CLOSE READING

Close reading - the rules

1. Use your own words as far as possible.Only use the words from the text if you are asked to quote or to write down a word or expression

2. Read the question carefully and look at the code. Is it an Understanding, Analysis or Evaluation question?

3. Note the number of marks - the more marks, the more you have to write.

ANALYSIS - you will be asked to comment on how the writer has expressed her ideas.

The two things you must remember to do:

•Quote from the text in your answer

•Comment on the quotations that you have chosen

UNDERSTANDING - these questions test how well you have understood the passage by asking you to pick out ideas and details. P.7 and p.9 ex 2 and 3. first do P12, word choice.

1. WORD CHOICE

Quote an expression or a single word.

You might be asked to comment on:

• CONTRAST - words or phrases which are opposite ideas.

• JARGON - technical language used by a particular group of people, especially academics, scientists and computer experts.

Word choice can also deal with formal/informal language

Formal

•Complete forms of words

•Complex/intellectual words

•Long, complex sentences

•Standard English

•Impersonal tone

Informal

•Abbreviations (didn’t, etc)

•Simple ,everyday words and expressions

•Short,simple sentences

•Dialect or slang

•Chatty, friendly tone

Decide whether these are formal or informal and say why:

1. For all the Edinburgh Showcase’s success stories, there have also been some disappointments over the years.

2. Gonnae no’ dae that? You wanna mess?

3. It’s the pure excellence. Top of the tree stuff. Brilliance.

4. Too often in the past, family has been a focus for right wing moralising.

2. Context questions

You must always do two things to answer these questions

• Explain the meaning of the word

•Explain the clues in the text that led you to that meaning

‘It is foolish to climb a tree because black bears are adroit climbers and you will simply end up fighting the bear in a tree’

Q. Give the meaning of the word ‘adroit’ and explain how these lines helped you to work it out?

The sentence tells you that bears can climb trees and the word ‘adroit’ would seem to mean that they are good at it, so the meaning of the word is successful or skilful.

3. LINKING QUESTIONS

This type of question will ask you how a phrase or a sentence acts as a link between two paragraphs or topics.

There is formula for answering these. You should

• use two quotations from the linking sentence – one referring to what has gone before and one referring to what is to come after.

• give a brief summary of what has gone before and what is to come after the linking sentence

From P49 of ‘Language Skills for Intermediate Level’

Show how the sentence “But, unlike their easy victory in the south, the north of the country resisted the foreign invaders” is a successful link in the argument.

Answer ‘But’ refers to the previous argument…

4. Figures of speech

There are five figures of speech which often feature in close reading questions –a) Alliteration – repetition of first letter of a few

wordsb) Simile - a comparison using like or as

c) Metaphor – a comparison of unlike objects

d) Pun – one word having two meanings – usually to create humour

e) Personification – an inanimate object is treated as if it had life

Work out which figure of speech is used in each example:

a) I sank like an anvil

b) Playing guide and seek

c) The wind will make you spend a week in Bridlington

d) The wind is a mad travel agent

e) The stuttering rifle’s rapid rattle

5. ToneThis reveals the writer’s feelings towards his/her topic. This can be comic, emotional, angry, depressed.

There can be questions about how a conversational tone is achieved:

- abbreviations

- Slang

- phrases/expressions that would be used in conversations, ‘well’, ‘actually’

- questions and exclamations that make it seem as if the writer is ‘talking’ to you directly.

Humorous writing can also include

- irony (saying one thing while meaning another Yeah, right. (the writer is commenting on the advice to run at an attacking bear.)

- hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) Glen, never having seen anything quite as grotesque and singular (as)…my stomach - alliteration positively porcupine it (the writer is talking about firing arrows at a bear)

6. Sentence structure

You will be asked to look at a sentence or a small group of sentences and comment on how it/they have been put together. There are some points you should keep in mind –

•are they complete sentences? Incomplete sentences can be used to create a chatty style or build tension

• is there any repetition? An idea can be repeated to add emphasis or highlight something

Sentence structure (cont.)

• Is there a list? A list can provide detail.

• Does it reach a climax? This can build suspense or tension

• Is there an example of inversion? Altered word order can serve to emphasise or build tension.

• Is there an example of parenthesis? Brackets, dashes or commas can mark off some extra information that has been inserted into the sentence, You should identify what that extra information is.

Sentence structure (cont.)

• Look at the punctuation

Question marks – may be a rhetorical question. These can be used to challenge the reader or indicate strong feelings

A group of dots can indicate the tailing off of a sentence indicating an unwillingness to finish the idea or create tension.

EVALUATION

There are fewer of these questions but they tend to be worth more marks. The understanding and analysis questions will help you to answer the evaluation questions. These questions are there for you to judge how well the writing has been done.

• always be positive in your criticism.

• pick out and name techniques of style. Often there will be a list in the question - make use of it.

• always quote to support your answer

• pick out specific techniques with comment – do not be vague.

For example:-

2003 paper - The writer’s main purpose in this extract is to convey his fascination with travelling by boat.

Identify two features of style the writer uses and comment on how well you believe he has achieved his purpose. (4marks)

The features mentioned in the marking scheme are structure, word choice, imagery, illustration. Also some examples are given e.g.

He mentions the many places he visited in order to convey the variety of experiences acquired through travelling

You are trying to show how effective the author has been in presenting his information /argument.

You should write in first person (I) and use words such as shocking, amusing, interesting persuasive etc.