FOCUS QUESTIONS

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FOCUS QUESTIONS

• Guidelines for Strong Answers

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What is a focus question?

• Focus questions are critical thinking questions
  about a reading assignment
• They require
• thoughtful analysis
• Support from the book

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Guidelines

• 1. BE NEAT!
• Write legibly. Use ink or type your work. 
• NO PENCIL!
• Use appropriate margins and indentions.
• Use good spelling and grammar.

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Guidelines

• 2. BE THOROUGH!
• Address the question in your answer
• Be sure to answer ALL parts of each question

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Guidelines

• 3. BE CLEAR and SPECIFIC!
• Give specific examples from the book to support
  your answers
• Provide page numbers for your examples

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Where do the page numbers go?

• Page numbers go directly after your example from
  the book
• Place them in parentheses before the period
• Example
• Cole Matthews anger is likely related to the
  awful home life he has. Both of his parents are
  alcoholics and his father is physically and
  verbally abusive (p. 54-55).

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How do I begin?

• Your topic sentence should
• Address the question directly
• what is the questions asking you?
• Include the author and title name
• ONLY in the very first question in a set
• Example
• In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben
  Mikaelsen, Cole Matthews is a troubled teenager.

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How do I include an example?

• 1. First, introduce the context for the example.
• Context refers to the surrounding details of your
  example, such as
• WHO said it
• WHERE it came from
• WHAT was happening
• Example
• Garvey tells Cole, you cant own atoow. You
  are only its caretaker for a time (p. 19).

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How do I include an example?

• 2. Next, provide your example.
• Its best to paraphrase
• That means to put it into your own words only
  giving the most important details
• OR include a quote when appropriate
• Dont forget to include quotation marks!
• Provide the page number after your example!
• Example
• Both of Coles parents are alcoholics and his
  father is physically and verbally abusive (p.
  54-55).

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How do I include an example?

• 3. Finally, follow your example with commentary.
• Commentary refers to your explanation of the
  significance of the quote. Why is this important?
• Be sure to explain your reasoning. Its good to
  use the word "because" (just not at the beginning
  of the sentence).
• Example
• Garvey tells Cole, you cant own atoow. You
  are only its caretaker for a time (p. 19). These
  words demonstrate the nature of the atoow and
  its symbol of not only trust, but community and
  ancestry. It was a shared symbol that transcended
  time.

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DETAIL SANDWICH

• o

After hearing that Peter ratted on him,
CONTEXT
DETAIL with pg
Cole brutally attacks Peter (p.8).
COMMENTARY
Coles anger drives him to violence.