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Compare how the writers convey their different/similar perspectives/attitudes about…?
Compare how the writers convey their different/similar perspectives/attitudes about…?
This question assesses your ability to:
Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references.
In this question, you should be evaluating the text (may be the entire text or a significant section of it) and explain how the writers convey their perspectives and feelings about a particular topic or focus. This question might ask you to compare similarities or differences, but students can write about both in their constructed response, as writers might be facing a similar topic, but have different opinions and experiences on both.
Suggested time: 16 minutes
Top tips:
Make sure you use short, precise quotes in your response to ensure that you can support your answer.
Ensure you use language and structure techniques in your answer to help analyse the text. In this question, they will be called "methods" and can also include a comparison of themes.
Remember to identify the author's perspective, not the perspective of any person mentioned in the text.
Give equal weight to both sources in your response and avoid focusing on one article more than the other.
Don't forget to explain how the author has achieved this perspective through their methods.
Remember to use What How Why in your response (you do not need to link to context in this question).
What are some structure techniques? Write them down, then check your answer.
What are some structure techniques? Write them down, then check your answer.
Short, snappy sentences
Short, simple sentences
Long, complex sentences
Short paragraphs
Long paragraphs
Dialogue
Description
Action
Shift in focus
Shift in topic
Shift in time
Shift in character
Zoom out
Zoom in
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution/Denouement
Inciting Incident
Connectives
Repetition
In media res
1st person/2nd person/3rd person POV
Past/present/future tense
Temporal references (references to time)
Withholding information
Endings
Order of the events
Flashback
Flashforward
Circular narrative
Justaposition
Chronological structure
Rule of 3
Direct speech
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? How have they used structure?
Why is it effective? Why does it make an emotional response in the reader?
Let's look at the example in the question below, "Compare how the writers convey their different perspectives and feelings about their children growing up.", the focus of the question is the different perspectives about growing up. So our What How Why would look something like:
What is different about the parents' perspectives? What does the writer want us to understand about the different perspectives on growing up?
How has the writer used words and phrases to show those differences?
Why is it effective in showing the differences? Why does this make us care about the differences in perspectives?
Sample Question and Answer
Sample Question and Answer
Source A
Source A
This is an article published in The Guardian newspaper in 2016. The writer, Stuart Heritage, explores how he feels now that his son is a year old.
How can my son be a year old already?
He’s growing up fast, leaving milestones in his wake – and tiny parts of me along with them
My son turned one last week. The day marked the end of what has been both the longest and shortest year of my life. From the instant he was born, it’s felt as if my son has always been part of this family. I don’t mean that in an obnoxious, heart-eyed, this-was-always-meant-to-be way. I simply mean that I haven’t slept for a year and I don’t really know how time works any more. Whole years have passed in some of the afternoons I’ve spent with him lately. Entire galaxies have been born and thrived and withered and died in the time it’s taken him to eat a mouthful of porridge.
How is he one already? First he was born, and then I blinked, and now in his place is a little boy who can walk and has teeth and knows how to switch off the television at precisely the most important moment of anything I ever try to watch. It’s not exactly the most unprecedented development in all of human history – child gradually gets older – but it’s the first time I’ve seen it close up. It’s honestly quite hard to grasp.
A year ago, he was a sleepy ball of scrunched-up flesh, but is now determinedly his own person. I can see everyone in him – me, my wife, my parents – yet he’s already separate from all of us. He’s giddy and silly. He’s a show-off, albeit one who’s irrationally terrified of my dad. He loves running up to people and waiting for them to twang his lips like a ruler on a table. When he gets tired and barks gibberish in the middle of the room, he throws his entire body into it, like he’s trying to shove the noise up a hill.
With every tiny development – every new step he takes, every new tooth and sound and reaction that comes along to ambush us – we’re confronted with a slightly different child.
Photos of him taken in the summer seem like dispatches from a million years ago. Photos of him taken last week seem like a different boy. He’s blasting ahead as far as he can. He’s leaving milestone after milestone in his wake and tiny parts of me along with them.
He’ll never again be the tiny baby who nestled in the crook of my arm, sucking on my little finger in the middle of the night while his mum slept. Nor will he be the baby amazed by the taste and texture of solid food. Soon enough he’ll stop being the baby who totters over and rests his head on my shoulder whenever he gets tired, or laughs uncontrollably whenever I say the word ‘teeth’ for reasons I don’t think I’ll ever work out.
But I’ve had a year of this and it’s ok. He’s never going to stop changing, and I don’t want him to. This sadness, this constant sense of loss, of time slipping just beyond your grasp, is an important part of this process. He won’t realise this, of course. He’s got years of unbroken progress ahead of him, where everything will always be new and he’ll keep obliviously brushing away all of the silly old fools who tell him how much he’s grown.
One day it’ll creep up on him. Years of his life will pass in a moment and he won’t be able to understand where they’ve gone.
But it’s ok. You can’t hoard time. You just have to make the most of what you have.
Source B
Source B
This is an extract from a Victorian newspaper article of the 1800s. The writer explores how she feels now that her son has grown up.
Boy Lost
He had black eyes, with long lashes, red cheeks, and hair almost black and almost curly. He wore a crimson plaid jacket, with full trousers buttoned on, had a habit of whistling, and liked to ask questions. He was accompanied by a small black dog.
It is a long while now since he disappeared.
I have a very pleasant house and much company. My guests say, ‘Ah, it is pleasant to be here! Everything has such an orderly, put-away look – nothing about under foot, no dirt!’ But my eyes are aching for the sight of cut paper upon the floor; of tumbled-down card-houses; of wooden sheep and cattle; of pop-guns, bows and arrows, whips, tops and go-carts. I want to see crumbs on the carpet, and paste spilt on the kitchen table. I want to see the chairs and tables turned the wrong way about; yet these things used to fret me once.
They say, ‘How quiet you are here; ah, one here may be at peace.’ But my ears are aching for the pattering of little feet; for a hearty shout, a shrill whistle, for the crack of little whips, for the noise of drums and tin trumpets; yet these things made me nervous once.
They say – ‘Ah, you are not tied at home. How delightful to be always at liberty for concerts, lectures, and parties! No responsibilities for you.’ But I want responsibilities; I want to listen for the school bell of mornings; to give the last hasty wash and brush, and then to watch from the window nimble feet bounding away to school. I want to replace lost buttons and obliterate mud stains, fruit stains, treacle stains, and paints of all colours. I want to be sitting by a little crib of evenings, when weary little feet are at rest, and prattling voices are hushed, that mothers may sing their lullabies. They don’t know their happiness then – those mothers. I didn’t. All these things I called responsibilities once.
A manly figure stands before me now. He is taller than I, has thick black whiskers, and wears a frock coat, billowy shirt, and cravat. He has just come from college. He calls me mother, but I am rather unwilling to own him. He stoutly declares that he is my boy, and says he will prove it. He brings me his little boat to show the red stripe on the sail, and the name on the stern – ‘Lucy Lowe’ – our neighbour’s little girl who, because of her long curls, and pretty round face, was the chosen favourite of my little boy. How the red comes to his face when he shows me the name on the boat!
And I see it all as plain as if it were written in a book. My little boy is lost, and my big boy will soon be. I wish he were still a little boy in a long white night gown, lying in his crib, with me sitting by, holding his hand in mine, pushing the curls back from his forehead, watching his eyelids droop, and listening to his deep breathing. If I only had my little boy again, how patient I would be! How much I would bear, and how little I would fret and scold! I can never have him back again; but there are still many mothers who haven’t yet lost their little boys. I wonder if they know they are living their very best days; that now is the time to really enjoy their children!
I think if I had been more to my little boy I might now be more to my grown up one.
Q4: For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A, together with the whole of Source B.
Compare how the writers convey their different perspectives and feelings about their children growing up.
In your answer, you could:
compare their different perspectives and feelings
comment on the methods the writers use to convey their different perspectives and feelings
support your response with references to both texts.
Check Your Answer
Check Your Answer
What
Both writers feel sadness and nostalgia about their sons growing up, but they show different perspectives: the father in Source A is surprised, reflective and mostly accepting, while the mother in Source B feels deep regret and longing for the past.
How
In Source A, Stuart Heritage uses hyperbole such as “Entire galaxies have been born and thrived and withered and died” to show how fast time passes. He describes tender memories like his baby nestled in the crook of his arm, and lists how his son is now “giddy and silly” and leaving “tiny parts of me” behind. He ends on a positive note with the advice “You can’t hoard time. You just have to make the most of what you have.”
In Source B, the Victorian mother repeatedly uses “I want” to express her strong longing for the mess and noise she used to find annoying, such as “crumbs on the carpet”, “pattering of little feet”, scattered toys, and prattling voices. She openly regrets not appreciating those days and says she wishes she could have her “little boy” back so she could be more patient. She even feels reluctant to fully accept her grown son.
Why
The writers use these techniques to explore the emotional side of parenthood. Source A helps the reader understand that sadness is natural but parents should enjoy the present. Source B warns readers not to take the early years for granted and shows stronger feelings of loss. Together, they show how growing up affects parents in different ways, making the reader think about time, change, and family.
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
In Source A, the dad is shocked and surprised that his son is already one year old. He says the year felt both very long and very short. He uses funny examples like galaxies being born and dying while his son eats porridge to show how fast time passes. He misses the tiny baby who slept in his arms, but he accepts that children must change. He says it is okay because “You can’t hoard time” and parents should enjoy the moments they have.
In Source B, the Victorian mum feels much more sad and full of regret. She misses the mess her little boy made, such as crumbs on the carpet, toys on the floor and the noise of his little feet. She wishes she could go back and be more patient. She even feels reluctant to accept her grown-up son and says her “little boy is lost”. She warns other mothers to enjoy their young children while they can.
Both writers feel sadness and loss as their sons grow up, but the dad in Source A is more positive and accepting, while the mum in Source B feels deeper regret and wishes she could have the past back.
Grade 9
Although both convey nostalgia and a sense of loss, their attitudes differ in tone, depth of regret, and outlook on the future.
In Source A, Stuart Heritage offers a perspective that is humorous, reflective, and largely accepting. He uses hyperbole such as “Entire galaxies have been born and thrived and withered and died” to emphasise the surreal speed of time. He recalls tender, specific memories — his baby “nestled in the crook of my arm” and tottering over to rest his head on his shoulder — but he ultimately views the sadness as natural. His concluding advice, “You can’t hoard time. You just have to make the most of what you have,” shows a wise and positive acceptance of change.
By contrast, the Victorian mother in Source B presents a much more sorrowful and regretful perspective. She repeatedly uses the structure “I want” to list the everyday chaos she now desperately misses, including “crumbs on the carpet”, “pattering of little feet”, and scattered toys. Her language is deeply emotional as she admits she did not appreciate those days at the time and wishes she had been more patient. She even struggles to accept her grown son, describing him as someone she is “rather unwilling to own” and declaring that her “little boy is lost”.
Overall, both writers explore the bittersweet reality of parenthood and the passing of time, but Source A presents a balanced, forward-looking view, while Source B conveys heavier feelings of guilt, longing, and irreversible loss. These contrasting perspectives highlight how attitudes towards growing up can differ across time and personal experience.
Sample question and answer taken from AQA Language Paper 2 June 2017
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