How do you build and use a precise toolkit of language techniques and subject terminology to analyse any unseen text?
Identifying language techniques and using accurate subject terminology to analyse a writer's choices (AO2), the core toolkit that underpins the language questions on both OCR components, naming methods precisely and using terminology to support analysis of effect.
How to build and use the language toolkit for OCR GCSE English Language: knowing the techniques (imagery, rhetorical devices, sound, sentence forms) and using accurate subject terminology to name a writer's choices and support analysis of effect (AO2).
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
AO2 requires you to analyse a writer's language "using relevant subject terminology", so a precise toolkit of techniques and their names is the foundation of every language question on both components. This dot point is the toolkit itself: the techniques writers use (imagery, rhetorical devices, sound effects, sentence forms) and the accurate terminology for naming them. Terminology is not the goal in itself, naming a metaphor earns almost nothing, but it is the entry ticket to the higher bands, because AO2 explicitly rewards relevant subject terminology supporting analysis of effect. The transferable skill is recognising a technique instantly and naming it precisely so you can spend your time explaining its effect.
The core toolkit
A few groups of techniques cover almost everything you need on an unseen text.
You do not need an exhaustive glossary; you need fluency with the common techniques so you recognise them at a glance. Component 02 leans on imagery and sentence forms; Component 01 leans on rhetorical devices as well, because it uses persuasive non-fiction.
Terminology as the entry ticket
The mark scheme rewards terminology only when it supports analysis. Naming a technique on its own is a low-band response; naming it and explaining its effect is what the higher bands need.
Precision over quantity
Strong candidates use a small number of terms accurately rather than a long list loosely. Calling every comparison a metaphor, or labelling any vivid word "imagery", weakens the analysis. Precision (this is a simile because of "like"; this is personification because the object is given a human action) signals control and supports a sharper account of effect.
Try this
Q1. Why is accurate terminology necessary but not sufficient for AO2 marks? [2 marks]
- Cue. It is required for the higher bands, but the marks come from analysing effect; naming alone is a low-band response.
Q2. Name the technique in "the city never sleeps" and the technique in "as cold as stone". [2 marks]
- Cue. "The city never sleeps" is personification; "as cold as stone" is a simile (the "as" signals a comparison).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 20196 marksReading skill, applies to both components. Identify the language technique in each of these and name it with accurate terminology: (a) 'the wind whispered'; (b) 'a sea of faces'; (c) 'how long must we wait?'. (Assesses AO2 terminology.)Show worked answer →
This models the terminology foundation of AO2. The answers are: (a) personification (the wind is given the human action of whispering); (b) metaphor (the crowd is described as a sea, a direct comparison); (c) rhetorical question (a question asked for effect, not for an answer). A strong response names each precisely and could add a word on effect. Markers reward accurate terminology because it is required for the higher AO2 bands; vague labels ("describing words", "a saying") do not count. Knowing the terms cold frees you to spend the exam analysing effect rather than hunting for the name.
OCR 20226 marksReading skill, applies to both components. Explain the difference between a metaphor, a simile and personification, giving a short example of each. (Assesses AO2 terminology.)Show worked answer →
A knowledge question testing the core of the imagery toolkit. A strong answer defines and illustrates each: a metaphor states one thing is another ("the classroom was a zoo"); a simile compares using "like" or "as" ("as quiet as a library"); personification gives human qualities to something non-human ("the engine coughed and died"). Markers reward precise distinctions and correct examples. The common error is calling every comparison a metaphor; the presence of "like" or "as" makes it a simile, and giving human action to an object makes it personification.
Related dot points
- Inferring implicit meaning from a text and supporting the inference with evidence (AO1), the deduction skill that underpins the reading questions on both OCR components, reading between the lines without drifting into guesswork.
How to infer implicit meaning in OCR GCSE English Language: reading between the lines of fiction and non-fiction, building inferences from textual detail rather than guessing, and supporting each inference with the evidence that prompted it (AO1).
- Recognising whole-text structural features and explaining their effect (AO2, structure), the structural toolkit that underpins the structure question on Component 02 and supports reading on both components, distinguishing structure from language and from plot.
How to recognise and analyse structural features for OCR GCSE English Language: openings, shifts in focus, contrast, repetition, cyclical structure and endings, distinguishing whole-text structure from word-level language and from plot, and explaining the effect on the reader (AO2).
- Identifying tone, mood and register and explaining how a writer creates them (AO2), the interpretive skill that underpins language analysis on both OCR components, distinguishing the writer's attitude, the atmosphere, and the level of formality.
How to read tone, mood and register in OCR GCSE English Language: distinguishing the writer's attitude (tone), the atmosphere created (mood) and the level of formality (register), and explaining how word choice and detail create them (AO2).
- Analysing how a non-fiction writer uses language to achieve effects and influence the reader (AO2), the language question on Component 01 Section A, naming methods with subject terminology and explaining the effect on the reader.
How to answer the AO2 language question on OCR GCSE English Language Component 01: selecting precise evidence from a non-fiction text, naming the method with subject terminology, and explaining how the writer's choices influence the reader rather than just spotting features.
- Analysing how a literary writer uses language to achieve effects and impact (AO2), the language question on Component 02 Section A, naming methods with subject terminology and explaining the effect on the reader.
How to answer the AO2 language question on OCR GCSE English Language Component 02: selecting precise evidence from a literary prose extract, naming the method with subject terminology, and explaining how the writer's choices create effect and impact on the reader.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE English Language (J351) specification — OCR (2015)