Higher Close Reading Skills

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Higher Close Reading Skills
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Section A UNDERSTANDING
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Section A UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING

• 1) Using your own words
• 2) Context questions
• 3) Link questions

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1) USING YOUR OWN WORDS
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USING YOUR OWN WORDS

• Some interpretation questions, like the example
  below from a recent Higher English examination
  paper, are designed to test whether you
  understand the basic meaning of the passage.
• Question Paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 deal with the
  issues referred to in line 69. In your own
  words, describe clearly what the three main
  issues are.
• 6 marks

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USING YOUR OWN WORDS

• You will be asked to gather pieces of information
  which you must answer as far as possible in your
  own words.
• Simple words from the original passage may be
  used if there is no obvious alternative, but
  where there is an obvious alternative you should
  use one.
• Figures of speech in the original must always be
  put into plain language, and any non-standard
  expression, for example slang or archaisms
  (old-fashioned words), must be rendered in
  simple, formal, modern English.
• Warning!!!! It is essential that you do not
  lift whole phrases or sentences from the
  original these will not be awarded any marks,
  even though you have understood the question and
  the answer is correct.

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WHAT THE EXAMINER IS LOOKING FOR
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WHAT THE EXAMINER IS LOOKING FOR

• How much should you write? Every exam paper has
  what is called a marking scheme the number of
  marks which are allocated to each question.
• A marker cannot give you any more than the number
  allotted, and he will look for the required
  amount of information before awarding full marks
  to a question.

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OWN WORDS QUESTION BREAKDOWN

• Before you write your answer, you must take note
  of the number of marks available. For two marks,
  it is likely you will need to supply two pieces
  of information, but alternatively you might be
  required to give one detailed piece or four brief
  pieces.
• It will be necessary for you to consider the
  wording of the question carefully for guidance.
  Occasionally, direct guidance may not be given
  and in this case you must use your common sense.
• Obviously, one brief piece of information will
  be inadequate for a four mark question
  conversely, providing a ten line answer for a one
  mark question is unwise as you will waste
  valuable time.

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WORKED EXAMPLE

• Thinking of Grandpa now, I recall the clouds of
  pungent smoke that he puffed from his favourite
  briar, his small shrewd eyes, still very blue,
  and the gleaming dome rising from fleecy tufts of
  white hair.
• Question What three characteristics of Grandpa
  does the author remember?
• 3 marks
• Answer She remembers her grandfather smoked a
  strong-smelling pipe. He also had intelligent
  bright blue eyes and a bald head with a little
  fluffy white hair.

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ANSWER

• Understanding of briar is shown by using the
  more general term pipe. The metaphor gleaming
  dome is simplified to bald head.
• Since the word eyes is a common word with no
  obvious alternatives it may be used again.
• There are several possible alternative words for
  shrewd, and intelligent is an acceptable one.
  Since grandpa is colloquial, the more formal
  grandfather is used in the answer.
• If the question were worth only 1 or 1 1/2
  marks, it could be answered more briefly Her
  grandfather smoked a pipe, he had blue eyes, and
  was very bald.

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FOR PRACTICE
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2) CONTEXT QUESTIONS
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CONTEXT QUESTIONS

• As well as showing that you understand the
  writers general meaning, you will also be asked
  more precise questions, to show you understand
  particular words and phrases.
• For Example
• Show how the first sentence provides a context
  which enables you to understand the meaning of
  the word...2 marks

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CONTEXT QUESTIONS

• In a so-called Context question, such as the
  one above, you will be asked
• (a) to explain the meaning of a word or phrase,
  and also
• (b) to show how you deduced the meaning from its
  placing in the text.
• This involves identifying clues in the sentences
  immediately surrounding the word.
• You must quote these words or phrases that
  provide the clues and briefly explain how they
  help to confirm the meaning.

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CONTEXT QUESTION BREAKDOWN

• If the context question is worth 2 marks, you
  will generally be awarded if follow the formula
  below
• A) 1 mark for getting the meaning right and
• B) 1 mark for the quoted piece of evidence with
  a brief explanation.
• It is usually possible and advisable to quote two
  pieces of evidence and it is essential if the
  question is worth a total of 3 marks.

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WORKED EXAMPLE

• Here is a worked example
• The rumour that Douglas was a prisoner was still
  unsubstantiated. There had been no witnesses to
  his bailing out of the plane, and no solid
  information could be expected from beyond enemy
  lines for weeks, perhaps even months.
• Question
• Show how the context helped you arrive at the
  meaning of the word unsubstantiated.
• 2 marks

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Answer

• A) The word unsubstantiated clearly means
  unconfirmed. (1 mark)
• B i) The context makes this clear as it says
  there were no witnesses who could say for sure
  the news was true ( ½ mark),
• B ii) and the phrase no solid information also
  repeats the idea of there being no firm proof. (
  ½ mark)

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FOR PRACTICE
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3) LINK QUESTIONS
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LINK QUESTIONS

• Another type of question which is designed to
  test your understanding of meaning, as well as
  your appreciation of the structure of a text, is
  the so-called link question.
• You will be asked to show how one sentence
  provides a link in the argument.
• The argument need not be a discussion here
  argument means the progression of ideas in a
  piece of writing and the link will join one idea
  to the next.

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LINK QUESTION BREAKDOWN

• QUESTION And therein lies the rub Explain how
  this sentence acts as a link between the first
  paragraph and the two following paragraphs.
• 2 marks
• Usually, but not invariably, the link sentence
  will stand at the beginning of a paragraph.
• Part of the sentence often, but not always,
• A) the first part will refer back to the
  previous topic
• and
• B) another part of the sentence will introduce
  the new topic which follows.
• Such questions are usually worth 2 marks, which
  are awarded for correctly identifying the parts
  of the sentence that link back and forward and
  the two topics which they connect.

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WHAT YOU SHOULD DO!

• You should show the link by following the formula
  below
• A) first quoting the part of the link sentence
  which refers back to the earlier topic,
• B) explaining what this topic is,
• C) and then quoting the part of the link sentence
  which looks forward to the next topic,
• D) explaining what this is.
• E) The sentence may also begin with a linking
  word or phrase such as but or however which
  points to a change of direction and you should
  also comment on this.

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WORKED EXAMPLE

• Here is a worked example
• William Shakespeare is easily the best-known of
  our English writers. Virtually every man in the
  street can name some of his plays and his
  characters, and many people can also recite lines
  of his poetry by heart. However, despite our
  familiarity with his work, we know relatively
  little of the man himself. We do not know when or
  why he became an actor, we know nothing of his
  life in London, and almost nothing of his
  personal concerns.
• Question
• Show how the third sentence acts as a link in the
  argument.
• 2 marks

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Answer
A

• The phrase our familiarity with his work looks
  back at the topic of how widely known
  Shakespeares work is.
• The conjunction however which begins the
  sentence suggests a contrasting idea to follow.
• The second part of the sentence, we know
  relatively little of the man himself, introduces
  the new topic, namely the things that are not
  known about Shakespeare, and a list of these
  follows this link sentence.

B
E
C
D
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Section B ANALYSIS
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Section B APPRECIATING THE STYLE

• 1) Word Choice
• 2) Imagery
• 3) Structure
• 4) Tone, Mood and Atmosphere

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Introduction

• The most important thing to remember when
  tackling analysis questions is to make sure you
  are absolutely clear on what you are being asked
  to do.
• Remember that in an Analysis question it is
  unlikely that you will be being asked merely to
  explain meaning.
• If that were the case, the question would be
  marked U.

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Key Points

• There are four pointers to what kind of question
  you are being asked
• 1 The use of the letter A to remind you that
  analysis is required.
• 2 The naming of a particular feature or technique
  in the question, for example
• Show how the writer uses imagery in lines xy to
  emphasise the impact of...
• 3 The instruction to look at a section and then
  Show how... with a list of possible features
  which you might try, for example
• Show how the writer conveys his feelings in lines
  xy. In your answer you may refer to tone, point
  of view, onomatopoeia, imagery, or any other
  appropriate language feature.
• 4 The instruction to look at the writers
  language and Show how..., for example
• Show how the writers language in lines xy
  highlights the importance of...
• In this last case there is no named technique or
  feature to guide you. You must go through your
  own mental list of techniques and see which you
  can identify as being important, before you can
  start your answer. You would probably consider
  more than one feature.

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Common Mistakes

• In the fourth type of question people sometimes
  make the mistake of assuming that language simply
  equals meaning and paraphrase the lines to show
  that they have understood them. This will get 0
  marks because it ignores two important
  instructions
• The A 4 the end of the question
• Show how something works

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Be aware of lists in questions

• There are two kinds of lists
• closed lists
• open lists

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Closed Lists

• An example of an closed list would be
• Example 1
• How does the writers language make clear her
  annoyance with the newspapers?
• You should comment on two of the following
  techniques
• word choice, imagery, sentence structure, tone.
• In this case, there are no other options
  available you have to do two from that list.

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Open Lists

• An example of an open list would be
• Example 2
• How does the writers language make clear her
  annoyance with the newspapers?
• You should comment on two of the following
• word choice, imagery, sentence structure, tone,
  or any other appropriate technique.
• Here you are being given the opportunity to do
  any two techniques which seem to you to be
  appropriate. The chances are, though, that the
  ones which have been listed will be useful

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Another example of an open list would be

• Example 3
• How does the writers language make clear her
  annoyance with the newspapers?
• You should comment on techniques such as word
  choice, imagery, sentence structure, tone...
• Such as means that there are other techniques
  which are not mentioned but which you could try.
  The three dots indicate that the list could go on
  for ever.
• The ability to work out how a list can be helpful
  to you is necessary in the Close Reading paper,
  but it also has a part to play in the Critical
  Essay paper, as you will see when you get to that
  section of the book.

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Summary

• Make sure that you recognise what you are to do
  in Analysis
• questions.
• In your answer, are you being asked to refer
  to

• Named features?
• A closed list of features?
• An open list of features
• The writers language and make your own list?

• One or another?
• One and another?
• One and/or another?
• More than one?

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1) Word Choice Questions
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Word Choice

• This is a very simple idea.
• When you are being asked about word choice you
  are simply being asked to look at the words and
  see why the writer has chosen those particular
  words to describe some thing or some feeling,
  rather than any other similar words.

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For Example

• A person who is under average weight for his or
  her height, for example, could be called
  underweight, skinny, or slim.
• What would be the effect if the writer chose the
  word underweight?
• Probably you could say that the person was being
  looked at in a clinical, sort of medical way, and
  being seen as in need of treatment. Perhaps the
  context of the passage might be a political one,
  talking about disadvantaged areas where people do
  not get enough to eat.

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For Example

• If the writer chose to use the word skinny,
  what would be the effect?
• The person is being described as thin but in an
  unattractive way, perhaps suggesting something
  angular and bony.
• If the writer chose slim, what would be the
  effect of this particular word?
• Again the person is being described as thin, but
  in an attractive way, suggesting perhaps a
  smooth, neat, elegant appearance.

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Connotations

• Underweight, thin, skinny and slim all
  mean roughly the same,
• the effect of choosing one of them instead of the
  other three is quite powerful.
• What makes the difference is the connotation of
  each word.

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Denotation and Connotation

• You should be aware of the difference between the
  denotation of a word and its connotation(s).
• Denotation The denotation of a word is its
  basic, plain meaning, if you like. If you are
  asked an Understanding question about a word or
  phrase, what you are trying to give as an answer
  is its denotation its meaning
• Connotation When you are asked an Analysis
  question about word choice you are required to
  give the connotation(s) of the word which
  contribute to its impact or effect.

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To take our present example
WORD DENOTATION CONNOTATION
Underweight Thin A clinical, sort of medical picture, being seen as in need of treatment
Skinny Thin In an unattractive way, perhaps suggesting something angular, bony
Slim Thin In an attractive way, smooth, neat, elegant appearance
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Worked Example

• Transferring the sultry sensuality of a Latin
  street dance to Edinburgh on a wet winters night
  would not appear the easiest of tasks. The rain
  batters the glass roof of the studio, competing
  in volume with the merengue blaring from the
  sound system. In the background, the castle, lit
  up, stares down grandly against the foreboding
  skies.
• Latin is short for Latin American
• merengue is a form of Venezuelan dance music
• Question Show how the word choice in these lines
  helps to point up the contrast described here. 2A
• Since you are asked for a contrast here, it is
  certain that you will have to look at two
  examples of word choice one for each side of the
  contrast.
• All the words in yellow type could be used in
  your answer, but it makes sense to choose two
  words or phrases which you can see something
  obvious about.

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Answer

• Answer 1 Sultry sensuality suggests something
  hot and sexy which is normally associated with
  warm sunny places in contrast with foreboding
  skies which suggests something dark and
  threatening and gloomy or wet winters night
  which suggests cold, which is inhibiting to the
  emotions.
• Or
• Answer 2 The rain batters suggests an assault
  on the roof, as if the rain is trying to get in
  and drown out the dancing in contrast with the
  merengue blaring which suggests something
  enjoyable, loud, warm and confident.

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Hints and Tips

• Note that word choice may be extended to cover a
  short phrase as well as single words but you have
  to quote exactly what word or phrase you are
  going to consider in your answer.
• You can do this by putting the word or phrase you
  are going to deal with in inverted commas, or you
  could underline the relevant words.
• But you have to show the marker which words or
  phrases you have chosen.
• You cant write down something as long as the
  castle, lit up, stares down grandly against the
  foreboding skies.

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Key Points - Summary

• It is important to realise that normally you get
  no marks for identifying interesting words.
• If you wrote down sultry sensuality and
  batters you would get no marks
• If you wrote down sultry sensuality and batters
  and simply say what the words mean you would get
  no marks.
• All the marks that you are going to get will
  arise from the connotations which you discuss.

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For Practice