Understanding. National 5 and Higher: Question Guide. Own words. Context. Types of question

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1 National 5 and Higher: Guide Types of question Own words Other wordings: Identify Summarise Explain How to answer Show you understand the meaning by explaining the writer s ideas in your own words. No examples or supporting detail No language analysis Understanding Do not try to translate word for word. Your answer should cover ALL lines the question specifies. Example The march was in protest at a government edict making the Afrikaans language compulsory in schools. From January 1976, half of all subjects were to be taught in it, including ones in which difficulties of translation were often an issue. Explain in your own words what the marchers were objecting to. 2 marks The answer has to show that the candidate really knows what words like protest, edict and compulsory mean. They were objecting to a new government decree stating that from January 1976 onwards teaching in the Afrikaans language would be required. Context Asks you to explain how you got to the meaning of a word / phrase from the words around it. give the meaning quote from the context the words and phrases that helps you get the meaning. Look for: synonyms / antonyms examples of patterns in the sentence, e.g. pairs of The audience became increasingly restless. His verbosity had reduced many of them to looking at their watches as he continued with anecdote after anecdote. Explain how the context helps you to you arrive at the meaning of the word verbosity. 2 Marks

2 Linking opposites punctuation, e.g. parenthesis / colon / dash might introduce / contains an explanation words within words root words, prefixes, suffixes Explain how the quote gave you the meaning. A link question will ask you to show how a sentence provides a link between two ideas. You should answer this in four stages: QUOTE the words which link backwards EXPLAIN what they link back to QUOTE the words that link forwards EXPLAIN what they link forwards to Verbosity means talking excessively. We can tell this because the audience are restless and reduced to looking at their watches meaning they are bored by this action. It also says anecdote after anecdote suggesting there were too many of them. The First Emperor's imprint on the lives of the inhabitants of his farflung kingdoms was seen further. He unified the script, demanding that all states write the pictographs of ancient Chinese in the same way. So, although the words might be pronounced differently in different parts of the empire, once they were written down everyone who could read could understand each other, a particular advantage for traders. But for the First Emperor, establishing complete control over his empire was not enough. He wanted to rule forever. If he couldn't have immortality in this world, the next best thing would be to rule in the nether world. We knew about his tomb mound because the ancient sources referred to it, and it has always been there. Explain how the sentence But for the First Emperor, establishing complete control over his empire was not enough works as a link between paragraphs at this point. 2 Marks establishing complete control over his empire refers back to the absolute authority the emperor had and was not enough introduces the next idea of his attempt to have control even after death.

3 Analysis Word choice Contrast Imagery Quote individual words and comment on their connotations (what the word makes you think of) It is helpful to think of where we might normally hear the word used. This means opposite, roughly speaking. explain what the contrast is quote and explain to show each side of the contrast. If you only show one side you earn no marks! This means simile, metaphor, personification and nothing else explain the characteristics of the literal root They race towards a rubbish truck as it empties its load at a vast landfill on the edge of the city, hauling away bin liners that overflow with household waste. Their hands are black with dirt and their faces are hidden by headscarves that protect them from the high sun. An estimated 500 gancheros (recyclers) work at Cateura on the outskirts of Asunción, where 1.5 tonnes of rubbish are deposited daily, separating plastic and aluminium that they sell on for as little as 15p a bag. Among the mounds of refuse, however, are used oven trays and paint pots. Cast aside by the 2 million residents of the capital of Paraguay, they are nonetheless highly valued by Nicolás Gómez, who picks them out to make violins, guitars and cellos. a) Explain how the writer s word choice in paragraph one emphasises how much refuse there is. 2 marks vast indicates the enormous scale of the landfill site which implies there is a huge quantity of refuse. mounds connotes that the heaps of rubbish are very high and wide because there is so much of it. Britain is not definitely not overwhelmed by a tidal wave of immigrants.

4 explain the characteristics it shares with the object it is describing explain what, therefore, the writer is trying to show. Use the words just as so A.is this suggests. : Show how the imagery makes their attitude clear. A tidal wave is a huge, powerful, destructive body of water. This suggests that some believe the country is over-run with a large number of immigrants who rush into Britain to the detriment of our country. The writer is very opposed to this view. Sentence structure Language This means how the sentence is put together. This is one of the most difficult types of questions, as there are so many options. identify a feature of sentence structure in a specified sentence (i.e. quote or refer to line numbers) comment on the effect features include: short / minor sentences use of rhetorical question / exclamation use of parenthesis use of lists, climax, anticlimax use of antithesis (balanced structure containing contrasting ideas often but not always joined with a semicolon) repetition of patterns To merely identify the feature will gain no marks at Higher Language is very general and applies to any technique. identify any of the techniques listed above (or any other writing technique) answer the question as you would of it asks about that technique. The easiest thing to comment on is usually word choice. Lucy is getting ready for a special occasion that so far has cost about 500 (hair, evening dress, shoes, clutch bag, nails, jewellery, spraytan, limousine hire). Comment on one aspect of the sentence structure which helps to convey the importance of the event to Lucy. 2 marks The list of all the increasingly expensive things that were deemed necessary for the prom indicates the sheer preparation and expense involved thus showing it was vastly important to Lucy.

5 Tone Effectiveness of a Conclusion To understand tone, you need to understand the author s attitude to the subject. identify the tone quote individual words and comment on their connotations / identify another technique and explain its function A conclusion sums up the passage. You can answer this question by: * saying how well the writer rounds off the ideas of the passage. * Commenting on a technique used to round off, e.g. analogy, rhetorical question, quotation, illustration, imagery etc (i.e. the style) Evaluation