How do I describe the 'effects' created by language in a passage?

An important thing to remember when answering questions on 'effect' is that you represent the writer's audience. This means you can analyse your own reaction to the writing; you are the reader, so you can be confident that your ideas about the passage's effect is valid. However, to make sure you don't fall into the pattern of just saying 'I think' and 'I noticed', you could imagine yourself as one of many readers: saying 'This phrase could make a reader feel sorry for the speaker' sounds better than saying 'This phrase made me feel sorry'. It is also important that you provide evidence for every point, tying this evidence to a particular feature of language. For example, in the witches' scene in Macbeth you would follow the statement 'the speech of the witches makes the audience feel afraid' with 'because their lines make frequent use of rhyme and contain a chanting rhythm that sounds unnatural'. You can follow the rule of Point, Evidence, Explanation to make sure you are really using the writing. 'Effect' questions are designed to see if you can think critically about what writing does to a reader; don't be worried that other students might say something different about the same passage, because literature is all about flexibility. As long as you provide textual evidence for your ideas, showing a bit of variety is great. One way of showing your understanding that a piece of writing can have many different effects is to notice two different or opposing feelings it creates and then conclude with a statement about how these small effects produce a larger effect. For example, you might say 'this line of the passage creates a peaceful sensation through using images of the moon, but also introduces a sinister tone by repeating the word "chill". These features combine to create an overall sense of uneasiness because they are so dissimilar'.