How to Write About The Effect on The Reader

What you get for £1:

✓ How to Write About the Effect on the Reader (16-page PDF)

✓ A full 20/20 student answer, broken down explanation by explanation

✓ The "because chain" method that turns basic analysis into top-mark responses

The Advice That Took a Student from 16 to 20

One of my students kept hitting 16/20 on Question 4 of Paper 1.

That's a grade 9 at 15. She was that close.

The examiner kept leaving the same comment: "Write about the effect on the reader."

I'd always simplified this to: write about how the writer makes us think, feel or predict. But even that wasn't enough.

So I sent her a detailed explanation — the one in this guide. Her next Question 4 scored 20/20.

What This Guide Covers

➥ Why "the effect on the reader" feels vague — and exactly what it actually means

➥ Real student answers rewritten to show the difference between a surface read and a high-level analysis

➥ The "because chain" method: how to build the analytical bridge between a word on the page and its impact on the reader

➥ Three ways to prove you understand how a writer is "pulling the strings" — even without complex vocabulary

➥ A complete 20/20 student answer, annotated point by point using the Points Make Prizes method

➥ Mr Salles' own notes from sitting the exam in June 2025 and November 2025 — including what the examiners reacted to, and what to avoid