Lesson P1-S2

P1-S2 Extracts from novels and short stories Quiz: AQA English Language, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson P1-S2, Extracts from novels and short stories: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE English Language (8700), Unit 1: Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which two forms are the Paper 1 extracts drawn from?

    • Plays and screenplays
    • Novels and short stories
    • Memoirs and biographies
    • Poems and song lyrics

  2. What does it mean that the Paper 1 source is an extract?

    • It is a passage taken from a longer text and must be read on its own terms
    • It is a summary written by the examiner in advance to save time for students
    • It is a list of chapter headings taken from a novel for students to memorise
    • It is a complete short story printed in full, with no omitted sections or passages

  3. According to the spec, what does the Paper 1 source focus on?

    • Footnotes, indexes, glossaries and appendices that are printed at the back of a book
    • Openings, endings, narrative perspectives, character and atmospheric descriptions
    • Statistics, graphs, charts and tables of data drawn from a national survey report
    • Headlines, captions, bylines and standfirsts that appear in newspaper and magazine articles

  4. Which feature is NOT on the spec's list for the Paper 1 source?

    • Character presented through dialogue, action and the narrator's direct comment
    • Narrative or descriptive passages that move the story along or pause to build an image
    • Atmospheric descriptions that build mood through weather, light, sound and setting
    • Statistical trends shown in a survey

  5. A novel extract opens mid-scene with a character shouting. What is the student most likely to analyse under 'openings'?

    • The publisher's name and address printed on the title page of the paperback edition
    • The number of chapters in the complete book and how each one is titled and ordered
    • The page count of the complete novel and the number of illustrations it contains overall
    • How the writer hooks the reader by starting in the middle of the action

  6. A short story extract ends with the narrator walking away and a door left open. Which term best describes this ending?

    • An open ending that leaves the outcome unresolved
    • A glossary entry that explains the title
    • A closed ending that resolves every plot point
    • A prologue that introduces the setting in advance

  7. Why do exam extracts usually come without the whole text?

    • Students must answer only with dates and names taken from the first line of the text
    • Students must write a summary of every chapter in the book before answering questions
    • Students must judge how the passage works on its own, without knowing the full plot
    • Students are told the whole plot before they answer so they can place the extract

  8. Which statement about a Paper 1 extract is most accurate?

    • It can mix dialogue, description and narrative within one passage
    • It is always a poem with a fixed rhyme scheme that repeats in every stanza throughout
    • It is always a single page of dialogue only, with no narration or description at all
    • It is always a complete novel of more than three hundred pages printed in one volume

  9. A question asks about 'other appropriate narrative approaches'. Which example fits best?

    • A flashback that interrupts the present-day narrative
    • A bar chart comparing sales figures across several regions in the final financial year
    • A bulleted list of instructions for setting up and playing a complex board game indoors
    • A formal letter with a salutation, a closing line and a signature written by the sender

  10. Which of these is an atmospheric description a student might quote?

    • The report was published in June by the council and sent to every household in the area
    • Rain hammered the windows as the room grew cold and dark
    • Turn the handle slowly and press the red button firmly until the machine starts up
    • Dear Sir, I am writing to complain about the delay to your recent order and request a refund

  11. A student notices a character's dialogue is made of short, clipped phrases. Which term describes this sentence style?

    • Parenthetical sentences set within brackets
    • Sustained, flowing periodic sentences
    • Hyperbolic sentences that exaggerate
    • Clipped or staccato sentences

  12. Why can a short story extract reveal character more quickly than a novel chapter?

    • Short stories never include any description of people, so the reader must guess their traits
    • Less space means writers often pack character into fewer, sharper details
    • Novels are always written in the first person, which makes the characters harder to know
    • Short stories must use exactly three characters, so each one is drawn with full detail

  13. What is the difference between a narrative passage and a descriptive passage?

    • Narrative passages move events forward, while descriptive passages pause to build an image
    • Narrative passages are factual accounts of real events, while descriptive passages are invented
    • Narrative passages are made only of dialogue, while descriptive passages are made only of verbs
    • They are identical in every respect, and the two terms are used interchangeably by teachers

  14. Which feature most directly controls the pace of an extract?

    • Italic headings placed at the start of each section to signal the change of scene
    • Long lists of dates and places printed inside brackets across several separate paragraphs
    • Short sentences and quick exchanges of dialogue
    • Numbered footnotes printed at the foot of each page to explain difficult vocabulary

  15. A student calls an extract 'literature fiction'. Why is that the right label?

    • It is an official report with numbered recommendations for a government department
    • It is a factual account of real events, as found in newspapers and news reports
    • It is imaginative prose written with literary craft, like novels and short stories
    • It is a list of rules for writing persuasive speeches that students must memorise

  16. Which evidence best supports a claim that an ending is 'closed'?

    • The central problem is resolved and the final sentence settles what happened
    • The chapter stops at a cliffhanger about a sea voyage with no closing resolution
    • The narrator is revealed to be unreliable in the last paragraph of the extract
    • The final line asks the reader a question that the text never answers in any way

  17. Which list contains only features the spec names for the Paper 1 source?

    • Verse, rhyme scheme, stanzas and refrains that repeat throughout a long poem
    • Letters, diaries, speeches and travel accounts written in the nineteenth century
    • Openings, character, atmospheric descriptions and narrative passages
    • Graphs, statistics, headlines and tables of data drawn from a national survey

  18. Which is the best definition of 'prose' as used for the Paper 1 source?

    • Words spoken by actors in a staged scene, with stage directions printed beside them
    • Language arranged in lines with a regular metre and a rhyme scheme across stanzas
    • Ordinary written language in sentences and paragraphs, rather than verse
    • Text arranged in numbered tables and columns that present data in a clear layout

  19. A student misreads a short story extract as a poem because of its short paragraphs. What is the best correction?

    • It is a diary because it begins with a date and a short greeting to the reader
    • It is prose: its lines are paragraphs and sentences, not verse with a metre
    • It is a dramatic script because its lines are short and each speaker is named in capitals
    • It is a speech because it speaks directly to the audience with rhetorical questions

  20. Why might an extract with a sharp change of time frame suit a question on structure?

    • It lets students analyse how structure shapes the reader's understanding of events
    • It guarantees the extract contains no dialogue or description of any setting or character
    • It makes the extract longer so that it reaches the word limit set by the examiner
    • It lets students skip analysing language features altogether and focus only on the plot

All AQA English Language quizzes