Writer’s Effect for IGCSE First Language English: A Guide
In today’s post, I thought to write about something that many of you been requesting for: A guide on Writer’s Effect.
I started to think about doing this ever since I had performed a poll on the IGCSE Malaysia Facebook group, and this happened:
All right, I hear you!
Let’s get into it!
Writer’s Effect questions appear in Paper 1 of the IGCSE first language English exam. Here’s an example from Variant 1 of Summer 2021. You may seek out the paper (look for 0500_s21_qp_11 and 0500_s21_in_11 and look for text B on pastpapers.co and follow along if you wish) 🙂
Generally, these questions are often phrased in the same way.
They ask you to highlight three key words or phrases that can be found in the texts that you will be reading for the exam, and to point out how the writer uses those words or phrases achieve specific effects upon the reader.
The key word here is how. More on this later.
Sounds easy?
Well, many students struggle with this.
As they write, they overemphasise the content of the pieces that they are generating and prefer to write about the content inside the passages that they are reading rather than doing what they are supposed to actually do, which is actually to talk about language.
Let me give you an example from a recent student essay that I marked.
“In paragraph 18, the writer begins with the phrase “wails” to create a sense of drama and exaggeration, which highlights Vivian’s discomfort with her surroundings. The writer then continues with the phrase “plucked out of her comfort zone.” This metaphor is used to emphasise Vivian’s transition of city life to cycle touring. The phrase also suggests that Vivian was unprepared for the challenges of the trip.”
In this case, as with many other cases of student work, the student focused not on language but instead made a relatively weak statement about the content of the passage that is pretty obvious to anyone who reads it.
Here’s my feedback and improvement on this:
Now, here’s my commentary:
(Oh, but before that, I’m sorry to burst your bubble if you’re a non-member, but to read this you’re going to have to sign up for a free membership – don’t worry, it will only take a minute!)
Please Log In to your members’ account to access this resource. If you haven’t signed up yet, make sure to Join Now!
We hope that you found this incredibly useful, and that it will help you on your journey to being able to break down Writer’s Effect, and to consistently do well in this section of the exam – good luck, make sure to keep practicing, and here is to your success!
V.
victortanws
Recommended Posts
Welcome to the ultimate guide to conquering the 0500 First Language English exam! Whether you’re a student or a teacher, we are confident that you’ll find some value here. The materials on this site will break down the IGCSE First Language English curriculum for you, offer you some helpful tips, […]
Hey guys, V back with you with yet another primer on literary genres – and today we’re talking about nonfiction! Now, before you click away thinking nonfiction is just dusty textbooks and dry how-to guides, let me stop you right there. Nonfiction is so much more than that. It’s the […]
Dear all, It’s been a minute, but back to updating the Descriptive/Narrative composition banks! This update includes essays from May 2024. Want to gain the exact examples you need for that A*? Sign up for a Premium membership so that you don’t miss out, today! V. You’ll find the new […]
The entire premise of this site is that it offers you a set of solutions, strategies, and suggestions on how you should excel in the art of rhetoric, the English language, and across both reading and writing. Here, we’ve talked a lot about language analysis (and we may talk more), […]
One of the coolest things that we can do as a species is write, and write you definitely have to on every aspect of life and also the IGCSE First Language English exams. Almost every good writer is also a good reader, and how appropriate that is given that language […]
As a teacher of English, it’s natural that I want my students to have both a good understanding of language and also a strong ability to produce language. Luckily for all of you, I have a (no-brainer?) recommendation for all of you – both of these are improved by reading […]
In this blog, I often talk about how to get better at the English language. Today, I thought I would do something a little different: I’d like to share a story with you – the story of what I genuinely believe made me good at using English. I was born […]