CLOSE READING - some hints

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Ensure you are familiar with the key command words and what they mean:

  • Identify
  • Explain
  • Analyse
  • Summarise
  • Evaluate
     
    Own words Question
    1. Find the answer in the passage - LOCATE
    2. Highlight or underline the answer.
    3. Now reword it taking care not to use the words you have underlined - TRANSLATE
    4. Bullet point your answer – use the number of marks on offer to dictate the number of points you make.
     
    Context Question
    1. Give the meaning of the word.
    2. Quote a word or phrase or refer to a technique from the context that led you to this meaning.
    3. Explain how this word/phrase/technique helps you understand the meaning of the original word.
     
    Linking Sentence Question
    1. Quote the linking word or phrase (if there is one) and explain its function.
    2. Quote the words that link back to the previous paragraph. Explain what the previous point is.
    3. Quote the words that introduce the next point. Explain what point the writer goes on to make.
     
    Summarising Question
    This is usually a big mark question. Use the number of marks to work out how many points you should make. Bullet point your answer
    1. Treat this as an extended own words question
    2. Break down the chunk of text you are to look at into smaller chunks and work out the key idea in each
    3. Ensure that you write out each point in your own words
     
    Imagery Question
    1. Identify the image (what is being compared to what?)
    2. Give the literal meaning of the image.
    3. Explain the connection between the two. (Just as…. so….)
    4. Explain the effectiveness of the comparison – ensure you have answered the question
     
     
    Word Choice Question
    1. Quote a word/phrase.
    2. Explain the connotations of the word/phrase (what you associate with the word).
    3. Explain what this suggests about what the writer is describing.
     
    Sentence Structure Question
    1. Identify/name/quote a technique of sentence structure
    2. Comment on the effects of its use and how this fits with/helps you to understand the point the writer is making in these lines.
     
    To help you find relevant features to comment on, follow these steps:
    1. What type of sentence(s) is/are being used?
    Statement
    Question/rhetorical question
    Exclamation
    Command
    Minor sentence
     
    2. How is the punctuation used to divide up the sentence?
    Commas - a list or breaking a complex sentence into clauses?
    Colons
    Semi-colons
    Parenthesis
    Single dash
     
    3. Is there anything unusual about the structure of the sentence?
    Inversion
    Repetition
    Climax or anti-climax
    Antithesis
     
    4. Do the sentences form a pattern?
    Repetitive or balanced structure
    Contrast between complex and short sentences
     
    Tone Question
    1. Identify the tone employed by the writer
    2. Quote a word/phrase/image which reveals the tone and explain how it does so
     
    Effective as a Conclusion Question
    1. Does it sum up the main points? Quote and explain what they are and quote or summarise where they were made earlier on in the passage.
    2. Does it restate the writer’s point to view? Quote and explain what it is, then quote from earlier in passage and explain the link.
    3. Does it link back to the introduction? How? Quote and explain.
    4. Does it use word choice/imagery begun in the introduction or used throughout passage? Quote and explain from both the conclusion and from earlier in the passage.

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