Close Reading

1. Close Reading Types of questions - Revision

2. Understanding Questions Answer in your own words. Quote a word/expression. Context Linking

3. Answer In Your Own Words The vet proposed getting it over and done with at that moment, as he appeared to have a minor lull between one four legged emergency and another, so she appeared back outside the surgery door and beckoned me from across the road. Explain in your own words why the vet could treat the dog “at that moment” 1 mark 2. Seven lumps of rock 30 miles off the west coast of Lewis, the outermost of the Outer Hebrides, the Flannan Islands have a good claim to be the most deserted place in Britain. The only inhabitants are thousands of puffins, some nesting fulmars, the “little people” of Gaelic folklore and the ghosts. Explain why “the Flannan Islands have a good claim to be the most deserted place in Britain” (lines 2–3). Use your own words as far as possible. 2 marks

4. Answers There was a calm period/he wasn’t busy (gloss of “lull”). 2 . They are remote (gloss of “30 miles off the west coast of Lewis”);(1) They are barren (gloss of “lumps of rock”);(1) They are uninhabited (gloss of “The only inhabitants ...”) (1)

5. Quote a word/expression While the dog leaped and bounded and gambolled happily about the riverside park, having forgotten all about his medical encounter just minutes before, my mouth had gone dry, the sky had gone dark and my throat had begun to burn. Quote two expressions from these lines which help to point out the contrast between the dog and the writer.

6. Answers Ideas are of happiness and misery. Contrast any of “leaped”/“bounded”/“gambolled”/“happily”/“having forgotten all about his medical encounter” (1) with any of “my mouth had gone dry”/“the sky had gone dark”/“my throat had begun to burn” (1).

7. Context Read the following extracts and for each decide what the underlined word means, listing the words/phrases which helped you come to that decision. There was nothing left except the dusty, soft remnants of some ginger snaps. I shook the crumbs from the table and looked carefully for fingerprints. His behaviour was becoming increasingly inconsistent. One minute he was bright and happy, but the next flew off the handle and into a rage, for no apparent reason.

8. Answers • Remnants = remains/left overs “crumbs” and “nothing left” 2. Inconsistent = conflicting/contradictory/changing. shown through the different behaviour. Changing from “bright and happy” into a “rage”

9. Linking Their ambition was to have a bigger kite than anyone else, a tougher kite that was more weather hardy and could withstand stronger winds. But that did not satisfy Herbert. He was intent on not only a robust kite, but a new shape, never before created. The car is equally as impressive inside. Black leather seats, heated in the winter, set off the sleek design. The CD player is a work of art, sunk into the smooth dashboard . . .

10. Answers “But that” links back to their ambitions about the kite, “did not satisfy” links forward to the rest of the paragraph which explains what Herbert had in mind. “equally as impressive inside” shows that the previous information must have dealt with the outside of the car. “Inside” links forward to the description of the interior. NB. Needs to show how it links both forwards and backwards for full marks.

11. Analysis Word Choice Imagery/ Figures of Speech Tone Sentence Structure.

12. Word Choice However, the vet managed a quick squirt up one tunnel and half a squirt up the other, which he declared sufficient. Explain fully how any one example of the writer’s word choice helps to emphasise that the writer was unconvinced that the vet had done the job properly. 2. We crawled inside; the rising wind howled through the cracks between the stones. What must it have been like for the lighthouse keepers, cooped up in a brick tube for months, battered by wind, rain and waves? Show how one example of the writer’s word choice in lines 38–40 effectively conveys the hardships of the lighthouse keepers’ lives.

13. Answers One example (1) + comment (1) needed from: “quick / squirt” (1) suggests perfunctory quality (1); OR “half a squirt” (1) suggests lack of thoroughness (1); OR “declared( sufficient)” (1) suggests/emphasises the writer’s reservation (1).

14. Answers (2) “Cooped up” (1) (clearly) conveys the crampedness (1) “in a brick tube” (1) (clearly) conveys the crampedness (1) OR the spartan nature of the accommodation (1); “for months” (1) (clearly) conveys the long time they had to spend there (1); “battered” (1) (clearly) conveys the harshness/severity of the weather (1); “wind, rain and waves” (clearly) conveys the multiplicity/variety of hostile elements (1) One mark for correct choice, one for comment Evaluation may be taken as implicit NB “hard” is in the question; nature of hardship/privation must be identified.

15. Imagery/Figures of Speech Simile Metaphor Personification Onomatopoeia Alliteration For the following questions decide which figure of speech is being used and what effect it has on the extract (why is it being used?)

16. Imagery/Figures of Speech While the procession arrived at the cemetery the gravestones huddled together as the rain began and the sky greyed. Coulthard recovered from the scrape with death, stronger and better than ever before. The ghosts of self doubt eventually vanished and he was back on top. The new Jaguar is expertly crafted and has awesome energy and power. Take off is as smooth as a penguin’s belly on ice.

17. Answers Personification - to emphasise the cold, dreary atmosphere. Metaphor – shows that Coulthard was haunted by his accident. Simile – to show how sleek the car was.

18. Tone • Tone = How something should be read. • “What do you call that?” could be read in a variety of different ways. i.e curious, sarcastic, angry or frightened. • Types of tone: • Humorous Ironic • Conversational Serious/formal • Persuasive • Dismissive

19. Tone How could you have let them trample all over the evidence? If a herd of buffalos had come along here they would have made less mess. Gosh, you wouldn’t believe what I’ve done now. How could anyone have been so stupid? Lyra moved through the dark hall. She crouched behind a table before darting into the retiring room. Even the servants didn’t come in here. Suddenly she heard voices and dived behind a chair.

20. Answers Sarcastic – herd of buffalos Chatty/conversational – use of rhetorical question and ‘you’. Tense/spooky – ‘dark hall’ ‘ suddenly’

21. Sentence Structure Here the wind was so strong that it was easy to imagine a man being swept to his death from here; but three? Was there some tragic collision between new technology and ancient beliefs? Or was there a rational explanation? Identify one feature of sentence structure in lines 69–72 which is appropriate forthis story of mystery. My Mother (scatty and eccentric as ever) called us down for dinner. Not only had she cooked for my 30th birthday , alphabet spaghetti which spelled out ‘happy birthday’, but myself and my mature friends would enjoy a dessert of ice cream and jelly. Identify one feature of sentence structure and comment on how it effects the tone of the passage.

22. Answers (Frequent) use of (unanswered) questions. Parenthesis – adds a humorous tone.