What am I?

1. What am I? I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place.

2. Close Reading – Understanding Questions 15th September

3. Learning Intentions • To develop our ability to answer questions on understanding • Success Criteria • I can answer understanding questions from close reading passages

4. In the close reading paper, you will see 3 different kinds of questions • Understanding (U) – ask about what a writer has written in a passage • Analysis (A) – asks about how a writer has written a passage • Evaluation (E) – asks about how effectively (i.e. how well) the writer has written a passage

5. Explain in your own words • The most common question you will be asked is to pick out a fact from the passage and express it in your own words. • I’m nocturnal. I love the moonlight, the shadows, the dark places, the dappled murk. I’m not being poetic. I’m simply being true to my nature, my nocturnal nature. Like all tarantulas. • In your own words, in what way is the speaker ‘like all tarantulas’ according to the first paragraph? (1 mark)

6. There are 2 steps to answering this question: • Look in the text for the information which will answer the question (in this case, this is provided by the word ‘nocturnal’) • Express the information in your own words, eg. ‘The speaker is active by night’

7. A variation of this task is a question which asks you to pick out a number of points the writer makes and repeat them briefly in your own words • Such a question frequently includes the word summarise • The speaker provides several pieces of evidence to be found. Always remember to look carefully at the number of marks awarded for the question. A summary question may be worth as much as 5 marks

8. Harrison started out as a carpenter. He completed his first pendulum clock in 1713, before he was twenty years old. Why he came to take on this project and how he excelled at it with no experience as a watchmaker’s apprentice remain mysteries. Aside from the fact that the great John Harrison built it, the clock claims uniqueness for another feature: it is constructed almost entirely out of wood. Harrison, ever practical and resourceful, took what materials came to hand and handled them well. This is a carpenter’s clock. 1a) What are the two ‘mysteries’ which puzzle the writer concerning the building of John Harrison’s clock? (2 marks) 1b)What is unusual about the construction of the clock, and why did Harrison choose this form of construction. (2 marks)

9. Smugglers used to spread rumours that the places where they landed their cargoes were haunted. This made local people keep away, and accounted for strange lights seen flitting about after dark or peculiar sounds. Today just occasionally tenants who want to be moved from one house to another have been known to stage a haunt. 2) What two reasons does the writer give for smugglers pretending that their landing places were haunted? (2 marks)

10. Context Questions • A question might ask you to ‘work out from the context…’ what is meant by a word or expression • What does context mean? Write down your answer in your jotter • Context means the words nearby in the sentence or paragraph • These nearby words can give you clues to help you find the meaning

11. Vocational workers such as builders, electricians, cooks and hairdressers were more happy in their jobs than white-collar staff and felt more appreciated in their work. • How does the context of this paragraph help you to work out what is meant by ‘vocational workers’? (2 marks)

12. The expression ‘vocational workers’ as used here means people who do practical work or work with their hands. I can work this out from the context because the expression is followed by a list of vocational workers: ‘builders, electrician, cooks and hairdressers.’ This gives the impression that vocational workers are people who work with their hands.

13. Context question formula • Quote the expression you are being asked about • Say what this expression means • Say how you worked out this meaning – quote the other words from the sentence/paragraph which helped you arrive at your answer • Say what this quote suggests about the original expression

14. The expression ‘vocational workers’ (1) as used here means people who do practical work or work with their hands (2) . I can work this out from the context because the expression is followed by a list of vocational workers: ‘builders, electrician, cooks and hairdressers.’ (3) This gives the impression that vocational workers are people who work with their hands. (4)