A step-by-step introduction for students who have never seen Paper 1. You will learn what structure is, meet the structural devices, see how the opening of Stoner by John Williams is built, and learn a four-step recipe for writing top-mark paragraphs. Updated for the 2026 AQA change: Question 3 now names the effect you must write about.
0 core activities done
Text:
Choose your pathway
By the end you can…
explain what “structure” means and how it differs from language;
spot and name twelve structural devices;
divide an extract into beginning, middle and end by looking for shifts in focus;
link every point to the effect named in the 2026-style question;
write a Question 3 paragraph using four simple steps.
Lesson map
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“Extend” tasks are optional and do not count towards the progress bar.
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Teacher notes
Extract:SOURCE_URL points to Stoner-Extract.pdf (your Surgery Extract 1 file), which should sit next to this page. The worksheet quotes only short phrases from Stoner; the extract is not reproduced.
Flow: A: what structure is, the paper, devices, spot-it, journey map. B: four-step recipe (Show, Prove, Explain, Zoom out, matching your Surgery stems), plan, write. Extend: examiner task.
Devices: twelve of the fourteen features in your table (headings and bullets omitted as non-fiction). Definitions, spot-it prompts, examples and sample answers are my own.
Please check the journey map against your copy of the extract: I read it from page images and it ends mid-conversation.
2026 change: Q3 now names a specific effect (for example “to create tension”), still 8 marks. I based this on published guidance from revision providers (Think Smart, Free English Papers), not AQA’s own wording, so please check AQA’s 2026 sample paper. I used “sympathy for Stoner” as the practice effect; edit the effect in the content if you prefer another.
Level summaries are my paraphrase for practice; use the AQA mark scheme for real marking.
Pathways: Support = one paragraph with frames; Core = three paragraphs with starters; Stretch = two devices and a beginning/end link.