This sort of question doesn’t look so hard …
“Dad! What does itmeanif something’seffective?”
“Well … “
Does it just mean ‘good’? No … it must mean that itworkssomehow … maybe like a reallyeffectivewashing machine …
But how does that help?
I’ve had a few enquiries about this recently, so it seems to be on people’s minds.
When a question asks about theeffectof something in a text, it is asking you to considerhow it affects the reader. Usually it is easiest to think aboutemotional effects, but a word or phrase might also have the effect of making the readerthinksomething interesting.
Sometimes a phrase will be effective because it clearlycommunicates the emotions of a characterto the reader.
Here are some examples:
1.‘He flung himself over the finish line’ is effective because the verb ‘fling’ conveys the runner’s desperation, but also because it suggests how little he cares about his body at this moment: you might ‘fling’ something which lacks value, such as a bag of rubbish.
It is a good idea to use the word ‘effective’ or ‘effect’ in your answer, to show that you are focusing on this aspect. Here, the answer explainshow the quotation effectively shows the character’s feelings.
2.‘That dandled a sandalled shadow that swam or sank’ has effective sibilance*. The ‘s’ sounds help me imagine the gentle swishing of the water, suggesting the calm of a quiet country day.
* sibilance is the alliteration of ‘s’ sounds.
If you can spotpatterns of sounds(such as alliteration), it is comparatively easy to talk about their effect. When you find alliteration, look for the following things:
- What does itliterallysuggest about the situation (‘the gentle swishing of the water’)?
- Whatemotion/sensationdoes it suggest (‘the calm of a quiet country day’)?
3.‘So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past’ is effective because it takes great effort to row or sail against a current: the metaphor is a reminder of how much of a struggle life can be. ‘Borne back ceaselessly’ powerfully suggests that, for all that we try to push forward in life, we can never escape the effect of our past decisions. Furthermore, the plosive alliteration of ‘b’ and ‘p’ sounds suggests the strength of the current pounding against the boat: this makes me feel the narrator’s desperation and helplessness.
This answer blends togetherthe intellectual effectof the quotation (what it makes me think) andits emotional effect(what it makes me feel, especially about the narrator).
When you are discussing the intellectual effect of a phrase, be careful todo more than just translate its meaning into your own words: you must explain its effect fully. If you can talk about emotions as well, this will help.
Notice how the example discussesboth the meaning of the words and their sound. This is a route to a high-scoring answer when a question is worth many marks.
