Question 1
A student's Paper 1 introduction for a prose extract reads: 'Ernest Hemingway writes about a soldier's return home from the war. He arrives at the train station and is unsure how to greet his family.' The student then jumps straight into the first PEEL paragraph. Which step of the five-step introduction formula has this student skipped entirely?No clue? Show me the answer
Correct answerCorrect!
IncorrectStep-by-step walkthrough
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Method #1Direct reasoningStep 1: What the excerpt contains
The excerpt names the author and title (basic details) and describes the soldier's arrival neutrally (summary), so those two steps are present.
Step 2: Check for observation and thesis
There is no general comment on tone or structure, and crucially no sentence stating the writer's purpose or techniques to be discussed.
Step 3: Consequence for the essay
Without a thesis and outline, the examiner has no argument to track and the body paragraphs will feel unplanned.
Step 4: Match to the formula
The missing step is the thesis and outline of points, since neither purpose nor a preview of upcoming analysis appears.
Method #2Process of eliminationStep 1: Basic details present
Author, title, and implied text type are given, so this step was not skipped.
Step 2: Summary present
The sentences describing the soldier's arrival are a neutral summary, so this step exists.
Step 3: Observation is minor but not the core gap
While a big-picture observation is thin, the more glaring omission is the missing thesis and outline, which structure the whole essay.
Step 4: Confirm the answer
The thesis and outline of points is entirely absent, making it the correct answer.
Question 2
A student writes this Paper 1 introduction sentence: 'Through the metaphor "a cage of glass" in line 12 and the repeated motif of locked doors, the narrator conveys her sense of entrapment within her marriage.' This sentence, appearing in the introduction, creates which specific problem for the essay's structure?No clue? Show me the answer
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Method #1Direct reasoningStep 1: Locate the sentence's content
The sentence quotes a specific line, names a metaphor and a motif, and explains their combined effect in detail.
Step 2: Compare to introduction's job
The introduction should preview techniques generally, not perform the close, line-cited analysis that belongs in a PEEL body paragraph.
Step 3: Effect on time and structure
Doing this analytical work early means either repeating it in the body (wasting words) or leaving the body thin because the good material was spent already.
Step 4: Identify the specific problem
The issue is premature, body-paragraph-level analysis appearing in the introduction, which drains time from where marks are actually won.
Method #2Process of eliminationStep 1: Purpose is present
The sentence does state a purpose, conveying entrapment, so a missing thesis is not the issue.
Step 2: Text type not the focus
The sentence doesn't need to state text type itself; that's a separate part of the introduction, not what's wrong here.
Step 3: No contradiction present
Nothing about the sentence contradicts a tone observation; it simply over-analyses too early.
Step 4: Confirm the answer
The sentence's real fault is doing detailed, quote-based analysis in the introduction rather than saving it for the body.