IGCSE First Language English - THE WRITER'S EFFECT *TOP BAND RESPONSE*

Summary

In this video, the creator offers essential tips for students preparing for the IGCSE Paper 1, focusing on the writer's effect question. He walks viewers through a detailed example using a narrative text about a challenging journey through a hot countryside. Emphasizing the importance of understanding the text's imagery and language, the host provides advice on crafting topic sentences, analyzing key quotes, and structuring responses effectively. The video is aimed at 'crammers' looking for a concise, yet thorough, guide to mastering the writer’s effect question, ensuring success in a short time frame.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video is aimed at students preparing for IGCSE exams, especially crammers who need to fine-tune their skills quickly.
• 🌙 The video was made late at night because many viewers requested more content ahead of their exams.
• ✍️ This is the final video on the writer's effect for Paper 1, meant to be the only resource viewers need for their preparation.
• 📖 The video features a text analysis titled 'The Long Hot Walk,' where the writer describes a challenging journey through a hot countryside.
• 🌞 The writer vividly illustrates the oppressive and hostile heat, which affects both the landscape and the speaker in the passage.
• 🔍 The video emphasizes the importance of analyzing specific paragraphs (paragraphs 2 and 11) in the text for the writer’s effect question.
• 🖋️ Key advice is to create clear topic sentences focused on the effect of the heat on the landscape and the speaker, as well as how the cafe owner and her husband take care of the speaker.
• 📝 The video suggests using at least three quotations per paragraph in the exam response, with imagery and powerful words as the main focus.
• ⏳ Spend no more than 35 minutes on the writer’s effect question, and concentrate on analyzing imagery and stylistic choices effectively.
• 🎯 The video concludes by encouraging students to remain calm, take their time, and focus on quality analysis over quantity when writing their responses.

Q & A

What is the purpose of this video?

The purpose of the video is to provide guidance and tips for students preparing for the IGCSE Paper 1, specifically focusing on the writer's effect question. The video aims to help crammers fine-tune their skills in a short amount of time.

Why does the speaker mention 'crammers' at the beginning of the video?

The speaker mentions 'crammers' because they know many students are reaching out for last-minute help with their studies. The video is aimed at students who are trying to prepare quickly, just days before the exam.

What key advice does the speaker give about preparing for the writer's effect question?

The speaker advises students to read carefully, not rush, and focus on understanding what the writer is trying to achieve. They stress the importance of collecting evidence, such as imagery, and writing two separate paragraphs with three quotations in each.

Why does the speaker suggest highlighting and annotating the text?

The speaker suggests highlighting and annotating the text to help students quickly identify key parts of the passage that are relevant to the writer's effect question. This allows students to organize their thoughts and make their analysis clearer.

What does the speaker emphasize about time management during the exam?

The speaker emphasizes that students should spend no more than 35 minutes on the writer's effect question and focus on the quality of their analysis rather than obsessing over word count.

How does the speaker suggest students analyze the text?

The speaker suggests that students zoom in on powerful words and phrases, focusing on imagery. They recommend breaking down the writer's language and explaining both the explicit meaning and the deeper analysis, while keeping the overall effect in mind.

What is the example text in the video about?

The example text in the video is about a person walking through the countryside in a foreign country, experiencing extreme heat, and eventually being rescued by a cafe owner and her husband after becoming dehydrated and exhausted.

What kind of imagery does the speaker highlight from the example text?

The speaker highlights imagery such as 'the violence of the heat,' 'bruise the whole earth,' and 'the sun struck upwards and sideways and down.' These phrases create a sense of oppressive and hostile heat that affects both the landscape and the speaker.

What should students focus on when selecting quotations for their response?

Students should select quotations that they are comfortable analyzing and that allow them to discuss at least two different aspects of the writer's language. The speaker emphasizes the need to understand the overall effect of the language in the chosen quotations.

What is the structure of the model paragraphs provided by the speaker?

The model paragraphs start with an overall effect sentence, followed by specific analysis of chosen quotations. The analysis zooms in on individual words or phrases, explaining both their explicit and implicit meanings, and concludes by tying everything back to the overall effect.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Introduction to the Crammer’s Guide

The speaker welcomes viewers to a second video on mastering the writer’s effect for IGCSE Paper 1, aimed especially at 'crammers.' They share their own experience as a crammer in high school and emphasize this video as a definitive guide to fine-tuning skills for the upcoming exam. Viewers are encouraged to prepare with notebooks and the provided materials in the description, with a light-hearted note about muting the speaker's voice if needed.

05:00

🌞 Storytime: The Long Hot Walk

The speaker begins a 'storytime' session, reading from a narrative titled 'The Long Hot Walk,' where the protagonist experiences an arduous journey through an increasingly hostile, hot landscape. The heat intensifies as they walk toward a city, feeling suffocated by the extreme weather. As they interact with locals who show disbelief and pity, the description of the heat continues to grow more vivid, emphasizing its violence and oppressive nature. The speaker collapses from thirst, leading to an interaction at a roadside café.

10:01

🥵 Relief at the Café

The protagonist, desperately thirsty, is finally taken in by the café owner and given ice to suck on, though they are warned against drinking too much water too quickly. The locals express shock at the protagonist's decision to walk such a long distance in the heat without water. The café owner and her husband eventually agree to drive the protagonist to the city. The narrative conveys a sense of exhaustion, relief, and the protagonist’s gradual recovery from the punishing journey.

15:03

📚 The Lesson: Writer’s Effect and Key Techniques

Transitioning into the lesson, the speaker explains the importance of understanding the writer’s effect by focusing on imagery and the power of language. They guide viewers through analyzing the key effects of heat on the landscape and the protagonist in the text, using examples such as 'the violence of the heat' and how it 'bruises the whole earth.' They stress the importance of structuring answers around imagery and including three key quotations per paragraph when writing about the writer’s effect.

💡 Writing Techniques and Model Answers

The speaker provides detailed steps on how to craft a topic sentence, emphasizing that the overall effect of the language should be at the forefront. They demonstrate how to analyze imagery and sentence structure, using specific examples from the text. They also suggest viewers highlight important phrases in their exam papers and use simple annotations. Finally, they share a model paragraph with suggested phrasing, demonstrating how to effectively analyze and explain the writer’s use of imagery and language.

✨ Final Thoughts and Exam Strategy

In this concluding section, the speaker wraps up the lesson by discussing the importance of practice, focusing on both explicit and implicit meanings of the text. They emphasize quality over quantity in analysis, reminding viewers to carefully select and analyze quotations. The speaker also highlights how different paragraphs often have contrasting effects, such as one paragraph creating a sense of oppression, while another conveys relief. They sign off by wishing viewers luck in their upcoming exams, promising another video soon, before heading off to bed.

Keywords

💡Writer's Effect

The Writer's Effect refers to how the language and stylistic choices in a text impact the reader's understanding and emotional response. In the video, the speaker explains how to analyze this effect in texts for an exam, focusing on imagery and powerful language. For example, the heat's oppressive nature is described through vivid imagery to elicit a sense of discomfort.

💡Imagery

Imagery is the use of descriptive language that appeals to the senses, helping readers visualize scenes, emotions, or concepts. The video emphasizes the importance of analyzing imagery in the Writer's Effect question, such as when the speaker describes how 'the violence of the heat' creates a vivid and uncomfortable picture of the landscape.

💡Crammers

Crammers refer to students who study intensively just before an exam. The video is aimed at 'crammers' who need to quickly grasp key concepts of the Writer's Effect in preparation for upcoming exams. The speaker identifies with this group and offers them a simplified and efficient method for exam success.

💡Oppressive Heat

The oppressive heat is a recurring theme in the passage analyzed in the video. The heat is described as unbearable and harmful, impacting both the landscape and the speaker. This concept is central to understanding the Writer's Effect, as the speaker demonstrates how the heat is portrayed as a threatening force through imagery like 'the sun struck upwards, sideways, and down.'

💡Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using 'like' or 'as'. In the video, similes such as 'cascaded like frosted stars' are analyzed to show how they create vivid mental images, helping to convey the sensation of relief and refreshment in the context of the oppressive heat.

💡Annotations

Annotations are notes made on a text to highlight key points or insights. The speaker encourages students to make quick annotations in their exam texts, such as marking important imagery or stylistic choices. These help focus the analysis and ensure that key ideas are addressed in the exam.

💡Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia refers to words that imitate natural sounds, enhancing the sensory experience of a reader. In the video, the word 'burst' is highlighted as an example of onomatopoeia, which vividly conveys the sudden and powerful sensation of drinking water, providing relief to the speaker.

💡Hostile Landscape

The hostile landscape is a key concept in the passage discussed in the video, where the environment is portrayed as dangerous and overwhelming due to the heat. This term is central to the analysis of the Writer's Effect, as it shows how the natural world can be depicted as a force that actively threatens the character.

💡Topic Sentence

A topic sentence introduces the main idea of a paragraph. In the video, the speaker advises students to begin their paragraphs with a strong topic sentence, summarizing the overall effect of the language. This helps to maintain focus and clarity in their exam responses.

💡Zoom-in Technique

The Zoom-in Technique is a strategy suggested in the video for analyzing specific words or phrases in detail. This involves closely examining particular imagery or language choices, such as focusing on the word 'bruise' to explain how it intensifies the portrayal of the heat as harmful and relentless.

Highlights

The video is aimed at students who are 'cramming' for their IGCSE Paper 1, focusing on writer's effect analysis.

The speaker encourages viewers to grab their notebooks, pens, and highlighters to fully engage with the lesson.

The lesson focuses on a passage titled 'The Long Hot Walk,' where the narrator walks through a foreign countryside experiencing oppressive heat.

Key advice includes taking time to read and understand the passage rather than rushing through the analysis.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of analyzing paragraphs 2 and 11 for the writer’s effect, especially on heat and how it impacts the landscape and the narrator.

The first bullet point centers on the effect of heat on both the landscape and the speaker.

The second bullet point focuses on how the café owner and her husband take care of the speaker after his journey.

The speaker stresses the importance of using three quotations per paragraph and spending no more than 35 minutes on this question.

For the analysis, students are instructed to focus on imagery and stylistic choices such as verbs, adjectives, and metaphors.

The first example of analysis focuses on the phrase 'violence of the heat,' showing how it suggests that the heat is oppressive and punishing.

The second example emphasizes the description of the heat 'bruising the earth,' analyzing how it represents the heat’s relentless and harmful nature.

The speaker provides a model answer for the first paragraph, showing how to structure responses using topic sentences, analysis, and proper transition phrases.

The second example passage emphasizes the sense of relief the narrator feels after drinking water and being cared for by the café owner.

The writer’s effect is analyzed in terms of how the narrator's vulnerability is highlighted as he relies on others for comfort and survival.

The speaker reminds students that focusing on quality analysis is more important than word count, and encourages them to use the models provided for guidance.

Transcripts

hey what's up guys and welcome back to

igcse success i'm back with a second

video it's way past my bedtime but i

know lots of you are reaching out to me

to make as many videos as possible so

this video is for all of my lovely

crammers around the world and don't

worry i definitely was a crammer as well

when i was in high school and this will

be my last writer's effect video forget

all of the other writer's effect video

in my rather long playlist this is the

only video you are going to need to

prepare for paper one in a matter of

days so if you are watching this and

your writer's effect skills need a

little fine-tuning or finessing um be

sure to watch the video until the very

end grab your notebook your pen

highlighters be sure to download the

insert question paper and i will put

that in the description bar below and

with all that said and done let's get

straight to it so as mentioned guys i

will put the question paper and the

insert in the description box below but

let's do a little bit of a story time

and if you can't stand

the sound of my boring voice you are

welcome to mute me and read a story

yourself that's absolutely fine i will

not be offended however if you want to

listen to my voice grab your coffee and

let's go

so taxi is titled the long hot walk this

text is taken from a longer narrative at

this point the writer is touring a

foreign country he decides to walk

through countryside to a local city

so let's take a read

there have been a definite chill in the

early morning air and the idea of

walking to the city and enjoying my

surroundings had seemed a good one

however as i walked east along the road

and towards the morning sun which was

already huge and bloated i began to

realize that the temperature was

changing rapidly i see where this is

going

after a while it seemed that there was

little air to breathe i remember

stopping at a farm where unmoving and

silent labourers scooped up water from

wells and handed it to me warm and green

they stared at me with disbelief and

pity in their eyes as i moved away from

them

by mid-morning the violence of the heat

seemed to bruise the whole earth and

turned its crust into one huge scar you

could always guess the writer's effect

paragraphs

the sun struck upwards and sideways and

down while the heat while the heat while

the wheat went buckling across the

fields like a solid sheet of copper i

kept walking because there was no shade

to hide in and because it seemed to be

the only way to agitate the air around

me also in my optimism i really did hope

i would soon see the evidence of the

city i walked on conscious only of the

red hot dust grinding like pepper

between my toes and the vast empty

spaces on either side of me

by midday i was parched fantasies of

water rose up and wrapped me in a cool

wet leaves or pressed the thought of

cucumber peel across my stinging eyes

and fill my mouth with dripping moss

i imagine drinking whole monsoons and

winter mists and reclining on the sponge

of a deep cooling sea

then i saw the spire of a church rising

from the plain like a jet of a fountain

there was a shower of eucalyptus trees

brushing against a roadside cafe and i

was standing there calling out for a

cold drink

no

you mustn't drink too much you may pass

out the cafe owner threw up her hands at

the sight of me then turned alarmed to

shout at a couple of well-dressed

gentlemen eating at a table in the

corner

the old man bowed the lady is right you

are too hot for sudden drinking

everybody tutted at me and shook their

heads i could only stand there croaking

desperate with thirst someone give this

man a drink

the owner gave me some ice to suck

then she told me to rest indoors whilst

everybody asked me questions where had i

come from how had i got to here where

was i going at my replies the owner

threw up her hands again to the city on

foot and are you carrying no water it is

unthinkable the gentleman started rapid

fire expressions of disbelief spitting

their food at each other like furious

furious furious exclamations these

idiots who walk all over the place up

and down mountainsides round and round

the plains in this heat it is

straightforward and cheap to hire a car

this is the third one this month we've

had to look after exclaimed the owner i

heard their voices fading and booming

around me then the owner's husband was

leaning over me give the young man a

little drink if he doesn't pass out and

still wish to go to the city we can take

him in the car

i'm sure he's learned his lesson

the first mouthful of mineral water

burst in my throat and cascaded like

frosted stars

then i was given a plate of bread and

cheese

nice of them

a deep langer spread through my limbs

i remember no more of my benefactors or

what they said only the drowsy glories

of eating and drinking to my full

after that i was lifted to my feet and

let outside

then stretched out across the back of

the car i was driven to the city by the

cafe owner and her husband

remember guys that video i did not so

long ago about learning some

suitable adjectives to describe the

weather the landscape here is another

example cambridge love these texts these

stories where the landscape the heat

it's oppressive it's hostile it's

threatening

go check out that video

but in terms of difficulty

it's all right actually i quite enjoyed

that

um in terms of vocabulary not too

difficult so if you got this text i

think

you'd be all right so let's get straight

to the lesson the writer's effect

hashtag

crammer edition no that's not a typo

that's me trying to be um funny but

seriously guys

this really is the only video that you

need to finesse fine tune even if for

whatever reason you just think that you

are absolutely

rubbish terrible at this question this

video is going to help i cannot stress

enough get your notebook at your pen

have a go at this question now it goes

without saying it doesn't matter what

question you are doing i want you

not to rush i want you to stop i want

you to read and i want you to think we

know the question stems do not change

the summary the extended writing

response the writer's effect

it has that generic uh question stem

don't rush the last thing that you want

to do is

analyze the wrong paragraph and it does

happen

every single year unfortunately

now i just want to go through some key

bits of information

this is why you really need to stop

read and think okay so at the top

re-read paragraphs two and eleven make

sure you understand them

make sure or try to understand what the

writer is trying to achieve and you

might want to put a little asterisk by

these paragraphs in your insert you are

able to do that you're not able to

annotate

um your answer booklet however

now the most important information

is

the information after the ellipsis so i

have underlined that for you

try and include the key words in your

topic sentences for both paragraphs so

let's take a look at bullet point one

and is about the effect of the heat on

the landscape and the speaker bullet

point two

and is about how the eating place owner

and her husband look after the speaker

and drive him to the city

use that information to create your

topic sentence so for example the

overall effect of the language creates

an image of the heat having a

adjective effect on the landscape and

the speaker as simple as that all you

might want to use an abstract noun that

is absolutely fine as well

now you can focus on sentences you can

focus on other stylistic choices but

really the primary focus is imagery

those powerful words those powerful

phrases

it's important to note that you are

required to write two separate

paragraphs and you must have

three quotations in each no more is

needed don't obsess over the word count

just ensure you spend no more than 35

minutes on this question

and there are 15 marks for

reading

try not to stress too much about how you

structure or organize your response you

will always and have always been marked

on the quality of your analysis for this

question however at the end of this

presentation i will give you a suggested

and you are welcome to follow that

now from the question we have already

been given the focus so your job is to

collect evidence relating to the heat

and its effect on the landscape and the

speaker now just to speed things up i

have chosen my three images already

there will always be

more than three images choose the images

that you are comfortable with in terms

of saying

i would say at least two different

things so i've selected the violence of

the heat

um and the fact that it seemed to bruise

the whole earth

and the sun struck upwards sideways and

down i mean there's so many great images

in this paragraph i almost want to

analyze the whole thing

now once you have highlighted you need

to ask yourself a couple of things

what is the writer trying to achieve

what is the overall effect of the

language and you might want to write

your topic sentence close to the top on

your insert or somewhere close to the

paragraph

if i was answering this question and i

have at the end don't skip i would

probably start my paragraph along the

lines of the overall effect of the

language creates an image of the heat

being oppressive and having the

potential to cause significant harm to

the landscape and the speaker

that is what the writer is really trying

to achieve with this paragraph

you produce something like that as your

topic sentence is going to keep you nice

and focused

don't forget

start with the overall effect of the

language for both paragraphs and

remember you can highlight your insert

and i do recommend that you highlight

and you make some really quick

annotations they can be as simple as the

ones that you see on the screen so the

violence of the heat uh this creates a

sense of the heat being unbearable

ruthless it's out to punish the

landscape and the speaker bruise the

whole earth the sun is harming the

landscape it's suffocating any life it's

oppressive hostile the sun struck

upwards sideways and down the heat is

violent there's no escape nowhere to run

or hide

hopefully get the idea

and putting it all together hopefully

you should end up with something like

this

the overall effect of the language

creates an image of the heat being

oppressive and having the potential to

cause significant harm to the landscape

and the speaker

firstly the writer describes the

violence of the heat the right issues of

the imagery suggests the temperature is

both unbearable and threatening almost

as if it is seeking to punish both the

landscape and the speaker it is clear

that any attempt to try and evade the

punishing weather would be futile

secondly the writer describes how the

heat seemed to bruise the whole earth

love that image the writers of the verb

bruise refers to an injury where the

skin has been darkened so i'm looking at

that explicit meaning there more on that

later additionally this suggests the

heat is relentless and will stop at

nothing to inflict as much damage as

possible

it's clear that the extreme temperature

is affecting the landscape in a negative

way almost as if it is suffocating

anything that is living

lastly the writer describes that the sun

struck upwards sideways and down the

writer's use of the verb struck refers

to being hit forcibly and aggressively

furthermore it suggests that there is no

escaping the wrath of the hostile heat

there is nowhere to run and nowhere to

hide it's almost as if the sun has a

sadistic side and is getting enjoyment

from torturing the landscape and the

speaker what a horrible sun

now you've got to strike the right

balance if you are

not

necessarily

oh fail with your word classes if you're

not super confident just say the

writer's imagery the writer's use of

imagery the righteous uses of imagery

that's absolutely fine at the end of the

day your analysis the quality of your

analysis is far more important

and within one or both paragraphs you

need to show an awareness of some of the

explicit ideas so if you have a look at

where i put the writer's use of the verb

brews i have explained what bruce means

on a more explicit level and then i've

gone on to the next layer which is which

of course is my analysis

now the red of course is my overall

effect that is my topic sentence the

firstly the writer describes the is kind

of like my transition phrase i guess the

writers used so everything in the purple

is the zoom in technique as i like to

call it and in the orange

appropriate discourse markers to

structure my analysis and indeed develop

it

feel free to comb through this model a

little bit further scrutinize it make

notes see if you can use it as a model

to write your own now the reason you are

directed to two different paragraphs is

because there will be contrast the

overall effect will be different

and it's particularly true

with this

story

now i've selected my quotations or my

images just to speed up the process

i've selected burst in my throat

cascaded like frosted stars

then stretched out across the back of

the car again you need to ask yourself

what is a writer trying to achieve what

is the overall effect of the language

my topic sentence or my overall effect

would be the overall effect of the

language creates an image of the speaker

feeling a huge sense of relief

they feel instantly revitalized because

of the water

nice and simple nice and straightforward

but showing an awareness of what the

writer is trying to achieve through

their language through their words

through their phrases through their

imagery and here are some example

annotations so burst in my throat you've

got that onomatopoeia sense of

excitement sudden rush it's got this

sort of transformative effect it's

revitalizing him it's giving the speaker

life

cascaded like frosted stars you've got

that similarly you've got that powerful

verb cascaded you've got that adjective

frosted gosh so much to explore with

this uh quotation and another thing to

note as well if you are exploring an

image and it has more than one powerful

word zoom into more than one word

zoom into that uh verb cascaded zoom

into that adjective uh frosted

when i think about this image it's

almost as if it's or the writer is

likening the water to a waterfall

they're very much focusing on the speed

of the water the power in which it is

gushing out the speaker of course feels

revitalized but it's also painful at the

same time due to the dryness of the

throat

then stretched out across the back of

the car we've got a sense of their

vulnerability they are almost helpless

almost childlike they are awaiting to be

transported to safety and there's this

palpable this huge sense of relief now

let's take a look at the second model

the overall effect of the language

creates an image of the speaker feeling

a huge sense of relief they feel

instantly revitalized because of the

water

firstly the writer describes the water

burst in his throat i mean this is

really important that you do it but

because we are writing about someone

else you might want to

uh change the pronoun so we're not

putting me otherwise it sounds kind of

odd

sorry uh my i meant you wouldn't lose

marks for that by the way the writers

used the verb burst refers to the water

gushing out very suddenly and powerfully

so i'm looking at the explicit meaning

there that i go on to the next layer

additionally it suggests the speaker's

desperation for liquid it's almost as if

it is a blessing from god secondly the

writer describes the water cascaded like

frosted stars the writer's use of a

simile likens the liquid to a waterfall

the powerful sensation is both welcoming

and painful due to the dryness of the

speaker's mouth

it's clear to see that the water is

slowly but surely quenching its dryness

of his mouth

lastly the writer describes a speaker

stretched out across the back of the car

the writer's use of imagery almost like

the speaker to a vulnerable child one

that needs to one that needs

minus the two care and comfort due to

their ordeal in the punishing heat it's

clear to see how the speaker has given

up any control and wants to get to the

city as soon as possible and there you

have it guys everything that you need to

succeed with the writer's effect

question question two d

again best of luck i know it's only a

matter of days

trust me i'm keeping everything crossed

for you

i will do my best to try and put out

another video tomorrow but until next

time bye bye and i'm off to bed

goodnight