AQA English Language Paper 1 Question 2: language analysis
Eight marks for explaining how a writer's words work on a reader. The gap between a grade 4 and a grade 8 answer here is almost entirely about how far the explanation goes past naming.
The essentials
| Board | AQA |
| Paper | Language Paper 1, Section A |
| Marks | 8 |
| Suggested time | about 10 minutes |
Mark totals here are read from real past papers ingested into Marked, not from a revision site: 8 marks on 9 AQA Paper 1s; the Paper 2 equivalent runs to 12. Timings are our own guidance rather than anything the board specifies.
What the question asks
How the writer uses words, phrases, language features and sentence forms within a named section of the extract.
You are working inside a specified stretch of text, not the whole piece.
What it assesses
| Objective | What it means here |
|---|---|
| AO2: language choices | All eight marks. Analysing how language creates meaning and effect, with accurate subject terminology where it helps. |
What costs marks
- Device spotting. 'This is a simile' is not analysis. What did the comparison make the reader picture, and why that picture?
- Quoting too long. A quotation of a whole sentence usually means the precise word doing the work has not been identified.
- Explaining the plot. If the sentence would still be true had the writer chosen different words, it is not about language.
- Straying outside the named section. Marks come from the stretch the question specifies.
How to practise it
Take one short quotation and write three sentences about it: what it means, what it makes the reader feel or picture, and why that word rather than an obvious alternative. The third sentence is where the marks live.
Practise choosing shorter evidence. Aim for quotations of a few words.
Have an answer marked against AO2 specifically, so you find out whether your analysis reached effect or stopped at identification.
More on English Language, on AQA, or see all question guides.
Next, on the same paper or the same board: AQA Paper 1 Question 3: structure, AQA Paper 1 Question 4: evaluation.
Put one answer through it
The free tier needs no card. Paste an answer you have already written and see the grade, the mark band and the reasoning behind both.