Close Reading

1. Close Reading The Final Question

2. The Final Question • Worth five marks (ten per cent of the whole paper). • Will ask you to identify and compare the similarities and/or differences in the key ideas in the two passages. • You can answer using continuous prose or developed bullet points (I’d recommend continuous prose).

3. Example (2011) • Which passage gives you a more interesting insight into the appeal and influence of video games. Justify your choice by referring to the ideas of both passages.

4. Answering the Question • Decide what you are being asked: agree, disagree (or both) or evaluate which was more interesting/effective. • Identify the key ideas of both passages (try to do this while you are working you way through the questions). • Identify the key ideas where they agree or disagree/which you found most interesting. • Write your answer.

5. Writing Your Answer • Area of agreement/disagreement • Paraphrase the stance in passage one and use an embedded quotation to illustrate this. • Paraphrase the stance in passage two and use an embedded quotation to illustrate this. • Explain why you found one more interesting than the other or agree/disagree more with one than the other or equally. • Repeat at least three times.

6. Exemplar (2011) • Passage 1 describes games as “maddeningly hard” and as such require and develop problem solving skills, thus making games beneficial to the player. Passage 2 describes the players as “spoon-fed” so offer no challenge to the player so do not develop any skills. Passage one is a more interesting insight because it takes into account the varying difficulty of challenges which gaming is capable of providing. • x 3/4/5

7. (continued…)