Language Skills Analysis Questions: Sentence Structure

Analysis Questions Understanding Questions – What has the writer said? Analysis Questions – How has the writer said it? –This type of question tests your ability to identify (using appropriate terminology) and examine the techniques or language features the writer has used to put his/her ideas across.

Analysis Questions - Structure When writing an answer to an analysis question, it is helpful to apply the following structure: 1.Identify unusual language features you have discovered, quoting them where necessary. 2.Explain what the feature you have identified contributes to the passage. For Example: 1.The writer uses repetition: “The boy was really, really tired.” 2.The repetition of the word “really” is used to emphasise the point that the boy was extremely tired.

Analysis Questions – Language Features There are four main types of technique or language feature you will be asked to comment on: 1.Word Choice 2.Imagery 3.Structure, especially Sentence Structure 4.Tone

Analysis Questions – Sentence Structure Some of the most common features of sentence structure are: 1.The type of sentences used. 2.The way in which sentences are grouped in paragraphs. 3.The punctuation used to separate and link different types of sentence. 4.The use of sentence patterns.

Sentence Structure Sentence Types and Paragraphing

Sentence Structure – Types of Sentence Here are the most common types of sentence: 1.A statement – used to convey information. –It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. 2.A command – used to instruct someone to do something. –Take it. 3.A question – used to ask something. –Who did this to me? 4.An exclamation – used to convey strong emotion. –Beloved sweetheart bastard! 5.A minor sentence – often used to bluntly emphasise the information contained within it. –Spinster.

Sentence Structure – Paragraphing Paragraphs are used to: Break writing up to make it easier to read. Organise writing into different topics. Place emphasis on particular sentences by making them stand out from the rest of the passage. –This is especially true of very short paragraphs that perhaps contain only one sentence.

Sentence Types – Sample Question Comment on the writer’s use of sentence structure in the following extract: He turned first to the stock-market prices and saw that Consolidated Cables had gone up a point. He turned next to the racing page. His horse had come in fourth, which meant that was fifty quid down the drain. He read a review of a new play and then the sale-room news. He saw that a Van Gogh had gone at Christie’s for nearly eight hundred thousand pounds. Eight hundred thousand! The very words made him feel almost physically sick with frustration and envy.

Sentence Types – Model Answer The writer uses a minor sentence, which is also an exclamation, when he / she writes “Eight Hundred Thousand”. The writer also puts this sentence in a paragraph of its own. The exclamation illustrates the fact that the man is shocked that the painting sold for so much money, and is envious about this. This is reinforced by the fact that the sentence is extremely short and in a paragraph of its own. This stark contrast with the sentences that come before it makes it stand out, suggesting that the man has suddenly stopped reading the paper to take in the news of the painting’s sale.