Step 1 — Diagnostic
First, show us where you're starting from.
Read the extract and answer the question entirely on your own — no hints, no help. Engenia uses this to work out exactly which thinking skill to teach you first.
Source A — the spotted hyena
I am not one to hold a prejudice against any animal, but it is a plain fact that the spotted hyena is not well served by its appearance. It is ugly beyond redemption. Its shaggy, coarse coat is a bungled mix of colours, with the spots having none of the classy ostentation of a leopard's, they look rather like the symptoms of a skin disease. The head is broad and too massive, with a high forehead, like that of a bear, but suffering from a receding hairline, and with ears that look ridiculously mouse-like, large and round, when they haven't been torn off in battle. The mouth is forever open and panting. The nostrils are too big. The tail is scraggly and unwagging. All the parts put together look doglike, but like no dog anyone would want as a pet.
How does the writer use language here to describe the hyena's appearance? (8 marks)