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How does the writer use language to...?
How does the writer use language to...?
This question assesses your ability to:
Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views
It will ask you to analyse a specific section of one source (typically a descriptive paragraph) for language techniques. Students should not only identify a variety of techniques within the paragraph, but they should also look to develop a detailed explanation which includes: why the author uses the technique, how it affects readers, how it conveys the author's message, and any other relevant analysis.
Suggested time: 12 minutes
Top tips:
Make sure you are focused on the language (words, phrases) being used in the text.
Use Tier 3 (Key) vocabulary in your response, such as: simile, metaphor, personification, oxymoron, symbolism, etc.
Use short, precise quotations in your work to emphasise your ideas.
Remember to use What How Why in your response (you do not need to link to context in this question).
Annotate your extract (not your answer) to help you keep focused.
What are some language techniques? Write them down, then check your answer.
What are some language techniques? Write them down, then check your answer.
Simile
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Sibilance
Sensory Language
Emotive Language
Repetition
Asyndetic List
Oxymoron
Hyperbole
Personification
Pathetic Fallacy
Assonance
Consonance
Colloquial language
Dialect
Dialogue
Dissonance
Imagery
Irony
Pathos
Rhyme
Symbolism
Lexical (Word) Choice
Semantic Field
Need some revision to build your confidence with these techniques? Try the links below.
For the reading section of this exam, we recommend students adopt a What How Why writing structure, to help them effectively communicate their thoughts and analysis. For this question, students should focus on the writer's use of language. Your question will always have a focus. Once we've identified the focus, then we can start to use the What How Why structure to begin a response. This will vary depending on the focus, but it could look like:
What is your opinion about the focus? What is the writer suggesting with the focus?
How has the writer used words and phrases? How have they used language devices?
Why is it effective? Why does it make an emotional response in the reader?
Let's look at the example in the question below, "How does the writer use language to describe his son?", the focus of the question is the son. So our What How Why would look something like:
What is our impression of the son? What does the writer want us to understand about the son?
How has the writer used words and phrases to give that impression of the son? How has the writer used language devices to convey ideas about the son?
Why is it effective in showing the attitudes towards the son? Why does this make us care about the son?
Sample Question and Answer
Sample Question and Answer
Q3: You now need to refer only to Source A from lines 18 to 28.
How does the writer use language to describe his son?
Check Your Answer
Check Your Answer
What
The writer shows how quickly the baby has grown and changed in just one year, and how this makes the father feel proud but also a little sad.
How
Strong contrast between the newborn described as “a sleepy ball of scrunched-up flesh” (helpless and tiny) and the one-year-old who is now “determinedly his own person”.
Vivid and funny descriptions such as “giddy and silly”, a “show-off”, twanging his lips “like a ruler on a table”, and throwing his body “like he’s trying to shove the noise up a hill”.
Metaphors and exaggeration like “blasting ahead”, “leaving milestone after milestone in his wake”, and photos from summer feeling like “dispatches from a million years ago”.
Repeated idea that the boy is leaving “tiny parts of me along with them”.
Why
The writer uses these techniques to help the reader clearly picture the baby’s rapid development and understand the father’s mixed emotions. The lively, funny language shows pride and joy, while the metaphors about time passing quickly create a sad, bittersweet feeling. This makes the reader feel both the wonder and the sense of loss that comes with watching a child grow up so fast.
Using these ideas, we can then craft a response. Notice how the structure can vary depending on the point you are making and the level. For example, in the Grade 4 response, you can see a much clearer use of What How Why (especially in the first paragraph), which becomes a bit more varied and ambitious by the last paragraph. Whereas in the Grade 9 response, the student is able to blend the ideas together more fluently and can easily bounce back and forth between evidence (How) and explanation (Why) to prove their point (What).
Grade 4
The writer uses language to show how much the baby has changed and how the dad feels about it. He describes the baby a year ago as “a sleepy ball of scrunched-up flesh.” This makes him sound small, soft and sleepy. Now he calls him “determinedly his own person.” This shows the baby has become strong and independent.
The writer uses funny details to make him sound lively. He says the boy is “giddy and silly” and a “show-off.” He loves “twang his lips like a ruler on a table” and when he is tired he “barks gibberish” and throws his whole body into it “like he’s trying to shove the noise up a hill.” These words make the little boy sound funny and full of energy.
The dad feels a bit sad because his son is growing so fast. He says photos from the summer feel like “a million years ago” and every new thing is like a “different boy.” He feels like he is losing tiny parts of himself as his son grows up.
The writer uses interesting comparisons and funny words to help us really see and feel how quickly the baby is changing.
Grade 9
The writer uses language effectively to convey the rapid transformation of the baby and the father’s complex mix of pride, wonder, and melancholy.
Heritage begins with a strong contrast between the newborn, described as “a sleepy ball of scrunched-up flesh,” which creates an image of something helpless and unformed, and the one-year-old who is now “determinedly his own person.” This shows the child’s emerging independence. The writer uses vivid, dynamic verbs and adjectives such as “giddy,” “silly,” “show-off,” and “barks gibberish” to bring the child’s lively personality to life. The simile “like he’s trying to shove the noise up a hill” is particularly effective, as it humorously captures the child’s whole-hearted, exaggerated efforts.
Furthermore, the writer employs metaphorical language to emphasise the speed of change. Phrases such as “leaving milestone after milestone in his wake” and “blasting ahead as far as he can” suggest unstoppable forward momentum. The exaggeration in “Photos of him taken in the summer seem like dispatches from a million years ago” powerfully illustrates how quickly time feels like it is passing for the father. The repeated idea of the child leaving “tiny parts of me along with them” reveals the father’s bittersweet emotions — pride in his son’s development mixed with a sense of personal loss.
Overall, through a combination of vivid imagery, similes, metaphors, and contrast, the writer successfully portrays both the joy of the child’s growth and the poignant realisation that childhood is fleeting.
Sample question and answer taken from AQA Language Paper 2 June 2017
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