The gist: In Paper 1 you meet a text you've never seen. A simple routine means you always know what to do: Read · TAP · Hunt · Explain.
You already do this without thinking. A stranger's text lands on your phone:
“k. fine. whatever.”
In a second you'd read it, work out who sent it and why(a friend, annoyed), spot the choices they made (three cold, clipped words), and feel what those choices do(shut the chat down). That is the whole routine below —Read · TAP · Hunt · Explain— it just gives each move a name.
The four steps — run them on ‘k. fine. whatever.’
Read
Read it twice. Gist: someone's annoyed. Detail: three blunt words, all lower-case. Don't analyse yet.
TAP
Type, Audience, Purpose — a text message, sent to you, to shut the chat down.
Hunt
Underline what stands out: the clipped one-word replies and the flat full stops after each.
Explain
choice → effect → meaning: the blunt words feel cold and final, so they clearly don't want to talk.
Read · TAP · Hunt · Explain
The two students skip: Everyone forgets TAP (so they drift) and the effect in Explain (so they just spot features). Do those two and you're ahead.
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Why it matters in the exam: Paper 1 gives you a guiding question. The routine still works — you just aim steps 3 and 4 at whatever it asks about.
Use the routine on this charity poster: “A dog is for life. Not just for the holidays. Think before you buy.”
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: Don't start writing as you first read — you'll grab the wrong details. Get the gist first.