Key Idea: This topic is how to write your analysis up so it scores. Spotting a technique isn't analysis yet. Six moves turn a feature-spot into top-band writing: link the effect to the so what (meaning, purpose or audience), show techniques working together, use precise critical words, build every paragraph as PEAL, evaluate how well a choice works, and copy the top-band model. Master these and you climb the mark bands on every Paper 1 answer.
🗝️ The moves to know
| Move | What it means | Quick example |
|---|---|---|
| Technique → effect → so what | Link the effect to meaning, purpose or audience | ‘The command creates urgency, which serves the advert's aim to make you buy now’ |
| Multiple techniques together | Show two choices building ONE effect | ‘The metaphor, reinforced by the short sentence, together build a sense of dread’ |
| Precise critical vocabulary | Swap ‘makes it interesting’ for exact verbs | Use exact verbs like ‘evokes’, ‘conveys’, ‘emphasises’, ‘juxtaposes’, ‘undercuts’ |
| PEAL paragraph | Point → Evidence → Analysis → Link | One point, then a short quote, then deep analysis, then a link back to the question |
| Evaluating effects | Judge how well it works, why, and how far | ‘This is a particularly effective choice, because it makes the threat feel personal’ |
| The mark ladder | Feature-spot → technique+effect → evaluated PEAL | Climb from just naming a device up to an evaluated PEAL paragraph — aim at the top rung |
🔍 The one move that scores
The single skill every criterion rewards: after technique → effect, add the so what — what the choice means, what it's for (purpose), or who it targets (audience). Then lift it further: show two choices working together, name the effect with a precise verb, and judge how well it works. A label on its own scores nothing; the ‘so what’ is where the marks live.
✍️ IB-style worked examples
IB-style question — technique → meaning, purpose, audience
Link this choice through the three lenses: “A phone-safety advert for teenagers reads ‘One tap sends it. A lifetime takes it back.’”
Step by step:
Base: the quick ‘One tap sends it’ is set against the heavy ‘A lifetime takes it back’ — a sharp contrast between a second and forever.
Meaning: the choice shows how a thoughtless share online can never really be undone — one moment against a whole life.
Purpose: it serves the advert's job of warning teenagers to think before posting, trading a quick action for a lasting cost.
Audience: the short, punchy shape targets young phone users who post fast, making the risk feel real to them.
One technique — the contrast between ‘one tap’ and ‘a lifetime’ — one effect, then that effect linked to what it means, what it's for and who it targets: that linking is the whole skill that turns spotting into analysis.
IB-style question — two techniques working together
Show how TWO techniques work together: “The old factory hunched by the river. Silent. Rusting. Forgotten.”
Step by step:
Technique one — personification: ‘The old factory hunched’ gives the building a tired, defeated human posture.
Technique two — short fragments: ‘Silent. Rusting. Forgotten.’ have a slow, one-word-at-a-time rhythm that feels heavy and final.
Join them: ‘the sense of a beaten, dying place, reinforced by the slow pacing, together build…’
Combined, the defeated human posture and the slow, dropping fragments produce a single, stronger effect than either alone — the reader feels the factory is an exhausted, dying thing, and a mood of decay builds. Joining the two choices to one effect is what reaches the top band.
IB-style question — a full PEAL paragraph
Write one PEAL paragraph on: “The sea gives, and the sea takes; it keeps no promises and asks no permission.”
Step by step:
P — Point: state your claim: the writer presents the sea as an indifferent, uncontrollable power rather than a peaceful backdrop.
E — Evidence: a short embedded quote — the personification ‘it keeps no promises and asks no permission’.
A — Analysis (the heart): the balanced ‘gives… and… takes’ makes the sea feel even-handed but careless; ‘keeps no promises’ makes it untrustworthy; ‘asks no permission’ shows it answers to no one.
L — Link: tie it back — this builds the sense of an overwhelming, uncaring natural force the question asks about.
The writer presents the sea as an indifferent, uncontrollable power rather than a peaceful backdrop. This is captured in the personification ‘it keeps no promises and asks no permission’. The balanced ‘gives… and… takes’ makes the sea feel even-handed yet careless, while ‘keeps no promises’ makes it feel untrustworthy, and ‘asks no permission’ shows it answers to no one — together these make the sea feel like a force far beyond human control. This establishes exactly the overwhelming, uncaring natural power the question asks about. Notice the shape: a point, a short quote, deep analysis, then a link — most of the paragraph on Analysis, where the marks are.
Important: Technique + effect alone is only mid-band. To reach the top you must add the so what (meaning / purpose / audience), show choices working together, use precise critical words (‘evokes’, ‘juxtaposes’ — never ‘makes it interesting’), and evaluate (say how well it works and why, not just that it does). Keep meaning and purpose distinct: meaning = what it signifies; purpose = what the text is trying to do.
Tap each card to check yourself.
What's the ‘so what’? After technique → effect, link it to meaning (what it signifies), purpose (what it's for), or audience (who it targets).
How do you show two techniques together? Join them — ‘combined with’, ‘reinforced by’, ‘together they…’ — then name the one stronger effect they build.
How do you upgrade ‘makes it interesting’? Use a precise verb + an exact effect: ‘evokes nostalgia’, ‘emphasises the isolation’, ‘undercuts the cheerful tone’.
What is PEAL? Point → Evidence → Analysis → Link. One point per paragraph, a short quote, most of it on Analysis.
What lifts analysis to evaluation? A judgement plus a reason: ‘a particularly effective choice, because…’ — say how well it works and how far.
Exam Tips
- Always add the SO WHAT after technique → effect — use ‘which suggests…’, ‘which serves the purpose of…’, ‘which targets…’.
- Join two techniques to one effect with ‘combined with’ or ‘reinforced by’ — that reaches the top band.
- Replace ‘makes’ and ‘shows’ with a precise verb; name the exact effect, never ‘interesting’.
- Shape every paragraph as PEAL — one point, a short embedded quote, most of it on Analysis, then Link.
- Evaluate, don't just describe: add a judgement (‘effectively’, ‘particularly’) + why it works + how far.