Finding Similarities Flashcards
All 11 cards in this deck
What does "like for like" mean when you find similarities in Question 7(a)?
Matching the same aspect in both texts, e.g. how crowded each writer's train is. A similarity only counts if both halves are about the same thing, and about the focus the question names.
"Text 1's hotel has a pool, and Text 2's hotel is also in a city." What is wrong with this similarity?
It isn't like for like: a facility is set against a location, so nothing is actually shared. Match facility with facility (both hotels lack basic comforts) or location with location (both are in noisy city centres).
In Question 7(a), how do you join the two texts in one similarity?
Link a detail from Text 1 with one from Text 2 using both, similarly, likewise or in the same way: 'Both journeys are uncomfortable: Text 1's carriage is "packed to the doors", and similarly Text 2's bus is "standing room only".'
How can you quickly find similarities to write about in Question 7(a)?
Run through aspects of the focus the question names: appearance, purpose, comfort, cost, behaviour, how others react, what it reveals about the time. For each aspect, note a detail from each text that the two share.
What does it mean to synthesise evidence in Question 7(a)?
To bring details from both texts together into one point, e.g. "Both guides refuse to give up on their client". Synthesis is what 7(a) rewards, and the mark scheme gives nothing to an answer that uses only one text.
Why is writing all about Text 1 and then all about Text 2 weaker in Question 7(a)?
It turns into two separate summaries and leaves the examiner to find the similarities. Joining the texts in each sentence makes every similarity explicit, which is what synthesis means.
Text 1: "the fare was a week's wages". Text 2: "we saved for months to buy the tickets". How would you turn these into a 7(a) similarity?
Match the aspect (cost) and infer from both: In both texts the journey is expensive enough to need sacrifice: the fare is "a week's wages" in Text 1, and in Text 2 the family "saved for months", which suggests travel is a rare treat for both.
How is Question 7(a) different from Question 7(b) on Paper 2?
7(a) is 6 marks of AO1: similarities only, in what both texts show about the focus named in the question (the two journeys, the two people). 7(b) is 14 marks of AO3: comparing the writers' ideas and perspectives, and the way each writer conveys them, with similarities and differences. Don't reuse 7(a) points in 7(b).
The question asks what similarities two markets share. Which point would score? (a) 'Both writers use lists.' (b) 'Both markets are crowded and noisy.'
(b). It's a similarity in the markets, the focus the question names. (a) is about the writers' methods, which 7(a) doesn't reward.
How many similarities should a Question 7(a) answer give?
Three or four, each supported from both texts. Detailed, well-synthesised similarities score better than a long list.
Why shouldn't you mention differences in Question 7(a)?
The question asks only for similarities, so differences earn nothing and use up time. Keep them for 7(b), where comparing similarities and differences is the task.