What do the OCR command words ask for, and how do you match your answer to each question type?
Exam skills: the OCR command words (identify, explain, analyse, compare, discuss) and question types across the two components, what each requires of you, and how to match the depth and shape of your answer to the command word and mark tariff.
An OCR GCSE Media Studies guide to the command words and question types: what identify, explain, analyse, compare and discuss require, how they map to the assessment objectives, and how to match your answer to each command word and mark tariff.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
The OCR exams use a set of command words (identify, explain, analyse, compare, discuss) and question types across the two components. This dot point covers what each command word requires, how they map to the assessment objectives, and how to match the depth and shape of your answer to the command word and the mark tariff. Reading the command word correctly is the single easiest way to avoid losing marks by writing the wrong kind of answer.
The command words
Each command word demands a different depth and shape of answer. Misreading the command word, analysing when asked to identify, or describing when asked to discuss, is a common and avoidable way to lose marks.
What each command word requires
- Identify / name. Name the thing accurately. A short, AO1 task; brief and precise, no extended analysis.
- Explain. Give reasons and make the meaning clear. Blends AO1 (knowledge) and AO2 (application); name the feature and explain what it does.
- Analyse. Break a product down and explain how it creates meaning. Mainly AO2; sustained analysis of features and effects.
- Compare. Set two products or features side by side and explain similarities and differences. AO2; compare directly, not in turn.
- Discuss / how far. Give a balanced, two-sided answer and reach a judgement. AO1 and AO2, marked by levels of response; weigh both sides and conclude.
Matching depth to the mark tariff
The mark tariff signals the depth expected.
- Low tariff (1 to 4 marks). A focused point or a named feature. Do not over-write.
- Medium tariff (5 to 8 marks). A developed explanation or analysis with examples.
- High tariff (9 to 12 marks). A structured, developed response, often marked by levels of response, reaching a judgement on a discuss question.
Spending too long on a low-tariff question, or under-developing a high-tariff one, wastes marks. Match the depth to the marks.
Examples in context
How this is examined
Command words and question types run through both components, from short identify questions to extended discuss responses. The reliable move is to read the command word, check the mark tariff, shape the answer accordingly, and develop it in proportion to the marks, reaching a judgement on discuss questions.
Try this
Q1. Explain what the command word "analyse" asks you to do. [3 marks]
- What the marker wants. To break a product down and explain how it creates meaning, with sustained analysis of features and effects (mainly AO2) (AO1).
Q2. Explain the difference between an "explain" and a "discuss" question. [4 marks]
- Cue. Explain asks for reasons and clear meaning (AO1 and AO2); discuss asks for a balanced, two-sided answer reaching a judgement, marked by levels of response (AO1) (AO2).
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 J200/01 20224 marksIdentify two conventions of the crime drama genre used in the television extract you have just watched. (Component 01, a short identify question.)Show worked answer →
A short identify question (mostly AO1). The command word "identify" asks you to name, not to analyse at length.
Method: name two clear conventions from the extract (an investigation narrative, a detective character type, an urban setting, tense non-diegetic music). A brief link to the extract is enough; extended analysis is not required for an identify question.
Four marks reward two correct conventions identified, ideally tied to the extract. The common error is over-writing: an identify question wants accurate naming, while the longer analysis marks come on explain and analyse questions. Match the depth to the command word.
OCR J200/02 202310 marksDiscuss how far the news set product reflects the interests of its audience. Refer to the set product. (Component 02, an extended discuss question.)Show worked answer →
An extended discuss question (AO1 and AO2), marked by levels of response. The command word "discuss" asks for a balanced, two-sided answer reaching a judgement.
Method: argue both sides, that the product reflects its audience's interests (in its content, viewpoint and mode of address), and that it is shaped by other factors too (the producer's viewpoint, commercial pressures, mediation). Anchor each point in the set product.
The top band reaches a clear, justified judgement after weighing both sides, rather than describing the product. The command word "discuss" signals that a one-sided answer will not reach the top band; balance and judgement are required.
Related dot points
- Exam skills: structuring the extended (higher-tariff) responses, building an argument with clear points anchored in named detail, using the framework, comparing directly where required, and reaching a judgement, the shape that lifts an answer into the top level of response.
An OCR GCSE Media Studies guide to structuring extended answers: building points anchored in named detail, using the framework, comparing directly, and reaching a judgement to reach the top level of response.
- Exam skills: using accurate subject terminology and applying the framework's key ideas (and named thinkers such as Todorov, Propp, Barthes and Hall) to support analysis, so that terminology and theory serve the argument rather than being listed for their own sake.
An OCR GCSE Media Studies guide to using subject terminology and applying the framework's key ideas and named thinkers to support analysis, so terminology and theory serve the argument rather than being listed.
- Exam skills: the structure of the two written components (Component 01 Television and Promoting Media, with viewing time; Component 02 Music and News), their sections, marks and timing, and how to manage time across the questions to maximise marks.
An OCR GCSE Media Studies guide to the structure of the two written components and timing: the sections, marks and timing of Component 01 and Component 02, the viewing time, and how to manage time across the questions.
- Media language: how the codes and conventions of media products (technical, visual, audio and written codes, and the conventions of form and genre) communicate meaning, and how producers select and combine them to construct a preferred reading for the audience.
How OCR GCSE Media Studies expects you to use codes and conventions in the media language framework: the difference between codes and conventions, the main types of code, and how producers combine them to construct meaning and position the audience.
- Media representation: how the media re-present (rather than simply reflect) events, people, places and social groups through selection, construction and mediation, the choices that shape a representation, and how representations carry particular viewpoints and values for the audience to accept or reject (Hall).
An OCR GCSE Media Studies guide to constructing representation in the framework: how the media re-present reality through selection, construction and mediation, how representations carry viewpoints and values, and how audiences accept or reject them.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE Media Studies (J200) specification — OCR (2023)