4.3 - Paper 2 Q5: Reading the task and establishing a viewpoint
Paper 2 Question 5 asks you to read a whole writing situation, establish your own viewpoint and shape it for a specified audience, purpose and form. You will learn how to turn the statement into a sustainable line of thought instead of merely repeating it. This matters because AO5 rewards relevant communication and organisation, while AO6 separately rewards technical accuracy.
Read the whole situation
Paper 2 Question 5 is one 40-mark viewpoint-writing task: 24 marks assess AO5 and 16 assess AO6. Its theme connects to Section A, but the immediate boundary is the new writing situation and statement. The complete response belongs in full exam-task practice; the short activities here isolate the decisions that make that response possible.
Read beyond the statement. A prompt establishes a relationship between a writer and a reader:
| Prompt element | Decision to make |
|---|---|
| Situation | What real tension or proposal has caused the writing? |
| Statement | Which claim must you respond to rather than copy? |
| Audience | Who will read or hear this, and what might they value or question? |
| Purpose | Are you arguing, explaining, persuading or advising? |
| Form | What kind of relationship does a speech, article or letter create with that audience? |
Consider this practice situation:
A residents' group has proposed that every secondary-school student should spend one school afternoon each year helping with a neighbourhood project.
“Young people would understand their community better if everyone had to take part.”
Write a speech for a meeting of local residents in which you argue your point of view on this proposal.
The topic is community projects, but the situation is narrower: compulsory participation by students. The audience is not “everyone”; it is local residents at a meeting. The purpose is to argue a viewpoint, and the form is a speech, so the writing needs to sound intelligible when heard and acknowledge the listeners' stake in the proposal. Those decisions are more useful than beginning with a list of techniques.
Choose a sustainable viewpoint
Sustainable viewpoint
A position that can govern the whole response and open several connected routes for development. It may agree, disagree or qualify.
It may agree, disagree or qualify. “Nuanced” does not mean indecisive: it means the writer has decided what matters, including any condition or limit.
For the neighbourhood-project task, an expert might decide:
Community work can benefit students and residents, but participation should offer genuine choice, safe support and a visible local purpose rather than becoming a meaningless compulsory exercise.
This position is clear: the proposal has value only under stated conditions. It can develop through student choice, practical support and useful outcomes. The plausible alternative, “This is a brilliant idea because everyone should help,” is weaker because it largely repeats one side of the statement, dismisses the tension around compulsion and provides too little material to sustain an argument.
Notice the decision before the phrasing. The expert has not invented survey results or claimed that “most residents agree”. Honest examples may be hypothetical: for instance, students might choose between restoring a shared garden and recording local residents' memories. Such an example illustrates a reason; it does not pretend to be verified evidence.
Continue this lesson.
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