Intermediate 1 & 2

1. Intermediate 1 & 2 How to pass your Close Reading Exam

2. There are 3 types of Questions • Understanding • Analysis • Evaluation

3. Understanding Questions • Will be marked with (U) • Are the easiest questions • You must use your own words • You must find information in the text.

4. Use your own words • Summarise in your own words • Define in your own words. • List in your own words. • Keep an eye on the number of marks available to help you decide how many points to make. • Use bullet points if you can.

5. Context shows meaning of a word. • Say what the word means. • Show how the rest of the text makes this clear. You must quote the words that give you clues.

6. Evaluation Questions • How effectively has something been written. • Why is it good? • You must use your own opinion. • Link your opinion with features of the text. “It is effective because it uses……”

7. Analysis Questions • Word Choice • Sentence Structure • Imagery or figurative language • Tone • Link questions • Sounds of words

8. Word Choice • Informal – formal - technical • Use of dialect • Choice of a word over another – e.g. strolled or hurried rather than walked. • Pick single words – quote and analyse.

9. Sentence Structure • What type of sentence is it? (Statement, Question, Command, Exclamation, Minor Sentence) • How long is the sentence and why? • Word order: list, repetition, climax.

10. Figurative Language – a comparison. • Simile – using like/as to compare. • Metaphor – a comparison. • Personification – comparison with a person. State what 2 things are being compared – say why this is effective.

11. Sounds of words • Alliteration – repetition of sounds. What effect is the writer trying to achieve? • Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds. • Onomatopoeia – words that sound like the sounds they describe – e.g. snap, crackle…

12. Tone • Humorous – light hearted (telling a joke). • Ironic – tongue in cheek (saying the opposite to mock). • Emotive (emotional) Which? • Chatty - (slang, abbreviations) • Persuasive (trying to make you do or believe something).

13. Link questions • Say what the link is (the middle of the chain). • Say what goes before the link. • Say what comes after the link. • All 3 will be required to get the marks – you must use your own words if you can – don’t just copy what is before and after.