STUCK ON STRUCTURE (Tips for GCSE English Language)

One of the most troublesome aspects for students to grasp in GCSE English is structure. It is demanded everywhere: in both English Language and English Literature GCSEs, so it cannot be ignored. But what is it, what are students expected to know about it and how can a student improve their analysis of structure?

WHAT IS STRUCTURE?

Simply put, it is the organisation of events and information of a text in order to create a specific effect. Writers do it in novels and poetry. We also use structure for effect in our own lives without thinking about it.

For example if you wanted to organise a surprise birthday party, SURPRISE is the main effect you are aiming for. Let’s say you choose for this party to be at 7pm. You may then choose to pretend to have forgotten their birthday for the whole day in order to maximise the feeling of the surprise at 7pm. If you spent the whole time before 7pm talking about their birthday and how much you want to do something special with all their family and friends, by the time you get to 7pm, it may not be much of a surprise.

In order to create the desired effect, you would need to reorganise your excitement, enthusiasm and birthday talk for AFTER 7pm, not before.

Similarly, writers organise the order of events and details so that their desired effects in the reader are achieved.

WHAT ARE STUDENTS EXPECTED TO KNOW ABOUT STRUCTURE?

The deliberate organisation of events is one thing. Also important to know and understand are specific language techniques like juxtaposition, repetition, patterns and foreshadowing to name a few.

It is also important to know that it is not the narration of events, it is the analysis of the organisation of events, along with the techniques mentioned above.

HOW CAN STUDENTS IMPROVE THEIR ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURE?

Reading and asking themselves key questions about the following:

• Why is the writer choosing to begin a text a particular way?

• Why may the writer choose to change the focus at a specific time?

• What the most significant moment of the text is and how they set the reader up for that?

• Why is the writer choosing to repeat a particular word, image or idea?

The list could go on but the above are really good questions to start with.

Better than them asking themselves, you could ask these questions to your child about something they are reading. Speaking about our ideas before writing them is a very important part of forming our ideas and understanding, so just talking to your child about what they are reading using the listed prompts above can be really helpful.

Once you know what to look for, structure is not sticky or tricky, it's actually quite simple!

Try the above and let me know how you get on!

Happy writing,

Danai The Tutor 😃