Close Reading Revision – Final Exam Int2/Higher English Close Reading Revision – Final Exam

What we will do… Close Reading tips Understanding Analysis Evaluation Creating questions Practice papers

Tips… Read through the passage first. Divide your time so that you have time for all questions. Look at the number of marks available and write your answer accordingly. Use your own words wherever possible. Quote to back up points you make.

Understanding Questions… Explain in your own words In this case, you are given a word or phrase to explain. You have to explain what it means by putting the word or phrase into your own words. You may have to convert some points made by the writer into your own words.

Understanding Questions… Explain in your own words – Example One One reason why British theatre is less stuffy now than it was before the Second World War is that classes or groups who in the 1930s would not often have gone to the theatre, the young, students, more articulate layers of the working classes, all have more money in their pockets. Explain clearly in your own words, what the writer means by “the more articulate layers of the working classes”. (2 marks)

Understanding Questions… Explain in your own words – Example Two The urge to write may also be the fear of death – particularly with autobiography – the need to leave messages for those who come after, saying, ‘I was here; I saw it too’. Then there are other uses of autobiography, some more utilitarian than others – exposure, confession, revenge. In writing my first volume of autobiography ‘Cider with Rosie’, I was moved by several of these needs, but the chief one was celebration: to praise the life I’d had and so preserve it. What three main reasons does Laurie Lee give for writing autobiography? (3 marks)

Understanding Questions… Context Questions Give the meaning of the word or phrase Specify items of context that give clues to the meaning Say how these items help you work out the meaning The word/phrase __________ means __________. I can work this out from the context because it says __________ which also means/is similar to __________.

Understanding Questions… Context questions – Example One And if you despise politics altogether, and are an Alternative Society enthusiast, well what was Robin Hood but a drop-out, and what could his greenwood enterprise have been but an early form of commune? Give the meaning of “Alternative Society” and show how the context helps the reader to arrive at the meaning. (2 marks)

Understanding Questions… Context questions – Example Two Recently I found myself unimpressed by some visiting American who stunned me with monstrous verbosity, determined to use five words where one would do, bent on calling a canteen an ‘in-plant feeding situation’ and a spade a ‘primative earth-breaking impliment’. Show how the context of “monstrous verbosity” helps you to arrive at its meaning. (2 marks)

Understanding Questions… Summary questions Identify the main points Work out how to reword these points Write the points in a paragraph of your own sentences

Understanding Questions… Summary questions – Example The BBC is a massive patron, uniquely independent through its licence fee – and the guardian of public service broadcasting. But, as the fight for the control of communications hots up, friends of the BBC – both inside and out – are alarmed that all this is in jeopardy: the BBC has become too much of a self-seeking institution, too preoccupied with its ratings at the expense of good broadcasting, and unwisely over-extended financially. What are the three reasons for causing alarm to the friends of the BBC? Use your own words as far as possible. (3 marks)

Understanding Questions… Paired Task In your pairs, read the article, “Why do we instinctively trust a Geordie accent?” With your partner, write three understanding questions on the article.

Analysis Questions… “Link” Questions (can be U or A): This type of question asks you to show how a sentence links two paragraphs. You need to explain what has gone before and what comes next, and how the sentence is related to both. The word/phrase __________ links back to the idea of __________, which was discussed in the previous paragraph. The word/phrase __________ links forward to the idea of __________, which will be discussed next.

Analysis Questions… “Link” Questions – Example: The 7.15 Latin class is full, as was the six o’clock, as is the 8.30. In the reception area of Edinburgh Dancebase, learners, ranging from the middle-aged, fresh from work, to students, mill around waiting to dance. Unlikely as it may at first seem, this is occurring across the country. Against similar winter backdrops, people are queuing up to learn to dance. National inhibition is being shed as salsa, merengue and cumbia beats force hips to sway rhythmically and partners to twist complicatedly. How does the first sentence of the second paragraph act as a link in the argument? (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Sentence Structure The way a sentence is constructed. Key aspects: Punctuation and lists Length of sentences Use of climax/anti-climax Repetition Word order Sentence types We will look at an example for some of these.

Analysis Questions… Sentence Structure – Example One: The panel divided into two teams. One offered a number of alternatives. These included: a ‘Landscape of Thorns’ – a square mile of randomly-spaced 80ft basalt spikes which jut out of the ground at different angles; ‘Menacing Earthworks’ – giant mounds surrounding a 2000ft map of the world displaying all the planet’s nuclear waste dumps; ‘Black Hole’ – a huge slab of black concrete that absorbs so much solar heat that it is impossible to touch. Show how the punctuation of the sentence beginning “These included” is helpful in following the argument at this stage. (6 marks)

Analysis Questions… Sentence Structure – Example Two: The Scottish race has been variously and plentifully accused of being dour, mean, sly, narrow, sluttish, nasty, dirty, immoderately drunken, embarrassingly sentimental, masterfully hypocritical, and a blueprint for disaster when eleven of them are together on a football field. Comment on the sentence structure and effect of this sentence. (4 marks)

Analysis Questions… Sentence Structure – Example Three: We are not going to be identified as a ‘growing social problem’, as the social commentators would have us labelled, but as a thriving, gossiping and defiant sisterhood. How does the sentence structure emphasise the writer’s positive point of view? (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Sentence Structure – Example Four: Yet Ireland has managed to attract its young entrepreneurs back to help drive a burgeoning economy. We must try to do likewise. We need immigrants. We cannot grow the necessary skills fast enough to fill the gap sites. We need people with energy and commitment and motivation, three characteristics commonly found among those whose circumstances prompt them to make huge sacrifices to find a new life. How does the sentence structure demonstrate the writer’s strong feelings? (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Sentence Structure – Paired Task In pairs, write two sentence structure questions on the Geordie accent article. Try to make sure they address different aspects of sentence structure.

Analysis Questions… Word Choice Why have certain words been used? Denotation and Connotation For example, Underweight/Skinny/Slim – all denote ‘thin’ but their connotations are different. What do the words suggest?

Analysis Questions… Word Choice – Example One: Because of the popularity of partner dancing – as opposed to the lone experience of shuffling one’s feet and randomly jerking your arms at a club/family wedding – the BBC has decided to make a celebrity version of Come Dancing the centrepiece of its Saturday night schedule. Fronted by Bruce Forsyth, the show will feature celebrities testing their salsa skills under the guidance of former world champion ballroom dancer Donnie Burns. How does the word choice show the writer thinks dancing on one’s own is not very satisfying? (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Word Choice – Example Two: Admittedly, Saturday night TV may not reek of Latin glamour. But the new Dirty Dancing film, soon to reach UK cinemas, makes up for that. Set in the blistering heat of Cuba, Havana Nights features the sort of drippingly sexy salsa that you really have to be Latin to pull off. How does the word choice create an exotic description of salsa dancing? (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Word Choice – Paired task: Create two word choice questions on the Geordie accent article.

Analysis Questions… Imagery and Sound Techniques Simile, Metaphor, Personification Alliteration and Onomatopoeia Symbolism ‘Pictures in the reader’s mind’ Answer these questions by: Identifying the imagery Commenting on the connotations of the imagery

Analysis Questions… Imagery and Sound Techniques – Example 1 Too many tourists are so wedded to their camera that they cease to respond directly to the beauty of the places they visit. They are content to take home a dozen rolls of exposed film instead, like a bank of monopoly money. Show how the simile, underlined above, highlights the writer’s disapproval of the tourists’ behaviour. (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Imagery and Sound Techniques – Example 2 The UK is not a group of nations swamped by a tidal wave of immigration. Relatively speaking, Europe contends with a trickle of refugees compared with countries who border areas of famine, desperate poverty, or violent political upheaval. What is the impact of the imagery in these lines in making clear the writer’s point? (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Imagery – Paired Task Create one imagery question on the “Geordie accent” article.

Analysis Questions… Tone/mood/atmosphere Examples: identify the tone/mood/atmosphere specify how it is gained in the passage (through word choice, structure, etc) say how it affects what it being said. Examples: Tones: Formal Emotional Ironic Persuasive Flippant Conversational Moods/atmospheres: Scary Humorous Happy Sad

Analysis Questions… Tone/Mood/Atmosphere – Example 1 Yet Ireland has managed to attract its young entrepreneurs back to help drive a burgeoning economy. We must try to do likewise. We need immigrants. We cannot grow the necessary skills fast enough to fill the gap sites. We need people with energy and commitment and motivation, three characteristics commonly found among those whose circumstances prompt them to make huge sacrifices to find a new life. Show how the writer uses tone to demonstrate her strength of feeling in these lines. (2 marks)

Analysis Questions… Tone/Mood/Atmosphere – Example 2 Sometimes, later in the evening, one of them will appear downstairs, a pyjamaed stocky ghost lurking on the fringes of our adult evening (scenes from ER or from war-zones are hastily turned off the TV) and say that they are scared. Scared of monsters, scared of wars, scared of you going away, scared of thunder, scared of a rustle outside, scared of don’t know what, just scared. Identify the mood of these lines. By referring to imagery and sentence structure, explain how the writer creates this mood. (4 marks)

Analysis Questions… Tone/Mood/Atmosphere – Paired task Create one tone/mood/atmosphere question on the “Geordie accent” article.

Evaluation Questions… Specific evaluation of a technique: Identify example of technique Analyse the connotation or effect of the technique How effective is it and why?

Evaluation Questions… Specific evaluation of a technique - Example: The UK is not a group of nations swamped by a tidal wave of immigration. Relatively speaking, Europe contends with a trickle of refugees compared with countries who border areas of famine, desperate poverty, or violent political upheaval. Discuss how effective you find the imagery in these lines in making the writer’s point clear. You may refer in your answer to one or more examples. (2 marks)

Evaluation Questions… General evaluation of the whole passage or part of the passage: Identify relevant features/techniques Why are the features/techniques used? How effective are they? Do they relate to the rest of the passage?

Evaluation Questions… Comparison of two passages (Higher only): Similarities Differences Techniques used Content Structure Imagery Tone Language Word Choice Which is most effective, in your opinion?