Evaluation Questions
Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to implicitly or explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes.
You are asked whether you agree. There is no correct opinion. Every mark is in how you defend the one you choose.
Method
Take a position first
Open with Yes, because… or No, because… or Partly, because… The marker must not have to hunt for your view.
The opinion is worth about one mark
The rest is substantiation. A strong opinion with no evidence scores one out of three.
‘Partly’ is allowed, fence-sitting is not
If you argue both ways you must substantiate both ways. Saying ‘there are good points on each side’ earns nothing.
Worked example
e.g. The writer claims that the ban was fair. Do you agree? Substantiate your answer. (3)
- State your position in your first three words.“No, because…”
- Find your first piece of evidence in the passage. Quote it or refer to it closely.The passage records that the results ‘barely shifted at all’.
- Explain why that evidence supports your position. Evidence without explanation is half a mark.If the stated aim was better results, the main claim is not supported by the outcome.
- Add a second piece of evidence and explain it too.One learner was left unsafe by the rule, and the school never replied to her mother.
- Check the marks against what you wrote. One for the position, the rest for substantiation.Position + two explained references = 3.
Practice
Plan each answer as position, evidence, explanation. Then check it against the model.
1
‘The writer is too hard on the mother.’ Do you agree? (3) — how should your answer open?
AnswerWith your position, in the first few words: Yes, the writer is too hard on her, because… Never open with a summary of the passage.
2
A learner writes three lines of strong personal opinion and quotes nothing. Mark out of 3?
AnswerOne at most. The position is clear but unsubstantiated, and substantiation is where two of the three marks live.
3
Is it safer to agree with the writer?
AnswerNo. Markers are instructed to credit any defensible position. Choose the side you can find the most evidence for, not the side you think is expected.
4
You genuinely see both sides. What must your answer contain to score full marks?
AnswerA clear statement that you are arguing ‘partly’, then evidence and explanation for each side. Two substantiated halves, not two unsupported opinions.
5
‘Critically discuss the writer's attitude…’ — how does ‘critically discuss’ change what you write?
AnswerIt asks you to weigh the attitude rather than describe it. Name the attitude, prove it from the text, then judge whether it is justified.