This post is an extract from my new guide to getting 100% on Paper 2 Question 4. It is the hardest question in the exam. I hope this post makes it the easiest.
Introduction
If you have any of my other guides to the reading questions, you will know I always try to give you the very simplest method.
This guide finally does that in a way I didn’t expect. It is the simplest method I’ve ever come across.
It actually scares me.
So before we get there, lets turn to other methods you might be using.
A Logical Method
Find a quote from Source A. Write an explanation of what this tells us about the writer’s viewpoint.
Find a quote in Source B which shows a similarity or a difference. Write an explanation of what this tells us about the writer’s viewpoint.
Organise 1 and 2 above, your comparison, into one paragraph.
Do three more of these paragraphs, and you will have four strong comparisons and score at least a grade 7.
Do six of these and you might score a grade 9.
Problems with this Method
It’s quite difficult to jump from one Source to the other during the exam. It takes time to do this, as you interrupt your flow.
None of the top grade answers use this method, but lots of the low and middle grade answers do. So, this probably isn’t the most efficient method.
So, if you are aiming for a grade 4 or 5, this method will always work. But for higher grades, it looks like it might just take too long.
So, this is a grade 4 and 5 method.
A PEEL Paragraph Method
Make a point: P
Quote some evidence: E
Explain what that tells us about the writer’s viewpoint: E
Pick on a word or two in the quote which shows us something else about the writer’s viewpoint (so, analyse the language): L
Find a quote in Source B which shows a similarity or a difference, and state what the similarity or difference is.
Write a PEEL paragraph about this quote.
Write 4 such paragraphs for a grade 7 – 9.
Problems with this Method
A lot of the top grade answers are longer than this.
A lot of the top grade answers have some PEEL paragraphs mixed with some PEE paragraphs (or even PEE being done in a single sentence).
So, limiting yourself to 4 PEEL paragraphs will help you nail a grade 7. That’s impressive. But, it is a bit more of a lottery as to whether it will give you grade 8 or 9.
So, this is a grade 6 and 7 method.
The Method Used in Grade 8 and 9 Answers
Write about a quote in Source A. Explain what it shows about the writer’s viewpoint. That can be one sentence, or one paragraph, it doesn’t matter which.
Do this for as many quotes as you can in half your time. So, if you are using 24 minutes for this question, do this for 12 minutes. If you have only 20 minutes for this question, do this for 10 minutes.
Then do the same for Source B, saying how it is similar or different to the viewpoints in Source A.
Problems with this Method
Most students are taught methods for all the questions which involve this: paragraphs.
Just tell me how many paragraphs to write!
This method therefore makes you feel a bit unsafe, as there are no set number of paragraphs.
But, it is a grade 8 and 9 method.
The Mr Salles Method
Write about the writers’ viewpoints. These are your explanations.
On average, every 26 words you write will give you 1 mark.
That’s it.
o For 16 marks you need to write 416 words (on average)
o For 11 marks, grade 7, you need to write 286 words (on average).
I told you it was scary.
This method will get you all the grades!
What You Should Do Next
But don’t take my word for it. Just look at the answers in this guide, and judge for yourself.
It’s your exam, and you know which method will suit you best. You might have a different method taught by your teacher.
Look at the answers which get the marks you want (almost no-one has time to write enough to get more than 14/16 in this exam!)
Then decide which method will work for the mark you want.
8 Mark Answer
Response 4
Both sources show children enjoying sweet treats which are portrayed as unhealthy for them.
Source A describes how turron “could crack milk teeth, and once bitten shattered like white marble”. The danger of this sweet is conveyed through “shattered”, which is explosive and suggests pain. It also implies real damage or injury.
In contrast, Source B doesn’t suggest harm, but states it quite clearly. These sweets can actually be fatal, “the colours were made from lead based paints, and this metal is wickedly poisonous”. We can also see that the sweets might be fatal from “the terrible practice of luring our little ones with paint made from poisons”. The verb “luring” implies that the sweets are both dishonest and dangerous, being made to look “attractive” through their colours, which are actually made from poison.
8 marks
3 comparisons
134 words
My Comments
Explanations 7
Methods 6
References 7
Points 6
17 words per mark
Ok, my method would definitely get you a lot more marks. Look at how little this student has written! They have mad skills, coming up with multiple explanations in hardly any words.
They could easily have got a grade 9. I’m not joking!
Can you work out why the senior examiner gave this 8 marks even though it has only 7 explanations?
I think they loved the final PEEL paragraph which goes into a lot of individual word analysis. The second paragraph is also a PEEL paragraph, with two explanations about the quote.
So, the lesson is, writing PEEL paragraphs is a good idea up to grade 7! And you will see later why making sure your final paragraph is a PEEL is so important.
But, for grades 8 and 9, get rid of PEEL
14 Mark Answer
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