How to Move From Band 4 to Band 6

In your examination you will be marked in Bands. You should be aiming to be in Band 4, 5 or 6.

Band 4 is for 'consideration' and 'explanation' of the techniques;
Band 5 is 'analysis' and 'exploration' of the methods/techniques;
Band 6 is 'evaluation' of how the author's narrative methods work.

So to get to Band 6 'evaluation' you need to work your way through all four of these questions:

What technique is the writer using and where?

How does the writer use it?

Why is she using it?

Why is she using it in this way?

Band 5 Analysis and Exploration statements might begin:

The writer significantly develops this theme throughout the narrative…

This moment/issue/technique is crucial as it propels the plot/develops the relationships…

This theme/idea is recurrent throughout the narrative, developing the idea…

This moment is a catalyst for the events that follow…

The writer uses this technique to …

Band 6 Evaluation Statements might begin:

The significance of this technique is that it …

In some ways the writer overturns the genre expectations…

The narrative voice is significantly different from what we have encountered previously, which suggests…

In manipulating/exploiting this technique, the writer manages to…

In this way, the audience is…

While this interpretation is valid, one could expand upon it by suggesting…

Example: A Statement Your doctor tells you to eat less chocolate and drink less beer.
A restatement would repeat the statement, The doctor said I should eat less chocolate and drink less beer.
A description would describe the remark: The doctor advised me to change my diet.
An interpretation/exploration would find underlying meaning in the remark: The doctor warned me to reduce my calories for the sake of my health.
Only this final discussion attempts to find significance in the examples, that the foods mentioned are high calorie.

Example: Nursery Rhyme Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go.
A restatement would talk about Mary and the lamb. Mary had a lamb that followed her everywhere.
A description would talk about the story within the fairy tale. The nursery rhyme describes a pet that followed its mistress everywhere.
The interpretation/exploration talks about meaning within the story, here the idea of innocent devotion. An image of innocent devotion is conveyed by the story of a lamb’s devotion to its mistress. The devotion is emphasized by repetition that emphasizes the constancy of the lamb’s actions (“everywhere”…”sure to go.”) The notion of innocence is conveyed by the image of a young lamb, “white as snow.” By making it seem that this is natural and good, the nursery rhyme asserts innocent devotion as a positive relationship.
Note the effort here to offer as much evidence from the text as possible. The discussion includes references to the content (the specific actions referred to), the language (the specific terms used), and the structure (the relationship between characters). Try another nursery rhyme yourself.