Section A: Reading

Question AO1 Read and understand a variety of texts, selecting and Mark
Number interpreting information, ideas and perspectives.
1 Accept any of the following, up to a maximum of two marks:
• (‘I was) excited’ (1)
• (‘then I) panicked’ (1)
• (‘then I was) thrilled’ (1)
• (‘then I was) terrified’ (1)
(2)

Question AO1 Read and understand a variety of texts, selecting and Mark
Number interpreting information, ideas and perspectives.
2 Accept any reasonable interpretation of what the writer
thinks about storytelling, in own words where possible, up to
a maximum of four marks.

For example:

• storytelling has become very popular

• stories can be found in many different places
• although there is a danger in telling a single story, it is a good
thing that there are so many stories being told
• you can find stories using technology very easily
• you can hear about the experiences of people from places
such as India and Australia
• stories can provoke strong emotions such as love
• they can lead to many positive outcomes such as helping to
end arguments and bringing people together
• despite the good things that stories can lead to, this does not
always mean that stories improve the world.

Reward all valid points.

(4)

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Question AO1 Read and understand a variety of texts, selecting and Mark
Number interpreting information, ideas and perspectives.
3 Accept any reasonable description of how the writer reacts to the
theft of her bike, up to a maximum of five marks.

For example:

• the writer is shocked and upset: ‘I’m crying’

• she feels indignant and angry ‘because I saved a lot of money
for that bike’
• she does not want the thief to get away with her bike and
shouts in Swahili to attract attention: ‘I start screaming
“Mwizi, mwizi!”’
• it appears to be acceptable to her that the crowd has
apprehended the thief: 'so mob justice in action. Right?'
• the writer realises that the young boy is not really sorry for
taking her bike as it is the people who have caught him ‘who
make him give me my bike back, and they also make him
apologize’
• she understands that he is resentful of her and ‘doesn’t like
me simply because of what I represent’
• the whole incident teaches her ‘a hard lesson that he didn’t
like me, but you know what, he was right’
• the opinion of the writer towards the young boy who takes
her bike changes as she realises how fortunate she is
compared to him: ‘I had a bike, and he barely had food’
• she draws a message from the incident that we cannot
ignore the stories of people whom we do not like and can
learn from them.

Reward all valid points.

(5)

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Question Indicative content
Number
4 Reward responses that explain and analyse how the writer uses language and
structure to convey her thoughts and opinions.

Examiners should refer to the following bullet points and then to the table on
page 9 to come to an overall judgement.

Responses may include some of the following points:

• the short opening sentence announces the writer/speaker as ‘a

storyteller’ and so establishes her credentials
• the second sentence introduces the theme of the speech and the use
of the second-person pronoun ‘you’ involves the audience
• the use of the noun ‘danger’ in the phrase ‘‘‘the danger of the single
story’’’ is unexpected and intrigues the reader
• the writer uses memories of her childhood and anecdotes from her
later life to illustrate her ideas about storytelling
• the writer adopts a humorous and, at times, self-deprecating tone, for
example when referring to the stories she wrote as a child that ‘my
poor mother was obligated to read’
• juxtaposed and antithetical lists of images convey the differences
between the characters in the stories she read and the life that she
lived: ‘they played in the snow, they ate apples, and they talked a lot
about the weather’; ‘We didn’t have snow, we ate mangoes, and we
never talked about the weather’. The parallel structures of the
sentences serve to further emphasise the contrast
• emotive adjectives, ‘impressionable’, ‘vulnerable’, convey how easily
influenced a reader may be by a story and the use of the first-person
plural ‘we’ links the audience and the writer/speaker
• use of the conjunction ‘But’ at the start of the fifth paragraph leads into
the ‘mental shift’ the writer underwent when she ‘discovered African
books’
• by stating how she ‘loved those American and British books I read’, the
writer is careful not to criticise them or pass negative judgements
which might alienate some of her audience
• in relating the anecdote of Fide, the writer uses ethos to show that she
is as guilty as anyone else of making false judgements, thus giving
credibility to her message
• the colon in line 27 draws attention to the main clause that follows and
emphasises what the discovery of African books meant to the writer
• the verb ‘saved’ links to the idea of the ‘danger’ mentioned earlier and
further highlights the seriousness of the writer’s message
• many audience members would recognise the statements in the
mother’s direct speech and so this provides a further connection with
the writer and her experiences

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 • the single short sentence paragraph ‘She assumed that I did not know
how to use a stove’ draws attention to the ignorant and limiting
judgements about others that people unwittingly make
• the parallel construction in ‘a single story of Africa: a single story of
catastrophe’ deliberately links the two final words to show how
deleterious people’s assumptions can be
• in line 49, the repetition of the phrase ‘single story’ and the use of it as
a metaphor for wider issues such as racial stereotyping reinforce the
key message of the speech
• the use of emotive abstract nouns such as ‘pity’ and ‘guilt’ and
adjectives such as ‘guilty’ and ‘ashamed’ in the speech enhance the
sense of the strong and powerful feelings that are evoked by single
stories
• the verbs used in the asyndetic listing of phrases to describe the
stereotyped qualities of Mexican people (‘fleecing’, ‘sneaking’, ‘being
arrested’) serve to further show how damaging single stories can be
• towards the end of the speech, the tone becomes more positive and
the consecutive short repetitive sentences ‘Stories matter. Many
stories matter’ show how the writer is keen to emphasise the good
points about stories
• negative impacts of stories -‘used to dispossess and to malign’- are
followed by their antitheses -‘can also be used to empower and
humanize’- in a parallel construction with the lingering emphasis being
on their positive qualities
• the anecdote about the renowned author, Alice Walker, lends further
credibility to the writer’s argument through the use of logos
• the writer uses time markers to show how it has taken years for her to
learn and refine her thoughts and opinions
• the speech, as a whole, is an accumulation of thoughts and arguments
supported by personal anecdotes and use of ethos and pathos which
builds to a powerful climax
• the final single sentence paragraph offers the members of the
audience words of wisdom and advice to ‘reject the single story’, and
use of the first-person plural pronoun provides a strong link between
them and the speaker
• with the idea that if we follow this advice we can ‘regain a kind of
paradise’, the metaphor within the concluding phrase provides us with
an image of innocence and purity.

Reward all valid points.

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Question 4
Level Mark AO2 Understand and analyse how writers use linguistic and
structural devices to achieve their effects.
0 No rewardable material.
Level 1 1-2 • Basic identification and little understanding of the language
and/or structure used by writers to achieve effects.
• The use of references is limited.
Level 2 3–4 • Some understanding of and comment on language and structure
and how these are used by writers to achieve effects, including
use of vocabulary.
• The selection of references is valid, but not developed.
Level 3 5–7 • Clear understanding and explanation of language and structure
and how these are used by writers to achieve effects, including
use of vocabulary and sentence structure.
• The selection of references is appropriate and relevant to the
points being made.
Level 4 8–10 • Thorough understanding and exploration of language and
structure and how these are used by writers to achieve effects,
including use of vocabulary, sentence structure and other
language features.
• The selection of references is detailed, appropriate and fully
supports the points being made.
Level 5 11–12 • Perceptive understanding and analysis of language and structure
and how these are used by writers to achieve effects, including
use of vocabulary, sentence structure and other language
features.
• The selection of references is discriminating and clarifies the
points being made.