1. How do I answer text feature questions?
Go back to Ambush – page 119!
Question: Identify any two text features (ie. font, heading, colour, size, photographs, etc.) and explain the purpose of each.

2. Identify possible features.
Use your handout!
What features are there?
Title (font)
Background (camo)
Color (jungle colors)
Pictures (from the war/magazine cover)
Identify possible features.

3. Figure out what the features do
Create a feeling (what feeling?)
Give visuals of something in text (relate to article)
Help explain something (like the war)
Set mood/atmosphere (fear, tension)
Provide extra information (what the war was like)
Figure out what the features do

4. Write your answer (ASK)
Text Feature #1: One text feature in this article is the picture of the soldiers on patrol on the third page. This helps me to understand the article, because it shows me what soldiers would have done in the war. The narrator said “We were working in two-man teams”, and this image showed two soldiers working together, carrying guns and ammunition. This text feature gives a clear visual of what the author describes.
Write your answer (ASK)

5. Write your answer (ASK)
Text Feature #2: Another text feature in this article is…
Write your answer (ASK)

6. Text Feature #1: One text feature in this article is the title
Text Feature #1: One text feature in this article is the title. It says Ambush. “This is why I keep writing war stories” and “All I could do was gape at the fact of the young man’s body” shows this feature.
What not to do...

7. Text Feature #1: One is the color its all army colors and the article is about army people so it helps me understand the army.
What not to do…

8. A – state your answer. Use the key words to start, but then use YOUR OWN SIMPLE WORDS TO SAY THE BASIC ANSWER.
S – support your idea by using a quote/reference from the article/poem, and then EXPLAINING IT LIKE I’M A TOTAL MORON.
K – Conclude (unless it’s a connections Q).
Let us review – shall we?

9. How do I answer TONE questions?
What is the tone of this article? Support your answer with TWO direct references to the text.

10. Positive
Negative
Neutral
Confident
Hopeful
Amused
Complimentary
Cheery
Passionate
Optimistic
Sympathetic
Proud
Enthusiastic
Loving
Angry
Irritated
Accusing
Disgusted
Outraged
Bitter
Scornful
Sarcastic
Critical
Satiric
Condescending
Sombre
Sad
Solemn
Concerned
Hopeless
Serious
Fearful
Apprehensive
Formal
Ceremonial
Clinical
Questioning
Instructive
Informative
Get your TONE handout. Remember – TONE is a feeling. Start by deciding – positive, negative, or neutral?

11. Tone is the author’s feeling about their subject
Tone is the author’s feeling about their subject. In this anecdote, the author feels regret about what happened in the war. He killed a man who he could have just let walk on by, and years later, he still thinks about it. He tries “not to dwell on it,” but still finds himself imagining the boy continuing “up the trail.” This shows that he regrets killing the boy and wishes he had not done it. The article is filled with the author’s regret about his actions.
Use ASK.

12. The tone of the article is being in the war
The tone of the article is being in the war. The author was in the war and he killed people, so it’s about that. I know this because “I was a soldier and this was a war” and the pictures.
What not to do…

13. How do I answer THEME questions?
Suggest a possible theme for the poem/article. Support your answer with two references to the text.

14. Remember: Theme must be a statement.
TOPIC (one word)
THEME (statement)
Love
Poverty
Truth
Friendship
Love changes our lives.
All people should have enough money to live.
Finding the truth means we have to do some research.
Real friends are the ones who stand by us in hard times.
Remember: Theme must be a statement.

15. What is the theme of Ambush?
What does the father teach us? What lesson do we learn?
Doing what we’re supposed to do doesn’t always feel right.
War leaves people damaged.
Killing someone changes you.
What is the theme of Ambush?

16. Theme is the main message that the author wants the readers to learn
Theme is the main message that the author wants the readers to learn. In Ambush, the author explains that war can leave a person with a lot to think about. Throughout his life, the author thinks over and over about the young man who died, picturing him with his sneakers blown off and a star-shaped hole in his eye. He wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t thrown that grenade; would the man have just continued down the path? This shows how the author has been changed by the war, and that the author cannot stop thinking about what he’s done. He has been changed by the war, and that is one of the themes for this anecdote.
Use A S (S) K.

17. The theme of this article is what happened in the war
The theme of this article is what happened in the war. The author killed someone and he feels guilty about it. He is a murderer.
What not to do…