Different types of

questions

And how YOU should answer them!

Literal These are the easiest of questions. The answer is right in the text and is usually easy to find.

Answering these questions is usually short, relatively simple and straight forward.

Examples of Literal Questions:

How much money did the kidnappers demand for John Paul Getty III’s safe return?

What did the kidnappers send in an envelope to the Italian police?

Inferential QuestioningInferential questioning is a bit more involved than literal questioning.

The answer is in the story/text; however, you will need to put together different parts in order to find the answer.

Instead of just simply answering like in a literal question, to answer an inferential question you will have to EXPLAIN!

Examples of Inferential Questions:

Explain why many people, including the police, were reluctant to believe that John was actually kidnapped. Please provide examples from the text in your answer.

Why was Gail convinced that the kidnapping was legit, while others weren’t so sure. Please provide examples from the text in your answer.

Critical Thinking/ Open-Ended Questions

These are the most involved and complex questions. They sometimes will have multiple parts THAT ALL NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!!!

The answer to these questions are not so obvious and will not be directly in the text. These answers are usually based on your THOUGHTS, PERSPECTIVES & OPINIONS.

As with answering inferential questions, you MUST provide text references to strengthen and support your answer.

You should also provide a connection/schema to another text, real life event experience, etc…

Examples of Critical Thinking/ Open-Ended Questions:

Do you agree or disagree with Grandfather Getty and his son, John Paul Getty Jr., by initially refusing to pay any ransom?

If your son or daughter were ever kidnapped (God forbid), would you go about it the same way that JPG III’s father and grandfather did?

Do you think the Italian police took the proper methods and action in handling John Paul Getty III’s kidnapping? Explain and provide evidence from the text to support your answer.

When Answering Critical Thinking/ Open-Ended Questions You NEED

To Remember:

R.A.C.E.

R- restate the question in your response.

In other words, ANSWER IN A COMPLETE

SENTENCE!!!!!

A- answer ALL parts of the

question!

C - cite text evidence!!!!!

I want to see direct quotes from the text!

For example…(Character’s name) states, “___(direct quote)___”.

The author states, “___(direct quote)__”.

The article states, “__(direct quote)__”.

THEN…

Reflect and elaborate on how this quote is relevant.

(Example) To me this quote shows/illustrates/…

E- expand/extend your answer with examples from other stories/texts, movies, real life events or experiences.

Generally, you would create a new

paragraph in your response for your connections/schema(s).

EXPECTATIONS

This is the proper way to answer any and all questions in this class. When submitting a paper to be graded, I EXPECT these 4 points to be addressed in your response. It is required by myself, along with NJ state testing criteria.