1. Literature Section I
Critical Reading

2. The Pentathlon literature test is made up of 35 questions, with 25 minutes to answer them.
The first ten questions are critical reading, which you've done before (hopefully).
The other 25 are about the Revolution of Evelynn Serrano and also the information from Literature Section II and III.
Today we're learning about the critical reading.
Literature Test

3. Tips and Tricks for Reading
When you start to read, ask yourself questions about the text, such as historical background or intended audience.
Think about what you already know about the author or the time period the text was written. Also decide what kind of literary form the text is.
Fictional texts can be identified by a description of setting, characters, and action.
Speeches have a wide and specific audience, with specific devices used which we will learn about in sections II and III.
Essays and magazine articles are focused on a single topic of interest to many people.
Tips and Tricks for Reading

4. When one reads for meaning, they are looking just at what the passage says explicitly.
Usually, there will be a question about main idea; this kind of question comes in many forms, but is fairly easy to find.
A similar type of question is writer's purpose. This is the type of text, and is usually based on the main idea.
Some questions will be about vocabulary or literary devices, which you will (or at least should) know from your local English class.
Lastly, you may have to make inferences based on information from the passage, which is easy if you understand what you're reading.
Reading for Meaning

5. Reading for analysis is how a writer writes, such as his or her organization.
A lot of questions on reading for analysis will be about tone. Tone is the way an author says what they say.
Grammar is often the topic of reading questions, which can ask about meaning, part of speech, and other specifics.
Reading for Analysis

6. As you read, ask yourself questions about historical context, author's purpose, and decide what you already know.
As you look over each question, think about what kind of question it is, and what it is asking you.
For each question, try to go back into the text and find a specific piece of evidence that answers the question.
Finally, we will discuss the answers to the questions and why they were correct.
Sample Passage