Writer's effects questions

5 Explain, using your own words, the sentence: 'It was irrigated
with extraordinary care, and showed
signs of systematic farming:
(paragraph 4).
[2]

6 State two unusual things about the appearance of the village

(paragraph 5).
[2]

Writer's effects questions.

As well as showing an understanding of the vocabulary used by writers another key
skill that you need to develop is to understand (or appreciate) the way that writers
use language to produce a particular response from their readers. The following group of
questions allow you to practise both explaining the meaning of some key words in the
passages on which they are based and also test your appreciation of how the writer's use of
language creates a particular effect in the mind of the reader.
It is important to keep in mind that questions 3 and 4 in the following exercises ask you to
explain how the language used by writers achieves particular effects. They do not ask you
simply to explain the meanings of the words used. (Although it goes without saying that the
best responses are likely to come from students who have a clear understanding of the meanings.)
In this section of the workbook, you will have the opportunity to practise writing answers to these
types of questions in response to a range of passages.
The instructions for Exercise 4, question 4, on page 18 state that in order to answer the
question, you should select 'powerful words and phrases' from the stimulus passage. It is
also stated that the words or phrases chosen should contain imagery.

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1 READING

What is meant by imagery (and how to write

about it)
Imagery means the use of figurative language (such as simile, metaphor,
onomatopoeia, alliteration, personification, and so on) to represent objects, actions
and ideas in such a way that there is an appeal to our physical senses. Imagery works
initially by producing a picture in the mind of a reader. However, the range of
associations with the vocabulary used by a writer to create the image is likely to
produce secondary responses in the reader by appealing to other senses in addition to sight.
The basic tool that all writers use to communicate with their readers is their vocabulary - the words
that they choose. For readers to understand what a writer is saying to them, it is important
that they interpret the words as having the same meaning that the writers had in their minds
when they chose them. This is particularly important in writing that is intended to give
information or instruction. For example, if the reader of a medical textbook
misunderstands the word diseased and assumes that the writer has written deceased, there
may be considerable problems in store for future patients!

It is, of course, highly important that the vocabulary used in instructional writing should
convey a clear and unambiguous meaning. However, in imaginative or personal
writing, writers use language not to give instructions but in order to appeal to their
readers' emotions and imaginations and to create a multi- dimensional response. One
way by which this effect is achieved is when the reader responds not just to the meanings of
the words in their immediate context, but to other associations that are carried by those words.

To take a straightforward example - if you hear someone shout the word duck, what does
that mean to you? If you are an ornithologist, your first thought will be of a feathered flying
creature. If you are in a school playground, you might respond by lowering your head or
throwing yourself on the ground to avoid a flying missile. If you are a cricketer, you are likely
to assume that the batsman has not been very successful. Or, if your mind is not focused on
anything in particular, you might respond by associating any or all of these meanings together!
Such a reaction as that mentioned above is not highly likely when the different meanings of a
word (such as duck) are clearly distinct. However, in much imaginative writing, the associations
of the words used by a writer are much more closely linked. Readers who are fully engaged in the text
will respond to what the writer has written by adding their own responses to the vocabulary and
thereby creating a more complex response to what they are reading. This is sometimes
referred to as responding to meanings beyond the literal.

Some figures of speech

The intention of the previous paragraphs was to help you to understand what you should do
when you are asked to comment on a writer's use of language in the phrases you have
chosen. Although it is important to show a clear understanding of the writer's overall intention,
you must also do your best to show how your interpretation of the vocabulary, and the
imagery that it creates, helps to develop and communicate the full implications of the writer's
intention.

Key point
Writers create imagery through the use of figures of speech. There is not space here to
provide an exhaustive list of the different figures of speech that can be found, nor is it
appropriate to do so. However, below is a brief list of the main figures of speech that are
likely to occur in the passages that you will read, together with definitions and examples
of their use.

Simile

A simile is a direct comparison between two things, introduced

by the word like or as, in order to make a description more
vivid or emphatic. For example, in John Steinbeck's novel Of
Mice and Men, the following phrase is used to describe the
relationship between the mentally challenged character Lennie and
his friend and protector George.
When commenting on a writer's use
 of language, it is important to keep in
mind that you should comment on how
writers achieve their effects and not
what figures of speech they use in
order to do so. It is not enough simply
to identify similes, metaphors, etc. in a
piece of writing - it is necessary to explain
what the effects of their use are on a reader.

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Writer's effects questions

Lennie is like a terrier who doesn't want to bring its ball

to its master.
The comparison between Lennie and a dog helps to convey to the reader
that Lennie's intelligence is little more than that of an animal. It also
presents a more sympathetic picture of him by showing that he is both
dependent on his friend as well as being a little afraid that he may
have done something to upset him for which he may be scolded.
Metaphor
A metaphor is an indirect comparison in which one thing is expressed in terms
of another - there is no need to use like or as. For example, a character in one of
Shakespeare's plays says that:
All the world's a stage and all the men and women
merely players.
He is not suggesting that literally everyone in the world lives and performs
inside a theatre, but is using the comparison between the world and a stage
in a symbolic way to suggest that we all behave ('act') in different ways in
different circumstances.

Onomatopoeia
 Onomatopoeia is a term used to describe the effect created by a writer when the
sound of a word or words echoes the sense of what is being described, and helps to
bring the description alive in the mind of the reader. In its simplest form, words like
bang and crash are examples of onomatopoeia. A more complex example is the
following description from W.B. Yeats's poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the
honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud
glade.
The description of the peace of the island is enhanced for the reader as the vowel sounds in
'alone in the bee-loud glade' echo the humming of the bees that the poet is describing.

Alliteration

Alliteration is the term given to the repetition of the same sound(s) at the beginning of words. At its
simplest level, this is the main device used in tongue-twisters such as 'Peter Piper picked a
peck of pickled pepper. However, in D.H. Lawrence's poem Snake, the repetition of the 's'
sound at the start of the words in the following lines very effectively suggests the hissing sound of a
snake:

He sipped with his straight

mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack
long body,
Silently.
Personification

Personification is the term given to the literary technique of

attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects or
non-human life forms, as in the following famous lines from
William Wordsworth's description of a wood full of
daffodils:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly
dance.
The description of the flowers, which suggests that they were
like exuberant and carefree human dancers, gives a vivid
impression of the scene and also helps the readers to
identify with the poet's response to the flowers.
Key point
The use of one figure of speech can easily
blend in with that of another. In the example
of alliteration from the poem Snake, the
lines also have an onomatopoeic effect,
and the example of personification is
also a type of metaphor. As mentioned
earlier, you should not worry too much
about identifying examples of figures
of speech - what is important is that you
recognise their effect on a reader and then
explain how this effect is achieved.

Although the use of literary devices such as those mentioned above is the main way in
which writers create imagery, you might also need to consider how things such as
sentence structure and the length of sentences contribute to the overall effect that a writer achieves.
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1 READING

The different types of questions in the following exercises test both your understanding of
the vocabulary used in the accompanying passages and of how the writer of
the passage has used language to create particular responses in a reader's mind.

• Question 1 requires you to write down words or phrases from the text with the same
meaning as those underlined in four sentences given in the question. Note that when
answering this question it is important that you write down only the word or group of
words that relate directly to those that you are defining.

• Question 2 requires you to explain in your own words the meanings of three words used
in the passage. Note that it is important when answering this question that you explain
only the words underlined in the question, that you explain the word in the context of
the passage in which it occurs and that you do not use the same word as a different
part of speech in your answer - for example, it would be wrong to define the word
'scream' in the following sentence The child gave a scream of excitement on opening his
present' by saying 'screamed excitedly. If you cannot think of a single word to replace
that underlined in the question, it is permissible to use a short phrase to define it.
• Question 3 requires you to explain in your own words how specific words or
phrases used by the writer in a short section of the passage suggest particular
atmosphere, experience or feelings. Note that when responding to this question it
is important that you give evidence that you have some appreciation of the
appropriate associations and suggestions in the writer's choice of words.
• Question 4 refers you to two sections of the passage and then requires you to
select four words or phrases from each section (that is, eight words or phrases in
total) that produce a particular effect or response in the mind of the reader. You should
explain how each of your selections is used effectively in the context of the passage. Note
that in answering this question, it is important that you show understanding and appreciation
of the imagery used by the writer and that you focus on explaining how the language creates
a particular effect and not on simply identifying and naming any figures of speech that you
recognise.

Example of a writer's effects questions

The following passage is a satirical description of a lesson in a school in 19th-century
England, taken from the opening of Charles Dickens's Hard Times. Answer the questions
which follow.

'Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing
else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts:
nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own
children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!'
The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room (1), and the speaker's square
forefinger emphasised his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the
schoolmaster's sleeve. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's square wall of a forehead, which
had his eyebrows for its base (2), while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves,
overshadowed by the wall. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's mouth, which was wide,
thin, and hard set. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's voice, which was inflexible, dry, and
dictatorial. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's hair, which bristled on the skirts of his bald
head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from its shining surface (3), all covered with knobs, like the
crust of a plum pie, as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room for the hard facts stored inside (4). The
speaker's obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders,-nay, his very neckcloth,
trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a stubborn fact, as it was, all
helped the emphasis.
'In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!'
The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with
their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have
imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.

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 14
From Hard Times by Charles Dickens

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Writer's effects questions

1 Identify a word or phrase from the text which conveys the same idea as the words
underlined:
a

He thought that facts were essential for shaping the minds of rational
beings.
(Answer: reasoning animals)

b It is on this premise that I have based the education of my children.

(Answer: principle)

The underground cavern provided large storage space for his

equipment.

(Answer: commodious cellarage)

d He spoke to us in such a domineering way that we had to do what he

said.

(Answer: dictatorial)

2 Explain, in your own words, what the writer means by each of the words
underlined:

'The speaker's obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders,-nay, his very
neckcloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a stubborn
fact, as it was,-all helped the emphasis.

a obstinate

(Answer: inflexible / refusal to change his mind)

b unaccommodating

(Answer: uncooperative / intractable / not accepting other

suggestions)
 c emphasis

(Answer: forcefulness / weight/ stress)

3 Explain, in your own words, how the underlined phrases are used by the writer to
suggest the
character of the speaker:

'The speaker's obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders,-nay, his
very neckcloth, trained to take him by the throat with an unaccommodating grasp, like a
stubborn fact, as it was,-all helped the emphasis.

(Answer: The words 'obstinate carriage' suggest that the speaker is like a heavy and inflexible
vehicle that once moving cannot be stopped. 'Take him by the throat with an
unaccommodating grasp' further suggests that the speaker is rough and violent in
defence of his beliefs and will use force to ensure that others agree with him. 'All helped the
emphasis' implies that the speaker will use all of his strength and threatening nature to
force home his ideas on other people in the room.)

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1 READING

4 Re-read the second paragraph of the passage and then select four powerful words and
phrases that
suggest the appearance of the school-room and the appearance and attitude of the man
speaking. Your choices should include imagery. Explain how each of your chosen
words or phrases is used in the context of the passage.

(Answer: See below)

Student response
1 a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room

The vocabulary in this phrase is direct and unadorned, reflecting the plain, uninteresting nature
of the room. The list of three adjectives ('plain, bare, monotonous') builds up to
emphasise effectively the stultifying surroundings in which the lesson is taking place.
The noun 'vault' carries associations not just of a vast, empty space, but also hints that the
room is like a cold burial chamber, reinforcing the idea that the school-room is part of the
means by which the life of imagination is denied, as conveyed by the final line of the
passage.

2 the speaker's square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its
base

As befits someone who is in favour of only 'facts' being taught, the forehead of the
speaker is described as 'square', which suggests that there is no scope for deviation
from straight lines in his way of thinking. 'Wall' suggests solidity and the main
purpose of a wall is to keep out trespassers; in this case, imaginative ideas. The image
of the man as a mathematical creation is reinforced by the description of his eyebrows
as being the base of the wall - 'base' is a word associated with triangles as well as walls.

3 the speaker's hair, which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the
wind
from its shining surface

This is a mainly comic image which encourages the reader to see the man as someone
deserving to be laughed at. (The writer is, after all, satirising his attitude and ideas.) The
description of his hair as 'bristling' suggests that there is something about him that is looking
to take offence. The metaphorical phrase ('a plantation of firs') again reinforces the
point that his purpose is to prevent any unwanted thoughts (as suggested by the wind)
from entering his mind.

4 as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room for the hard facts stored
inside

Following on from the image of the 'vault' earlier in the passage, the word
'warehouse-room' conveys the idea of the speaker's mind, like the classroom, being a
place in which commodities are stored. The commodities in this case are 'hard facts' - again,
there is no need for any imagination in the speaker's outlook. The description of the facts
as 'hard' suggests that they are harsh and unfriendly.

Practice exercises
 Now is your opportunity to put into practice what you have learnt about commenting on
the way writers use language. The following six passages are all examples of descriptive
writing, but are in a range of styles and written for a variety of purposes. They are all
followed by exercises that provide a focus for your comments and are all suitable
practice for Question 2 on Paper 1. Some phrases have been highlighted in each
passage to give an indication of suitable descriptions to comment on. However, as these
exercises are intended to provide you with practice for answering this type of question in
an examination, you should feel free to choose other phrases from the passages if you wish.

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Practice exercises

Exercise 4
The following passage is taken from the comic novel The Third Policeman by
the Irish writer Flann O'Brien. In this extract, the narrator breaks into what
he thinks is an empty house to look for a metal box hidden beneath the
floorboards. Answer the questions which follow.

The Third Policeman

I opened the iron gate and walked as softly as I could up the weed-tufted gravel drive. My
mind was strangely empty. I felt no glow of pleasure and was unexcited at the prospect
of becoming rich. I was occupied only with the mechanical task of finding a black box.
The front-door was closed and set far back in a very deep porch. The wind and rain
had whipped a coating of gritty dust against the panels and deep into the crack where
the door opened, showing that it had been shut for years. Standing on a derelict flower-bed, I
tried to push open the first window on the left. It yielded to my strength, raspingly and stubbornly.
 I clambered through the opening and found myself, not at once in a room, but crawling along the
deepest window-ledge I had ever seen. After I had jumped noisily down upon the floor, I looked up
and the open window seemed very far away and much too small to have admitted me.
The room where I found myself was thick with dust, musty and empty of all furniture.
Spiders had erected great stretchings of their web about the fireplace. I made my way quickly to the
hall, threw open the door of the room where the box was and paused on the threshold. It was a dark
morning and the weather had stained the windows with blears of grey wash which kept the brightest
part of the weak light from coming in. The far corner of the room was a blur of shadow. I had a sudden urge to
have done with my task and be out of this house forever. I walked across the bare boards, knelt down in
the corner and passed my hands about the floor in search of the loose board. To my surprise I found it easily. It
was about two feet in length and rocked hollowly under my hand. I lifted it up, laid it aside and struck a match. I
saw a black metal cash- box nestling dimly in the hole. I put my hand down and crooked a finger into the loose
reclining handle but the match suddenly flickered and went out and the handle of the box, which I had lifted up
about an inch, slid heavily off my finger. Without stopping to light another match, I thrust my hand into
the opening and, just when it should be closing about the box, something happened.
I cannot hope to describe what it was but it had frightened me very much. It was some change which came
upon me or upon the room, indescribably subtle, yet momentous. It was as if the daylight had changed
with unnatural suddenness, as if the temperature had altered greatly in an instant or as if the air had
become twice as rare or twice as dense as it had been in the twinkling of an eye. Perhaps all of these, or
other things, happened together, for all my senses were bewildered all at once and could give me no
explanation. The fingers of my right hand, thrust in the opening in the floor, had closed mechanically,
found nothing at all, and came up again empty. The box had gone!
I heard a cough behind me, soft and natural, yet more disturbing than any sound that could ever come
upon the human ear. That I did not die of fright was due, I think, to two things: the fact that my senses
were already disarranged and able to interpret to me only gradually what they had perceived and also
the fact that the utterance of the cough seemed to bring with it some more awful alteration in
everything. It was as if the universe stood still for an instant, suspending the planets in their
courses. I collapsed weakly from my kneeling, backwards into a limp sitting-down position upon the
floor. Sweat broke out on my brow and my eyes remained open for a long time without a wink, glazed
and almost sightless.
In the darkest corner of the room, near the window, a man was sitting in a chair, eyeing me with a
mild but unwavering interest.
From The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

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1 READING
1 Identify a word or phrase from the text which conveys the same idea as the
underlined words:

a He thought the possibility of finding a fortune was highly unlikely.

b It gave way as I pushed it.

c He stopped briefly before entering the room and listened

carefully.
с

d He felt an abrupt impulse to run away as quickly as

possible.

2 Explain, in your own words, what the writer means by each of the
underlined words:
'Perhaps all of these, or other things, happened together, for all my senses were
bewildered all at once and could give me no explanation. The fingers of my right hand,
thrust in the opening in the floor, had closed mechanically, found nothing at all, and came up
again empty.

3 Explain, in your own words, how the underlined phrases are used by the writer to
suggest the
character of the speaker:

'Perhaps all of these, or other things, happened together, for all my senses were bewildered
all at once and could give me no explanation. The fingers of my right hand, thrust in the
opening in the floor, had closed mechanically, found nothing at all, and came up again
empty.
4 Re-read the passage and then select four powerful words and phrases that suggest
the atmosphere
both in and outside the house and the thoughts and feelings of the narrator. Your choices
should include imagery. Explain how each of your chosen words or phrases is used
in the context of the passage.

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Practice exercises
Exercise 5
This is a newspaper article in which the writer describes her frightening experience of being
caught up in an earthquake while staying at her holiday home in a village near Rome. Answer
the questions which follow.

Ca
=

I was in an
earthquake
Amanda Austen

Half asleep, I couldn't work out what was happening. I hesitated in waking up Nick, my husband, because I
thought I was probably being too dramatic. Then the tremors moved up a gear and the whole house began
to shake it sounded like an old train carriage rattling, shifting backwards and forwards, then side
to side. It was a bone-jarring feeling. Help, I thought, this is an earthquake. I shook Nick awake - if I
was going to die, I didn't want to be alone. He had been fast asleep and woke up with a shock.
Looking back now, I wonder why we didn't run out of the house, as far away as possible. Yet our
instinct was to stay put. So we clung to each other in bed, terrified and waiting for the worst to
 happen. The earth rumbling below us was such a disorienting feeling; all I could imagine
was a crack opening up beneath me and then me falling in.
We watched as household objects slid and then crashed to the floor, wondering where it would
end. And then it stopped, just like that. The whole experience had lasted less than a minute. All
that noise and movement was replaced by eerie silence. Everything was still except for a gaudy gold
chandelier that we had inherited and that now swung from side to side.
Adapted from The Guardian, 30 May
2009

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1 READING

1 Identify a word or phrase from the text which conveys the same idea as the
underlined words:

a I paused for a moment and thought about telling my

husband.

b If I woke him, he might think I was being too

excitable.

Our initial inclination was to wait and see what

happened.

d Some of the fittings in the room were rather flashy and

ostentatious.

2 Explain, in your own words, what the writer means by each of the
underlined words:
'The whole experience had lasted less than a minute. All that noise and movement was
replaced by eerie silence. Everything was still except for a gaudy gold chandelier that
we had inherited and that now swung from side to side.

3 Explain, in your own words, how the following phrases are used by the writer to suggest
the after
effects of the earthquake:

a 'The whole experience had lasted less than a minute.

b 'All that noise and movement was replaced by eerie silence.

'Everything was still except for a gaudy gold chandelier that we had inherited and
that now swung from side to side.

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