Close Reading The Final Question

The Final Question Worth five marks (more than sixteen per cent of the whole paper) Will ask you to identify and compare the similarities and/or differences in the key ideas in the two passages. You can answer using developed bullet points

Example Consider the attitude displayed by each writer to air travel and its effects on the environment. Referring to important ideas in the passages, identify the key areas on which they agree and disagree. You may answer this question in continuous prose or in a series of developed bullet points.

Answering the Question Decide what you are being asked: agree, disagree or both. Identify the key ideas of both passages (try to do this while you are working you way through the questions). Identify the points of overlap: key ideas where they agree or disagree. Write your answer.

Answer 3 points minimum – most important part 4 points if possible Heading, Point , Evidence, Analysis/ Explanation

Writing Your Answer Area of agreement/ disagreement Paraphrase the stance in passage one. Use a quotation to illustrate this. Explain this quotation Paraphrase the stance in passage two. Repeat at least three times.

Exemplar The difficulty of gaming: Passage 1 believes the video games are very challenging. It describes games as “maddeningly hard”. This suggests that they require and develop problem solving skills, thus making games beneficial to the player. Passage 2, however, disagrees with this. It beleoives that games are very easy. The writer describes the players as “spoon-fed”. This suggests that they offer no challenge to the player so do not develop any skills. x4

The lottery as an easy fix Passage one states that the lottery encourages people to believe that they can get riches without working for them. It brings about a ‘something for nothing culture.’ This suggests that it makes life seem easy, encouraging a sense of entitlement. Passage two also believes that . . .