The big idea: Top-band analysis shows techniques working together: two choices pulling in the same direction build ONE effect more powerfully than either alone.
Writers rarely use one device at a time — they stack them, and the best analysis shows the stack.
A single brick is a point. Bricks together are a wall. ‘The short sentence AND the harsh ‘k’ sounds TOGETHER make the line feel blunt and cold’ beats two separate observations — because it shows the writer building one effect from several choices.
The move
Spot two choices in one place
e.g. a metaphor AND a short sentence in the same line.
Find the shared effect
What do BOTH point towards? Fear? Warmth? Speed?
Join them
Use ‘combined with’, ‘reinforced by’, ‘together with’, ‘which echoes’.
Say ‘together they…’
Name the single, stronger effect the combination builds.
The key move: Use joining words — ‘combined with’, ‘reinforced by’, ‘together they…’ — to show two techniques building ONE effect. This is what makes analysis strong.
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Why it matters in the exam: Criterion B (analysis and evaluation) rewards you for showing HOW choices work.
Why linking pays
- The richest answers show choices working together.
- Linking two techniques to one effect proves you see the text as a crafted whole.
- Not a list of separate devices.
Show how TWO techniques work together here: “The house waited. Dark. Patient. Hungry.”
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: Don't list two techniques in separate sentences and stop. Join them — show the one effect they build together.