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OCR · GCSE · English Language · Higher

Both texts powerfully present an exciting journey

Q01.4 18 marks

Question 4 is about Text 1, Enigma, and Text 2, A Crossing: A Cyclist's Journey Home. Text 1 describes Jericho's urgent night-time bicycle ride after a wartime code-breaking discovery. Text 2 describes Brian Newhouse's long bicycle ride across America towards Karen's house.

'Both texts powerfully present an exciting journey.' How far do you agree with this statement? In your answer you should discuss what makes the journeys exciting; explain how far the excitement of the cyclists is because of their journey; compare the ways the writers present the journeys. Support your response with quotations from Text 1 and Text 2.

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Marking points

  1. 1 Evaluates how far the statement is convincing for both texts, rather than only describing content.
  2. 2 Compares writers' ideas, perspectives, and methods across Text 1 and Text 2.
  3. 3 Supports comments with relevant quotations from both texts.

Full-mark answer

Both texts do present exciting journeys, but the source of excitement differs. In Text 1, Jericho's bicycle ride is exciting because it is driven by a major wartime discovery: his euphoria transforms Bletchley from "drab and ugly" into something "beautiful as Prague or Paris". In Text 2, Brian's excitement is more personal and physical, as the wind starts to help him and he "flew" through towns towards Karen. Harris uses a third-person perspective and rich moonlit imagery to show excitement affecting Jericho's perception, while Newhouse uses first person, short sentences such as "Then. Magic." and repeated gear changes to make the pace feel immediate. I agree that both journeys are powerfully presented, though Newhouse's journey is exciting mainly because of speed, while Harris's is exciting because of the discovery that motivates the ride.

Why this answer loses marks

Writing two separate blocks, one on each text, without clear comparison.

The examiner report says the AO3 element was often less successful when candidates alternated evaluation of each text without making the comparison explicit.