Learning Outcomes
After reading this article, you will confidently analyse how fiction writers structure their texts for effect (AO2). You will explain how openings, shifts in focus, contrasts, and narrative viewpoint shape meaning and hold the reader’s attention for AQA GCSE English Language 8700 Paper 1, Question 3. You will be able to identify key structural features, select concise examples, and write analytical, AO2-focused responses under exam conditions.
AQA GCSE English Language 8700 Syllabus
For AQA GCSE English Language 8700, structure questions about fiction require you to:
- Explain how writers use structural features to shape meaning and interest readers (AO2)
- Identify what writers focus your attention on at the beginning, and how and why that focus changes
- Recognise and analyse shifts, contrasts, and narrative viewpoint across a whole extract
- Use appropriate subject terminology to support your structural analysis
Test Your Knowledge
Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.
- Name two structural features that can create a shift in the focus of a fiction extract.
- Why do writers often use a contrast between settings or characters in a story opening?
- How does narrative viewpoint (first-person or third-person) affect the structure and the reader’s understanding?
Introduction
Strong answers to Paper 1, Question 3 show precise awareness of how a fiction extract is put together to interest and direct the reader. Thoughtful students look at what the writer spotlights at the opening, when and why attention shifts, points of contrast, and the influence of the chosen narrative viewpoint. This article will show you what to look for, which terms to use, and how to structure clear analytical points about structure.
Key Term: structure
The writer’s organisation of content, including the order of events, shifts of attention, and the way information is revealed to shape the reader’s experience.Key Term: narrative focus
The part of the story, character, setting, or idea the writer draws the reader’s attention to at a particular point in the text.
The Importance of Openings
Writers use openings to grab the reader's attention, introduce the narrative world, and sometimes foreshadow later events. A purposeful opening sets the mood, setting, context, or main character.
Key Term: contrast
A structural technique where the writer puts different or opposing settings, characters, or moods side by side, often to highlight a change or to build tension.
Worked Example 1.1
Read this opening from a novel:
The estate gates had always been shut at dusk, but that evening, one hung crookedly, swinging in the bitter wind.
How does this opening create interest?
Answer:
The opening uses a strong contrast between past security (“always been shut at dusk”) and present disorder (“hung crookedly”). The gate’s state immediately signals change and hints at threat, drawing attention to the setting and raising questions for the reader about what has happened.
Shifts in Focus
Skilful writers shift narrative attention deliberately throughout an extract, such as moving from a wide view to a small detail, or from setting to a character’s internal thoughts. These shifts guide the reader’s journey and control pacing.
Key Term: shift
A deliberate move in focus, viewpoint, setting, or time, often marked by paragraph breaks or sentence changes, used to surprise, suspense or widen the scope.
Worked Example 1.2
Identify a shift in this paragraph:
She crept along the wooded path, heart thudding. An owl called overhead. Then, behind her, a twig snapped.
Answer:
The text opens by focusing on the character’s cautious movement. It then shifts to include the wider environment (owl sound), creating atmosphere, and finally shifts again to a potential threat (“a twig snapped”), which breaks the calm and raises tension. Each shift changes where the reader is looking and steers emotion.
Contrasts and Juxtapositions
Contrasting settings, actions, or moods are structural tools that help to highlight character or theme, and often prepare for further shifts or developments in the story.
Worked Example 1.3
At dawn, the park glistened, untouched and silent. By afternoon, muddy footprints trailed across the grass, voices echoing through the air.
How has the writer used contrast?
Answer:
The writer puts two very different times side by side: the peaceful, untouched emptiness of the park at dawn and the chaotic, busy afternoon. This contrast not only signals change but also sets up expectations for further events or shifts later in the text.
Narrative Viewpoint and Structural Effects
Whether a story is written in first-person or third-person shapes what the reader sees and knows, impacting structure throughout.
Key Term: viewpoint
The point of view from which the story is told (e.g., first-person “I”, third-person “she/he/they”), determining how much the reader knows, whose thoughts are revealed, and how surprises or gaps in information are structured.
Worked Example 1.4
“I watched my brother vanish into the fog, heart stumbling in my chest. He never turned back.”
Explain the effect of narrative viewpoint on the structure.
Answer:
The first-person viewpoint limits the structure to what the narrator observes and feels. This creates suspense, as the reader learns information only as the narrator does. The main focus is tightly controlled, making shifts in emotion or awareness more immediate and impactful.
Exam Warning
Avoid simply listing features in order (e.g., “First this happens, then this”) without analysing why the writer has organised the extract that way. Always comment on the effect of each structural choice on the reader or the story.
Summary
In fiction, structural analysis means noticing and explaining how the writer draws attention through openings, shifts, contrasts, and viewpoint. The best responses focus on effects: how these features steer the reader and contribute to meaning or emotion.
Key Point Checklist
This article has covered the following key knowledge points:
- Structure is about the organisation of information, not just plot.
- Openings set up focus, atmosphere, or questions.
- Shifts in focus, time, setting, or viewpoint are used for impact.
- Contrasts and juxtaposition highlight changes and add tension or clarity.
- Narrative viewpoint shapes how and what the reader learns.
Key Terms and Concepts
- structure
- narrative focus
- contrast
- shift
- viewpoint