Year 7 English – GCSEGuide

Reading Fiction

Fiction texts include novels, short stories, plays, and poetry. When reading fiction, you must analyse both what is happening and how the writer creates effects.

Key Questions to Ask

Who are the characters? What do we learn about them from their words and actions?
What is the setting? How is it described?
What is the mood or atmosphere? What language creates this?
What is the writer's message or theme?

Understanding Character

Direct characterisation: the writer tells you directly what a character is like ("She was cruel and cunning")
Indirect characterisation: you infer the character from what they say, do, think, or how others react to them
Look at: speech patterns, actions, thoughts, relationships, appearance

Understanding Setting

Setting = time and place of the story
Writers use setting to create atmosphere, reflect characters' feelings, and drive the plot
Pathetic fallacy: using weather or environment to mirror the mood (e.g. dark storm = danger/fear)

PEEL Analysis Paragraph

Point — make a clear statement about the text
Evidence — include a short quotation
Explain — explain what the quotation shows
Link — link back to the question or make a further connection

Reading Non-Fiction

Non-fiction texts present real information, opinions, or arguments. Types include: articles, speeches, letters, diaries, reports, biographies, and advertisements.

Purpose, Audience & Form (PAF)

Purpose: why was it written? To inform, persuade, entertain, argue, advise, describe?
Audience: who is it written for? Age, knowledge level, interests?
Form: what type of text is it? This affects the layout and style

Types of Non-Fiction Text

Newspaper article: headline, subheading, columns, quotes from sources
Formal letter: address, date, salutation (Dear Sir/Madam), formal register, sign-off
Autobiography/biography: personal account of a real person's life (first/third person)
Travel writing: describes places and experiences; often uses vivid description
Speech: often uses rhetorical devices; addresses audience directly

Inference & Deduction

Inference: reading "between the lines" — working out what is implied rather than stated directly
Deduction: using evidence from the text to reach a logical conclusion
Signal words: "suggests", "implies", "conveys", "could mean", "indicates"

Inference Sentence Starter "The writer's use of [word/phrase] suggests that [character/narrator] feels [inference], because..."

Key Tip:

Never just quote a word without explaining what it means in context. Always ask yourself: why did the writer choose THIS word and not another? What does it suggest?

Narrative Writing

A narrative is a story. Good narratives have a strong structure, vivid characters, and engaging description.

Story Structure

Exposition: introduce characters and setting
Rising action: events lead to a problem or conflict
Climax: the most tense or exciting moment
Falling action: the tension begins to resolve
Resolution: the ending — problems are solved (or not!)

Narrative Perspective

First person (I/we): inside one character's head; feels personal and immediate
Third person limited (he/she): follows one character; narrated from outside
Third person omniscient (he/she): the narrator knows everything about all characters

Creating a Good Opening

Start in the middle of the action (in medias res)
Open with a striking image or atmosphere
Open with intriguing dialogue
Ask a thought-provoking question

Show, don't tell: instead of "she was scared", write "her hands shook and her mouth ran dry." Let actions and sensory details convey emotion.

Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing creates a vivid picture in the reader's mind. Unlike narrative, it doesn't need a plot — it focuses on atmosphere, sensory detail, and precise language.

Using the Five Senses

Sight: colours, shapes, light and shadow, movement
Sound: loud/quiet, sharp/soft, rhythm
Smell: powerful sense for atmosphere (e.g. the sharp tang of salt air)
Touch: temperature, texture, sensation
Taste: used to describe food or environment vividly

Structural Choices

Zoom in: describe from far away (wide shot) to close-up detail
Zoom out: start close and pull back to reveal the wider scene
Chronological: describe a scene as it unfolds in time
Single detail focus: spend the whole piece on one subject in intense detail

Vocabulary Choices

Use precise nouns (not "flower" but "crimson poppy")
Use powerful verbs (not "walked" but "trudged", "drifted", "bolted")
Use specific adjectives — avoid overused ones like "nice" or "beautiful"

Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing aims to convince the reader to agree with your view. It can be a speech, letter, article, or leaflet.

Persuasive Techniques (DAFOREST)

Direct address – use "you" to speak to the reader personally
Anecdote – a short personal story to make your argument relatable
Facts & figures – statistics give credibility
Opinion stated as fact – "It is clear that…", "Without doubt…"
Rhetorical questions – "Can we really ignore this?"
Experts – quoting an authority adds weight
Statistics – specific numbers are more convincing than general claims
Triplets (rule of three) – "It is cruel, unjust, and unacceptable"

Structure

Powerful opening statement or rhetorical question
Each paragraph develops one point
Counter-argument + rebuttal: acknowledge the opposite view, then dismiss it
Strong concluding paragraph — call to action

Parts of Speech

Noun: a person, place, thing, or idea (cat, London, happiness)
Proper noun: a specific name, always capitalised (England, Charlotte)
Abstract noun: something you can't touch (love, fear, justice)
Verb: an action or state (run, think, is, seems)
Adjective: describes a noun (tall, ancient, terrifying)
Adverb: modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb (slowly, very, really)
Pronoun: replaces a noun (he, she, they, it, who)
Preposition: shows the relationship between words (in, on, under, beside)
Conjunction: joins clauses (and, but, because, although, while)
Determiner: specifies a noun (a, an, the, this, my, every)

Sentence Types

Simple sentence: one main clause — one subject and verb. e.g. "The dog barked."
Compound sentence: two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So). e.g. "The dog barked and the cat ran away."
Complex sentence: one main clause + one or more subordinate clauses, joined by a subordinating conjunction (because, although, when, if, since, unless). e.g. "Although it was cold, she went outside."
Minor sentence: grammatically incomplete but used for effect. e.g. "Silence." / "Nothing."

Types by Purpose

Declarative: makes a statement (e.g. "The sky is blue.")
Interrogative: asks a question (e.g. "Why did you go?")
Imperative: gives a command (e.g. "Stop.")
Exclamative: expresses emotion (e.g. "What a terrible sight!")

Punctuation

Full stop (.): ends a sentence
Comma (,): separates items in a list; separates clauses; after fronted adverbials
Apostrophe ('): shows possession (the boy's bag) or contraction (it's = it is)
Speech marks (" "): enclose direct speech. New speaker = new line
Question mark (?): ends a question
Exclamation mark (!): shows strong emotion or volume — use sparingly
Colon (:): introduces a list or explanation
Semicolon (;): links two closely related independent clauses
Dash (—): adds emphasis or an aside
Ellipsis (…): creates suspense or trailing off
Brackets ( ): additional, non-essential information

Apostrophe Rules:

Its (possessive, no apostrophe) vs It's (it is). "The dog wagged its tail" — no apostrophe because "its" here means "belonging to it."

Analysing Poetry

Use SMILE to analyse poems:

Structure — how is the poem arranged? Verses, line length, rhyme scheme?
Mood — what is the atmosphere? How does it change?
Imagery — metaphors, similes, personification, symbolism
Language — powerful words, sound devices, repetition
Effect on the reader — how do you feel reading it? Why?

Key Poetic Terms

Stanza: a group of lines (also called a verse)
Couplet: two lines that usually rhyme
Quatrain: a four-line stanza
Rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhyme at line ends (ABAB, AABB, etc.)
Rhythm: the beat or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
Enjambment: when a sentence runs over from one line to the next without punctuation
Caesura: a pause in the middle of a line, often marked by punctuation

Poetry Forms

Sonnet: 14 lines. Shakespearean: three quatrains + a couplet (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). Usually about love.
Haiku: 3 lines; 5 syllables / 7 syllables / 5 syllables. Japanese form; often about nature.
Limerick: 5 lines, AABBA rhyme scheme, humorous tone.
Free verse: no set rhyme or rhythm — the poet chooses line breaks for effect.
Ballad: a narrative poem telling a story, often with a refrain (repeated line).
Acrostic: first letters of each line spell out a word or message.

Language & Structure Devices

Metaphor: describes something AS something else without "like" or "as" — "life is a journey"
Simile: a comparison using "like" or "as" — "brave as a lion"
Personification: giving human qualities to a non-human thing — "the wind whispered"
Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant at the start of nearby words
Assonance: repetition of the same vowel sound — "the light of the dying fire"
Onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like its meaning — buzz, crash, sizzle
Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration — "I've told you a million times"
Oxymoron: contradictory words together — "bittersweet", "deafening silence"
Rhetorical question: a question not expecting an answer — "How could anyone live like this?"
Repetition: repeating a word or phrase for emphasis or rhythm
Rule of three / tricolon: three parallel items — "blood, sweat, and tears"
Juxtaposition: placing contrasting ideas next to each other to highlight the difference
Symbolism: an object or image representing a wider idea (e.g. a rose = love)

📖 Year 7 English