Read the following text, which is an extract from a book about natural wonders of the world. In the text, the narrator describes her encounter with a whale shark. Analyse the text, focusing on form, structure and language. WHALE SHARK Rhincodon typus When the dive master yelled Flaaat! Content removed due to copyright restrictions. I knew that whale sharks belong in the wild, where they can do more than trace a slow curve around the same planted coral and faux sea-cliff.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2025). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [25] Mark according to the levels of response marking criteria in Table C.
2. [1] Additional guidance:
3. [1] The analysis should address the style, form, genre, structure and language of the text (including specific and relevant references), explaining how they create meaning in relation to audience and purpose.
4. [1] The comments below are illustrative and are not intended to be exhaustive. Candidates may make other valid comments that should be credited.
5. [1] Candidates may organise their response in any appropriate way. They are not required to focus on form, structure and language in separate sections.
6. [1] Responses might analyse the following:
7. [1] Form
8. [1] the typical text conventions used in non-fiction
9. [1] the ways in which the purpose affects the content and style of the text
10. [1] the ways in which the extract appeals to its intended audience, e.g. through the tone and register used in the text
11. [1] any other relevant aspects of the text's form
12. [1] Structure
13. [1] the ways in which minor/short/long sentences, and short/long paragraphs are used in the text
14. [1] the way in which the extract is structured to reflect the experience of the narrator as she swims with the sharks for the first time
15. [1] any other relevant structural features in the text
16. [1] Language
17. [1] descriptions of the narrator's vivid imagination/fears: I thought for sure I would be swallowed whole
18. [1] the use of a lexical field of fear: terror, terrified, frighten, I wept
19. [1] repetition/anaphora: I wasn't prepared for... – to show how the reality is so different from her expectation
20. [1] the development in the dive master's speech from anodyne comments no need to worry – to panic - flaaat! and very rare to happen at all
21. [1] the description of the physical impact of the experience on the narrator: I could barely walk, all the muscles had been tensed for the last half hour, I wept with my face in my hands
22. [1] the use of lists – for example of dangers: blacktip reef, spotted wobbegong, zebra and sand tiger sharks
23. [1] the expressions of disgust with the artificiality and limitations of the environment which these creatures are trapped in: a slow curve around the same planted coral and faux sea-cliff
24. [1] the conclusion which indicates the narrator's anger in the anaphora: For science. For entertainment. For spectacle. Perhaps for a little of all three.
25. [1] any other relevant language feature used in the text.