Today in class we looked at past paper questions from Section A of the exam paper. We focused on the question

‘Write about McCarthy’s methods of telling the story from the top of page 284 to the end  of the novel (21 marks)’

To succeed in your answer to this question, you must focus on fulfilling the requirement of AO2, which is to

‘demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts’

In the mark scheme, AQA have identified a number of areas candidates might focus on in their response (these aren’t restrictive, don’t feel like these are the only things you can discuss):

• narrative perspective: omniscient narrator who is detached, the use of the man as the focaliser in places, use of the boy as a focaliser at the end, etc.

• setting: unspecified location, seems be America, coastal location, significance of the ‘road’,  use of day and night time, seems to be set in the near-distant future, etc.

• feel of a dystopian text, human drama, tragedy, etc.

• linear chronology but with flashbacks and time leaps, use of dream landscape and  sequences, cinematic techniques, lack of closure at the end, etc.

• use of time references, stark language, use of colour and sensuous adjectives, references to stories, unmarked dialogue, use of concrete nouns, repetitive sentence structures, use of minor sentences, precision of description, symbolism of ‘fire’, etc.

Using these as a basis, each student wrote one paragraph of an essay in response to the question. We looked at exemplar work (attached), a response to a question on Gatsby, to model our answers, considering how the candidate was successful and how we could imitate this is in our own responses.

Could each of you please write an essay in response to the question. Feel free to send any drafts or plans to me for feedback.