AQA Language PAPER 1

26/09/22
5 a Day
1. What is a noun?

2. What is an abstract noun?

3. What is a concrete noun?

4. What is an interrogative sentence?

5. What is an exclamatory sentence?

Write the answers in full in your notes to help
with your revision.
1. What is a noun? A word that refers to a person, place or thing.

2. What is an abstract noun? Words that name things you cannot physically see or touch.
Things that are not tangible.

3. What is a concrete noun? Nouns you can physically see or touch.

4. What is an interrogative sentence? A sentence which has a grammatical form showing it is

a question.

5. What is an exclamatory sentence? A sentence type used to express surprise about

something unexpected or extraordinary.
Question 3
• Focus: Structure
• Marks available: 8
• Typical Question form:
Points to notice
• The bullets give you a clear structure for your response.
• Answer each in turn.
• There will be a shift of structure and/or perspective. You will need to
explore this to be in with a chance of a level 3 mark in this question.
• Macro-Structure refers to the overall structure of the passage.
• Micro – structure refers to the individual sentence structures.
 IS there any visible

Macro Structure change?

Alexander Cold awakened at dawn, startled by a nightmare. He had been dreaming that an enormous black bird had crashed against the window with a clatter of shattered glass, flown into the
house, and carried off his mother. In the dream, he had watched helplessly as it clasped her clothing in its yellow claws, flew out the same broken window, and disappeared into a sky heavy
with dark clouds.

What had awakened him was the noise from the storm: wind lashing the trees, rain on the rooftop, and thunder. He turned on the light with a sensation of being adrift in a boat, and pushed
closer to the bulk of the large dog sleeping beside him. He pictured the roaring Pacific Ocean a few blocks from his house, spilling in furious waves against the rocks. He lay listening to the
storm and thinking about the black bird and about his mother, waiting for the pounding in his chest to die down. He was still tangled in the images of his bad dream.

Alexander looked at the clock: 6.30, time to get up. Outside, it was beginning to get light. He decided that this was going to be a terrible day, one of those days when it’s best to stay in bed
because everything is going to turn out bad. There had been a lot of days like that since his mother got sick; sometimes the air in the house felt heavy, like being at the bottom of the sea.

At breakfast Alex was not in the mood to applaud his father’s efforts at making pancakes. His father was not exactly a good cook; the only thing he knew how to do was pancakes, and they
always turned out like rubber-tyre tortillas. His children didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so they pretended to eat them, but any time he wasn’t looking, they spit them out.

‘When’s Momma going to get better?’ Nicole asked, trying to spear a rubbery pancake with her fork.
Does the
‘Shut up, Nicole,’ Alex replied. Is there a key narrative shift in
‘Momma’s going to die,’ Andrea added. point where perspective?
‘Liar! She’s not going to die!’ shrieked Nicole. things shift? (zoom in/zoom
‘You two are just kids. You don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Alex exclaimed.
out)
‘Here, girls. Quiet now. Momma is going to get better,’ his father interrupted, without much conviction.

Alex was angry with his father, his sisters, life in general – even with his mother for getting sick. He rushed out of the kitchen, ready to leave without breakfast.

Except for his father’s pancakes and an occasional tuna-and-mayonnaise sandwich, no one in the family had cooked for months. There was nothing in the refrigerator but orange juice, milk
and ice cream; at night they ordered in pizza or Chinese food. At first it was almost like a party, because each of them ate whenever and whatever they pleased, mainly sweets, but by now
everyone missed the balanced diet of normal times. Alex Cold lives with his parents and two younger sisters, Andrea and Nicole, in a small American town, but when his mother becomes ill,
family life changes beyond recognition. Alex had realised during those months how enormous their mother’s presence had been and how painful her absence was now. He missed her easy
laughter and her affection, even her discipline. She was stricter than his father, and sharper. It was impossible to fool her; she could see the unseeable. He missed her music, her flowers, the
once-familiar fragrance of fresh-baked cookies, and the smell of paint. It used to be that his mother could work several hours in her studio, keep the house immaculate, and still welcome her
children after school with cookies. Now she barely got out of bed to walk through the rooms with a confused air, as if she didn’t recognise anything; she was too thin, and her sunken eyes were
circled with shadows. Her canvases, which once were explosions of colour, sat forgotten on their easels, and her oil paints dried in their tubes. His mother seemed to have shrunk; she was little
more than a silent ghost.
Beginning, middle and end (Macro…)
• Think back to the bullets…
• what the writer focuses your attention on at the beginning of the
source: Alex is the focus of the opening paragraphs which describe
the dream and his state of mind.
• how and why the writer changes this focus as the source develops: At
breakfast the author shifts to a fast-paced dialogue section to meet
the rest of the family and introduce the idea of the mother’s illness.
• any other structural features that interest you: The final paragraph
provides background and explanation in longer, descriptive sentences.
Micro-Structure for more detail

Alexander Cold awakened at dawn, startled by a nightmare. He had been dreaming that an enormous
black bird had crashed against the window with a clatter of shattered glass, flown into the house, and
carried off his mother. In the dream, he had watched helplessly as it clasped her clothing in its yellow
claws, flew out the same broken window, and disappeared into a sky heavy with dark clouds.
What had awakened him was the noise from the storm: wind lashing the trees, rain on the rooftop, and
thunder. He turned on the light with a sensation of being adrift in a boat, and pushed closer to the bulk of
the large dog sleeping beside him. He pictured the roaring Pacific Ocean a few blocks from his house,
spilling in furious waves against the rocks. He lay listening to the storm and thinking about the black bird
and about his mother, waiting for the pounding in his chest to die down. He was still tangled in the images
of his bad dream.
Alexander looked at the clock: 6.30, time to get up. Outside, it was beginning to get light. He decided that
this was going to be a terrible day, one of those days when it’s best to stay in bed because everything is
going to turn out bad. There had been a lot of days like that since his mother got sick; sometimes the air in
the house felt heavy, like being at the bottom of the sea.
Bullet 1 model response MACRO and Micro
• The author focuses attention at the beginning by placing the name of
the protagonist ‘Alexander Cold’ at the very beginning of the passage
in a short sentence in which we learn he is ‘startled’, creating a wish
to discover what has caused this to happen. He uses longer,
descriptive sentences full of alliteration and assonance to describe
vividly the dream – a dream full of violence. The short sentence at the
beginning of paragraph 3 prepares the reader for the rest of the
chapter as Alex sees the time on his clock and decides to get up. The
concluding simile – ‘like being at the bottom of the sea’ shows his
troubled state of mind as he goes to join the family breakfast.
Your turn :
• Write a paragraph in response to Bullet 1.
• Begin with a MACRO comment and then add at least 1 MICRO
comment about the sentence structure/content.
• Share and compare with a neighbour.
Bullet 2 How and why there is a change…
• Identify the change
• Comment on how it is achieved (Macro) and then developed (Micro)
• Make any relevant links between the bullets.

• As Alex comes to breakfast the author changes from narrative description of his dream to a
fast-paced passage of dialogue which introduces other family members which, by means of
emotive verbs such as ‘shrieked’, build up tension within the scene and allows each
character to be seen as individual. The opening sentence is longer and establishes the
father as the cook and carer in the family, whilst suggesting that he is not very good. Only
once the dialogue begins do we learn the significance of the mother to the story. In short
sentences we learn that she is ill and that she is dying. This information is key to the
passage and withheld until the middle of this section. This links back to Alex’s dream and
explains the significance of the ‘black bird’ which represents Death.
Your turn
• Write a paragraph (Macro and Micro) to respond the bullet 2.

• Share and compare.

Bullet 3 – anything else?
• The opening two sections introduce a family in medias res. In the final
section, the author fills in the back story to enable the reader to
continue to read into the short story with confidence. The focus
widens from Alex (now given this shortened form, presumably
because we ‘know’ him to his mother. Sentences are long and carry
information which is vital to understand the passage. In the middle of
the paragraph there is a shorter sentence which emphasises the
emotional heart of the passage: ‘Alex had realised during those
months how enormous their mother’s presence had been and how
painful her absence was now. ‘
Your turn…
• Write a paragraph in response to bullet 3.

• Then put them together as a response to the question…

The response moves from Macro to Micro in
each bullet.
• The author focuses attention at the beginning by placing the formal, full-name of the protagonist ‘Alexander Cold’
at the very beginning of the passage in a short sentence in which we learn he is ‘startled’, creating a wish to
discover what has caused this to happen. He uses longer, descriptive sentences full of alliteration and assonance to
describe vividly the dream – a dream full of violence. The short sentence at the beginning of paragraph 3 prepares
the reader for the rest of the chapter as Alex sees the time on his clock and decides to get up. The concluding simile
As Alex comes to breakfast the author changes from narrative description of his dream to a fast-paced passage of
dialogue which introduces other family members which, by means of emotive verbs such as ‘shrieked’, build up
tension within the scene and allows each character to be seen as individual. The opening sentence is longer and
establishes the father as the cook and carer in the family, whilst suggesting that he is not very good. Only once the
dialogue begins do we learn the significance of the mother to the story. In short sentences we learn that she is ill
and that she is dying. This information is key to the passage and withheld until the middle of this section. This links
back to Alex’s dream and explains the significance of the ‘black bird’ which represents Death. The opening two
sections introduce a family in medias res. In the final section, the author fills in the back story to enable the reader
to continue to read into the short story with confidence. The focus widens from Alex (now given this shortened
form, presumably because we ‘know’ him to his mother. Sentences are long and carry information which is vital to
understand the passage. In the middle of the paragraph there is a shorter sentence which emphasises the
emotional heart of the passage: ‘Alex had realised during those months how enormous their mother’s presence
had been and how painful her absence was now. ‘
Your turn
• Without copying your drafts, writ a response to Question 3:
 POINT OF VIEW (QUESTIONS 3 AND 4)
 different types of narration e.g. first person, second person, third person; third person narrative that privileges the
perspective of a given character; third person narrative with character as the centre of consciousness; singular or multiple
narrators
 events seen from different points of view (e.g. physical, ideological, perceptual); points of view which are privileged, those
which are marginalized, those which create narrative gaps
 categories of speech and thought (e.g. direct, indirect and narrator’s representation of speech/thought acts); patterns of or
changes in a character’s speech/thought across or at certain points of the extract

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE (Q3+4)

Simple chronology, framed narratives, use of flashbacks, cyclical structure, shifts in time and place, use of multiple narrators,
foreshadowing, analeptic (flashback)/proleptic (flash forward) narrative, stream of consciousness
 episodic novel, epistolary structure, autobiographical or diary form
 changing narrators/perspective/tense
 how authors privilege certain events by their position in the narrative
 the privileged position of beginnings and endings in terms of narrative structure and their importance in introducing and
concluding key aspects of setting, character, themes and context
 development of an incident, an idea or the story, suspense, tension
 contrast, twist, change, shift in tone, climax, anti-climax, using a specific method to introduce an idea/setting/character
Micro structure: sentence structures (short/compound/clauses)/patterns (repetition/listing/dash/anaphora/semantic field)