A* model answer essay to Jun 2017 AQA English Language paper 1
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Course
Paper 1 2017 A* model answer
Institution
AQA
Full marks essays that cover all levels of analysis from clause level to pragmatic level, fulfil top band of AO
Text A is an article from the online edition of Metro, accessed on 21/01/2016. See page 3.
Text B is the front cover of, and an extract from, the official report The Fourth Olympiad, pu...
01) Given the genre of text A, as a journalistic report, one would expect the writer to
represent themselves and the reader as credible. This can be observed through the elliptical
clause in the slogan 'news..but not as you know it' in which the writer uses ellipses and the
coordinating conjunction 'but' to denote how their news does not adhere to the usual
expectations and explores the truth to provide the reader with truthful, helpful information.
This idea is furthered by the use of the second person pronoun 'you' as the subject element
of the coordinating clause 'but not as you know it' in which the mental verb 'know' represents
the article as wanting to expand the reader's knowledge which makes the reader think that
this article will fulfil the purpose of informing the reader whilst drawing on discourses that the
reader may have not considered before which could suggest that the text is a tabloid. This
representation as authorative is a pattern seen throughout the text since the repeated use of
the copular verb 'is' throughout highlights a dogmatic link between what the writer says and
conclusions which can be seen in the independent clause 'Veronica Campbell-Brown...old'
which highlights an inextricable link and represents the writer as credible. However, there is
a complexity to this pattern given the use of adverbs of uncertainty such as 'probably' and
'possible' within the independent clause 'and has...count' which could undermine the reader's
authority. Therefore the text could be considered to ineffectively fulfil generic expectations of
an article.
However, the use of qualifying discourse markers such as 'but' could be considered an
effective topic switching device which fulfils the generic conventions expected in journalism
since it represents the writer as considering two sides of the debate since the coordinating
conjunction 'but' implies that everything is not as it seems. This represents the writer as
credible which is expected from an article. However this authority could be considered to be
undermined by the authority represented within the rules given the use of the deontic modal
auxiliary verb 'shall' which can be used to denote politeness, however, it is important to note
that in context it represents the authority of the rules given that it is a verb in a high register.
The rules are also represented as authoritative given the compound-complex structure of
sentences such as 'an athlete..progress' which is written in the declarative mood which
represents the rules authorative as they cover a large range of situations seen in
coordinating clauses such as 'or steps or runs outside..' and 'or forced by another..'. The
declarative mood represents the credibility of these rules. Therefore these rules are
represented as authorative which could be considered ineffective since they may undermine
the writer's authority, however multi textual reference is a convention expected in articles to
contextualise the issue and grant the reader greater understanding which is the purpose of
journalism.
In analysing the semantic patterns of the text, there is a clear emphasis put on representing
the subject of the text as the rule break given the pattern of material verbs such as
'disqualified', 'impede' and 'obstructed' which are all hyponyms of rule-breaking activity and
represent 'Veronica' as forcefully breaking the rules. For example, within the complex
declarative sentence 'During her 200m heat...Adeoye', the use of the transitive verb 'broke'
can semantically refer to physically breaking something however, pragmatically, it refers to
not adhering to rules. The transitive nature of this verb is effective since it has a direct object
within the object noun phrase 'accepted sprinting etiquette' which represents Veronica as
rebellious. However, it could be considered that this representation is undermined since in
analysing the pragmatic features of the object noun phrase 'accepted sprinting etiquette', the
, concrete countable noun 'etiquette' implies breaking what is expected rather than going
against the inextricable rules. This idea is a pattern throughout the end of the text since
within the complex declarative sentence 'An athlete shall not...border' in which the use of the
polysyndeton within this sentence, the repeated use of the coordinating conjunction 'or'
represents that Veronica did not actually break the rules given the use of negation and the
verb phrase 'run outside' which refers to switching lanes which is exactly what Veronica did.
The use of the textual structure could be considered unleading because the material nouns
to begin denote a pejorative attitude towards Veronica who broke the rules which a causal
reader may infer, but the truth is Veronica did not break the rules. Therefore it could be
considered that the text does effectively adhere to the purpose set out in the slogan of
judging as expected in a tabloid. Therefore the text represents Veronica as breaking the
rules but we can infer that no rules were actually broken.
In analysing the semantic patterns of the text, there is a clear emphasis put on representing
the nationality of the runners given the use of the proper noun 'Jamaican' which is an
anaphoric reference to the subject element of the title as 'Veronica Campbell-brown' which
could be considered an effective cohesive device at informing the reader through presenting
them with relevant information and the use of the pre-modifying adjective 'Briton' taints the
reader's perception of Adeoye and could encourage them to response sympathetically given
the victim of Adeoye's rule break was British. Whilst stating nationality is not necessary, it
could be considered that the writer purposely states the runner's foreign nationality to
encourage British readers to take a negative view towards Veronica. For example the text
aims to represent the British Adeoye as a victim which can be seen within the relative clause
'which was also occupied..Adeoye' which follows the independent clause 'the Jamaican..her'
in which 'the Jamaican' is the subject element which could represent Veronica as causing
great problems which subjugated Adeoye. This use of representing Veronica in a negative
light is a pattern throughout the text since the use of the elliptical clause 'doesn't get
disqualified' in which the subject element is omitted represents the writer's negative attitude
towards Veronica as though she isn't worthy of being mentioned. In addition, the writer draws
on the reader's pragmatic knowledge within the multimodal reference 'Excuse me, that's MY
line' in which we can infer that despite the politeness of the verb phrase 'excuse me', this is
what the writer imagines Adeoye said and is meant to be interpreted as a request for
Veronica to move. This is heightened through the use of the capitalization of 'MY' which we
can infer is to represent Adeoye's anger. In addition, the author also represents his own
negative opinion towards Veronica within the final compound sentence 'Adeoye..hurry' which
is perhaps a disguised exclamatory meant to leave the reader's with a lasting message of
enrage. It could be considered that this representation of authority is particularly ineffective
given the social context in 2015 when there was great controversy in Britain due to the
increased number of immigrants arriving in Britain and this negative representation could
hence be considered ineffective given the social context since it could encourage a racist
attitude which is not the acceptable attitude to have in 2015. This is particularly ineffective
given the online dimension of the text which means pejorative attitudes can be wide spread.
02) Given the genre of text B as a legal document whose purpose is to inform those with a
schematic knowledge on the sport and the Olympics, one would expect the text to be
represented as autoratvie so the reader can trust what is written inside. Therefore the
repeated pattern of noun phrases which include proper nouns such as 'The Fourth Olympiad'
and 'The Olympic Games of 1908' effectively fulfil the expected conventions of rules and
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