S4 Study Support Pack
Reading & Writing
This pack has been designed with the aim of helping you as much as possible in your revision prior to the English exam. The most common areas have been covered; most of this should just be going over familiar ground now. You will find a mixture of items:
· Information Sheets
· Focused language activities
· Mini Close Reading activities
These do not have to be tackled in any order.
Most of the Information and activities are designed to help with general language skills. This knowledge can then be used to help with the Close Reading task as well as the Writing task.
Close Reading
There are a variety of questions that you will be asked in the exam.
Marking
They will all follow the pattern of
[2 1 0] the markers are looking for two pieces of information here worth
one mark each
or
[2 0] one piece of information is needed here, worth two marks
TIP: Don’t worry too much about sentences – just put down the information they want.
Types of questions
You could be asked to identify or comment upon any of the following areas.
PUNCTUATION / . , : - ; ? ! be aware of the job these do- the dash can be used in parenthesis; or to signal an explanation is to follow a statement
- hyphen (e.g. half-and-half)
…. = ellipses to show that there is missing information
( ) or - - = parenthesis (extra information which appears within the dashes or brackets)
STRUCTURE / SENTENCE Long slows the pace down with lots of detail
Adds to tension or suspense
or Short speeds the pace up
PARAGRAPH Long think about the effect a short paragraph has amongst
Or Short much longer one.
LANGUAGE / MEANING & or CONTEXT you may be asked to say what a word means
AND how the context of the passage helped you to arrive at
the meaning
SIMILAR WORD show you understand the meaning of a word by mentioning a similar word
EFFECT analysis – comment on WHY you think the author chose this word over another
SLANG/ DIALECT/ ACCENT be aware of these & how their effect in the passage
IDEAS / UNDERSTANDING straightforward detail showing you’ve understood a main point
HOW ideas are conveyed this will call for a bit of analysis on your part. Consider
commenting on the language used to put across an idea.
FIGURES OF SPEECH / METAPHOR this is a comparison. It works on the assumption that there are similarities
between the things being mentioned. One thing is said to be another.
e.g. He was a tornado blasting his way through the opposing team
SIMILE a comparison is being made between two different things – one thing is said to be
similar to another. The words ‘like’ and ‘as’ are used to introduce it.
e.g. His thumb was he size of a golf ball after he hit it with the hammer.
TONE / IDENTIFY you may be asked to say what tone (attitude) is being used
HOW you know comment on language used to convey this
IMPRESSIONS / You may be asked to EVALUATE or comment on the EFFECTIVENESS of a word, image, structure etc.
Do not be vague - ‘it really helped me get a clear idea of what the author was trying to say’ – this gives no information. Be specific. What was it about the word choice that as helpful; how did the structure of the sentence help you understand the point being made?
ENDING / QUESTIONS, ANECDOTES or SHORT PRAGRAPHS
You may be asked to comment on why the author chose to end the passage this way. Effectiveness?
Information Sheet One
Structure of paragraphs
In some circumstances, a paragraph can consist of only two or three sentences. They follow a common pattern –
The topic sentence is often the first sentence in a paragraph. However, it can also be the last sentence in the paragraph. This can add variety for the reader and creates suspense. It can also seem convincing by ‘building up’ supporting details.
Read the paragraph below – the sentence ‘Autumn is my favourite season’ could be placed either first or last in the paragraph. Read it and decide which position you prefer for this sentence.
1. Autumn is my favourite season. Winter has bright moments but weeks of wetness. With spring comes mud and rain as well as sunshine; Summer sometimes bores with one long hot day after another. Autumn is a welcome relief with crisp days and cool nights.
2. Winter has bright moments but weeks of wetness. With spring comes mud and rain as well as sunshine; Summer sometimes bores with one long hot day after another. Autumn is a welcome relief with crisp days and cool nights. Autumn is my favourite season.
Information Sheet Two
Tone
Tone is a term we are familiar with in connection with someone’s voice. In a written text, we have to rely on the words used to work out the tone. We judge whether a piece is sarcastic or serious or humorous by what is actually written. It is not always straightforward; in speech, we can use a quiet voice and tone but still be angry.
When reading a passage, try to ‘hear’ the voice of the author. Try answering these questions
is the writer sympathetic or unsympathetic towards the subject?
Is s/he being serious or comic?
Is s/he being formal or informal?
Is s/he being emotional or restrained?
Is s/he being straightforward or tongue-in-cheek?
If we can answer these questions then the voice of the writer of the tone can be heard.
The list below could be used to describe the tone of a passage :
Comic, informal, serious, chatty, formal, emotional, grand, dignified, tense, urgent, serious, ironic, sarcastic, cynical…
Information Sheet Three
Linking Words
We use linking words or connectives to establish relationships between paragraphs and between sentences.
Consider the following sentences.
The teacher punished the boy. The boy would remember his homework in future.
We can link the sentences as follows.
The teacher punished the boy so that he would remember his homework in the future.
The link is one of PURPOSE – one thing is done so that something else will happen (or not happen). More examples could be …
He left home early so that he would not miss the train.
She remained indoors all day in order to avoid meeting him.
There are a number of ways that sentences may be linked or connected together. Some of these are mentioned below.
To Signal time
Early that morning
Later on
Once
To shift attention
Meanwhile
At the very next moment
To create suspense
Suddenly
Without warning
Other connectives
And nevertheless then
But furthermore yet
Whereas moreover because
If consequently when
As notwithstanding while
Since nonetheless after
For meanwhile whatever
So henceforward although
Besides however
alternatively
Information Sheet Four
Word Choice
When we’re dealing with words it is comforting to think that each word has a definite meaning. We can look up a word in the dictionary and the meaning is there – ‘fixed’, so to speak. BUT words are slippery and language is always changing.
Denotation means the factual definition of a word. Looking up the dictionary provides the reader with the denotation of ‘fire’, for example.
Fire: the state of combustion in which material burns and produces heat.
Words however, always have associations attached to them. These associations or attitudes are called connotations. Writers often use words full of connotation to show their own attitude to a subject or to evoke a response in the reader.
The word ‘fire’, for example, might have the following connotations:
red anger
smoke
FIRE heat
flame danger
fear
Everyone has personal feelings and experiences so that a word can have very different connotations depending on the individual. Because of this, writers have to be very careful when choosing which word to include – it has to be the right word, the one that best fits their meaning.
For instance, journalists may be reporting the same facts but will choose their words carefully to show their own attitudes or opinions. Look at the differences between the sentences below:
A serious fire broke out yesterday in Homewood Hospital, injuring two young patients.
Homewood Hospital became a tragic inferno yesterday, maiming two tiny waifs.
The author’s feelings or attitude to the subject are more clearly displayed in the second sentence because of the word choice.
This can happen with any topic. Think of the number of words that mean to ask :
Demand, interrogate, enquire, grill, question, appeal, plea, beg, entreat, request
A writer would have to be careful which one was chosen because many of these words carry a positive or a negative association. Look at the list below :
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
up to date newfangled
brave foolhardy
determined stubborn
firm obstinate
slim skinny
traditional old-fashioned
Word choice is thus very important in conveying meaning and attitudes. Look at the description of Miss Murdstone below - Charles Dickens shows how grim her character is just by careful word choice.
It was Miss Murdstone who was arrived, and a gloomy-looking lady she was; dark, like her brother, who she greatly resembled in face and voice; and with very heavy eyebrows, nearly meeting over her large nose … She brought with her two uncompromising hard black boxes, with her initials on he lid in hard brass nails. When she paid the coachman she took her money out of a hard steel purse, and she kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite.
From David Copperfield
Compare the description of Miss Murdstone with Mrs Forster in the passage below. It is an extract from Things As They Are by V. S. Pritchett.
Mrs Forster’s head became fixed and still. She gazed mistily at Margaret and swayed. She
finished her drink and steadied herself by looking into the bottom of her glass and waited for
two more drops to come. Then she raised her small chin and trembled. She held a cigarette at
the end of her thumb and her finger as if it were a stick of crayon and she were writing a
message in blue on the air. Her eyes closed sleepily, her lips sucked, pouted and two tears
rolled down her cheeks. She opened her large handbag and from the mess of letters, bills,
money, keys, purse and powder inside, she took a small handkerchief and dabbed her eyes.
Certain words are important in conveying a sense of what Mrs Forster is like. As a reader, there are certain conclusions that could be reached.
she is staring but her eyes are watery (tears?) = ‘gazed mistily’
she is drunk = ‘swayed’ (she cant stand straight)
‘finished her drink’
‘steadied herself by looking into the bottom of the glass’ (trying not to sway)
‘two more drops..’ (waiting for the dregs from the glass – desperate?)
she is upset = ‘trembled’, ‘two tears rolled down her cheeks’
she is messy = ‘the mess of letters…’ (she has a lot in the bag)
Certain words are interesting
‘pouted’ = is she huffy? Or just upset?
‘dabbed her eyes’ = this makes me think that her earlier tears may be for show since she is more concerned about her makeup – she ‘dabs’ away the tears so as not to smudge it, rather than just ‘wiping’ or ‘mopping’ the tears away. This idea is perhaps reinforced by the fact that only two tears roll down her face (she is not in ‘floods of tears’).
Information Sheet Five
Formal and Informal Language
Informal language might be found in a note to the milkman, a letter to a friend, a popular newspaper. It might contain some of the following features :
abbreviations such as we’ll or isn’t short, simple sentences
slang phrases clichés
dialect or colloquial language
Formal language might be found in a quality newspaper, a letter from a bank manager or a text book. It might include some of the following features :
complex sentences no abbreviations
no slang correct grammar
a wide range of complex vocabulary (relating to the subject of the writing)
Information Sheet Six
Words as signposts
It is important to be aware of the different ways in which words can be used.
Be aware of this when reading the Close Reading passage – it may help you explain what the writer is doing or your reaction to the point being made. The list may also help you use words correctly in your own writing.
ADDITION / SEQUENCE / EMPHASIS / CAUSE & EFFECTAnd / Initially / Above all / Consequently
Also / Firstly / In particular / Thus
Further (more) / Then / Indeed / So
In addition / So far / In fact / Hence
Again / After(wards) / Specifically / As a result
And then / At last / finally / Because / as
What is more / Once / Therefore
Moreover / Secondly / thirdly… / Accordingly
As well as / Next / subsequently / Since
Meanwhile / Until
Eventually / Whenever
SUMMARY / ILLUSTRATION / COMPARISON / CONTRAST
In brief / For example / Equally / But
On the whole / For instance / Similarly / However
Overall / Such as / Compared with / Nevertheless
To sum up / As revealed by … / In the same way / Alternatively
Thus / Likewise / Yet
To show that / As with / Despite this
PERSUASION / RESTRICTION / OPINION / On the contrary..
Of course / Only / It would seem / On the other hand
Naturally / Unless / One might consider / Whereas
Obviously / Except for / One might argue/ suggest/ imagine/ deduce / Instead
Clearly / One might infer / Although
Surely / Otherwise
Certainly / Apart from
Activity One
Connotations
Charge of the Light Brigade
A report by Russell
At 10 minutes past eleven, our light cavalry brigade advanced. The flight was marked by instant gaps in our ranks, by dead men and horses, by steeds flying wounded or riderless across the plain. In diminished ranks, with a halo of steel above their heads, and with a cheer that was many a noble fellow’s death cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries. But where they were lost from view, the plain was strewn with their bodies. Through the clouds of smoke, we could see their sabres flashing as they rode between the guns cutting down the gunners as they stood. At 35 minutes past eleven, not a British soldier except the dead and the dying, was left in front of the Muscovite guns.