in the description of the garden is continued here, through the word ‘knuckles’ which carries the connotation of a punch or a fight, and we are left once again with the sense that the garden is at war with itself, the plants constantly twisting and turning with each other. Examiner’s report: ● This question assesses you on AO2-explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views. ● The student has analysed the effects of the writer’s choices of language in great depth. ● The student has selected a range of relevant textual evidence from the source, which adequately supports the points being made. ● Sophisticated language and subject terminology are used. ● The student has accurately signposted to the examiner language techniques and the effects of these through phrases such as ‘theme of personification’. Q3 . The writer has used a variety of structural techniques to interest the reader throughout the source. At the start of the source, the writer focuses the reader’s attention on ‘the stranger child’immediately through a simple sentence. This has the effect of drawing in the reader’s attention and builds up the sense of mystery in the text. The phrase ‘stranger child’ is repeated consistently throughout the text, thus returning the reader’s attention to this mysterious character and building up the tension in the narrative. After introducing the unexplained stranger child at the start of the text, the writer then shifts the focus onto her own children, describing them playing in the garden. This withholding of information within the text delays the discovery of the mystery of the child, and thus build

FAQs

What does Q1 assess in the GCSE English Language Paper 1 model answers?

Q1 assesses AO1: identifying and interpreting explicit and implicit information and ideas using evidence selected directly from the specified lines.

How does the model answer for Q2 approach language analysis?

It explains how the writer uses techniques such as personification, metaphor, and simile, linking specific word choices to effects and the reader’s emotions. It also references relevant subject terminology.

What techniques does the Q3 model answer identify for structure and effects?

It discusses structural choices like shifts in focus, repetition (including the repeated phrase for the stranger child), delayed disclosure of information, and a circular ending, alongside rhetorical questions in short paragraphs.

Sep 5, 2026

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