Question 3: language

What Question 3 asks

Question 3 asks how a writer uses language in one of the sources, often Source B, though it can be either. It suggests you write about:

words and phrases;
language features and techniques;
sentence forms.

It tests , is worth 12 marks, and you should spend about 12–15 minutes on it. It works like Paper 1 Question 2, but is worth more, so give more detail.

Key terms

Method

Check which source the question names, and box the lines if it gives them.
Underline 3–4 interesting words, phrases or techniques linked to the question.
For each, write a paragraph: , , , and what it shows about the writer's view.
Zoom in on single words and their connotations.
Comment on sentence forms too, such as a long list or a short, sharp sentence.

Model answer

Source A: London Labour and the London Poor (the watercress girl) by Henry Mayhew, 1851

The little watercress girl who gave me the following statement,

although only eight years of age, had entirely lost all childish ways,

and was, indeed, in thoughts and manner, a woman. There was something

cruelly pathetic in hearing this infant, so young that her features had

scarcely formed themselves, talking of the bitterest struggles of life,

with the calm earnestness of one who had endured them all. I did not

know how to talk with her. At first I treated her as a child, speaking

on childish subjects; so that I might, by being familiar with her,

remove all shyness, and get her to narrate her life freely. I asked

her about her toys and her games with her companions; but the look of

amazement that answered me soon put an end to any attempt at fun on

my part. I then talked to her about the parks, and whether she ever

went to them. “The parks!” she replied in wonder, “where are they?” I

explained to her, telling her that they were large open places with

green grass and tall trees, where beautiful carriages drove about, and

people walked for pleasure, and children played. Her eyes brightened

up a little as I spoke; and she asked, half doubtingly, “Would they

let such as me go there—just to look?” All her knowledge seemed to

begin and end with water-cresses, and what they fetched. She knew no

more of London than that part she had seen on her rounds, and believed

that no quarter of the town was handsomer or pleasanter than it was at

Farringdon-market or at Clerkenwell, where she lived.

Refer only to Source A. How does Mayhew use language to describe the watercress girl?

Mayhew describes the girl as a child who has been robbed of childhood. He calls her an ‘infant’ yet says she is ‘in thoughts and manner, a woman’, and this contrast makes her sound unnaturally old. The phrase ‘cruelly pathetic’ shows his pity, and ‘cruelly’ suggests that something, or someone, is to blame. His superlative, ‘the bitterest struggles of life’, is shocking beside her young age. Even her hope is small: she asks if she may go to the parks ‘just to look’, which shows how little she expects from life.

What makes a level 4 answer

The top level (10–12 marks) needs analysis:

analysing the effects of the writer's choices, not just naming them;
a range of short quotations;
sophisticated, accurate subject terminology.

Common mistake

Question 3 is about language, not content. ‘The girl is poor’ is a summary point for Question 2. Write about how the words show it.

Key terms

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