Close Reading

Understanding Questions

Using Your Own Words

Learning Intentions

• To learn how to use synonyms and rephrase things to answer understanding questions in close reading.

• To develop your vocabulary skills

Success Criteria

You will demonstrate that you have learned the lesson intention by:

• Using appropriate synonyms• Rephrase sentences keeping the original

meaning.

The code:

U Understanding (What?)

A Analysis (How?, Which technique?)

E Evaluation (How well?)

100 watts

Understanding

• These questions are designed to assess how well you understand the writer’s ideas.

• Understanding falls into 3 distinct categories:

1. Own Words2. Context3. Summarising a number of points

Using Your Own Words

• Understanding questions often specifically ask you to use your own words.

• Even when not specifically asked, you should try to use your own words as far as possible (unless asked to quote/refer to text etc.)

• People continue to lose marks for not explaining points/ideas in their own words.

Formula to Answer Own words Questions?

1. Find the part of the passage that contains the correct information you are looking for (and highlight it).

2. Read it over carefully and work out what the writer is saying.

3. Use synonyms to replace the key words. And/Or think of an entirely new way to

explain particular phrases.

Think of synonyms for the following words:

Weary – ridiculous -

voluntary -

Content -

• tired, exhausted, worn out

• absurd, crazy preposterous, ludicrous

• Optional, unforced, discretional, by choice

• satisfactory, happy,

It is important to rephrase sentences keeping the original meaning.

Try putting this into your own words – Remember use synonyms for some words

and rephrase some of the ideas

• During the summer vacation, a group of teenagers forced entry into the local primary school and took expensive items.

Extension - These examples are much harder but break them down and deal with one bit at a time – good luck!

• a) Senior health service staff are calling for a radical shake-up of hospital services and a rethink of waiting time targets as budget cuts bite.

b) The chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland has claimed that its efforts to combat cheap booze were derailed because the industry had learned from the big tobacco companies on how to influence decision-makers by minimising the dangers of the product.

Possible Answers (cont’d)2. Put the following phrases into your own words:

a) Senior health service staff are calling for a radical shake-up of hospital services and a rethink of waiting time target as budget cuts bite.

The top medical employees see the need for a dramatic improvement in hospital provision and a reconsideration of the goals they set with regards to the length of time patients have to wait as budget cuts begin to have a real impact.

Possible Answers (cont’d)2. Put the following phrases into your own words:

b) The chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland has claimed that its efforts to combat cheap booze were derailed because the industry had learned from the big tobacco companies on how to influence decision-makers by minimising the dangers of the product.

One of the head members of Alcohol Focus Scotland has declared that its attempts to fight inexpensive alcohol did not work because the alcohol companies had followed the major tobacco companies’ example and have learned how to effect those in power by making it seem like the product wasn’t really as harmful as it was.

Learning Intentions

• Learn to work out the meaning of words from the context.

• To develop our vocabulary skills

Success Criteria

• Give an accurate definition of the words in the examples

• Give a suitable explanation of how the words round about the word you are being asked about help you to know the meaning of that word.

Context Questions:

• There are times when we come across words and we do not know what they mean.

• When this happens we try to work out what they mean from their context (i.e. the words around them)

• Sometimes Close Reading Questions ask you to do this and you have to show how you do it (Show how your brain works it out)

Context Question Formula

1. Give the meaning of the word/phrase:(“word/phrase” means ___________)2. Find a quotation from the passage that

helps you arrive at the meaning of the word/phrase and write it down.

3. Explain how the quotation helps you understand the meaning of the word/phrase.

What do you think the underlined words mean?

1.) Immediately after the skiing accident, she was sitting up talking but her condition deteriorated rapidly and she slipped into a coma.

2) The student did extensive research into the subject; he looked at over fifty websites, read at least thirty articles and also read seven books on it.

Dangers of Skiing

How do you work out the meaning of “deteriorated” from the context?

1) Immediately after the skiing accident, she was sitting up talking but her condition deteriorated rapidly and she slipped into a coma.

Formula:1. (“word/phrase” means ___________)2. Quotation 3. Explain how the quotation helps you understand

the meaning of the word/phrase.

A Suitable Answer

1. “Deteriorated” means to go downhill or become worse

2. “sitting up talking” and “slipped into a coma”

3. help us to understand that things have got worse because if you are sitting up and talking you seem okay and are awake whereas if you are in a coma you are seriously ill and cannot wake up.

How do you work out the meaning of “extensive ” from the context?

2) The student did extensive research into the subject; he looked at over fifty websites, read at least thirty articles and also read seven books on it.

Formula:1. (“word/phrase” means ___________)2. Quotation 3. Explain how the quotation helps you understand the

meaning of the word/phrase.

A Suitable Answer.

1. “extensive” means covering a large area.2. The phrases “over fifty websites”, “thirty

articles” and “seven books”3. tell us he read a vast amount of material

linked to the subject and we realise his research covered a large area.

Some examples to try• A) The boy was very conscientious; he tried his

best, remained focussed at all times and completed all his tasks

• B) It is essential that you spend time planning your essay and making sure it answers the questions. Otherwise you won’t pass.

• C) The girl seemed familiar to him – he couldn’t remember her name or where he knew her from but he was certain he’d seen that beautiful smile and those laughing eyes before.

A) The boy was very conscientious; he tried his best, remained focussed at all times and completed all his tasks

1. Conscientious means to concentrate fully and apply yourself to what you are asked to do.

2. The words “tried his best” and “remained focussed at all times” helps me to understand this because

3. “tried his best” suggests that he was constantly putting in maximum effort.

“remained focussed at all times” suggests that he is concentrating throughout

B) It is essential that you spend time planning your essay and making sure it answers the questions. Otherwise you

won’t pass.1. Essential means crucial/vital/extremely

important/extremely necessary2. “Otherwise you won’t pass” 3. shows that you must focus on this skill/aspect

the most or the consequences will be severe. “making sure” also helps us to realise that if

something is essential it is something that needs to be done.

C - The girl seemed familiar to him – he couldn’t remember her name or where he knew her from but he was

certain he’d seen that beautiful smile and those laughing eyes before.

1. Familiar means faintly vaguely recognisable.2. “seemed” 3. suggests that the person didn’t know for sure

but thought they did and “couldn’t remember her name but knew her from somewhere”

shows that the person doesn’t have total confidence in their memory of the girl but he remembers some things.

Starter – Prior Learning Recap

• How many synonyms can you think of for the following words:

• Cut• Group (of people)

Learning Intentions

• Learn about connotations of words• Learn how to set out answers to close

reading word choice questions

Success Criteria

• Explain connotations of certain words• Set out word choice answers using

quotation and suggestion formula.

Intermediate Close Reading Skills

Analysis Questions

Analysis Questions

• Word Choice• Imagery • Sentence Structure• Tone

Close Reading SkillsWord Choice

You are being asked why a writer has chosen a particular word or phrase rather than another with a

similar meaning.

Formula for Answering Word Choice Questions

1. Find the relevant word from the passage (usually you will be told this) and write it down.

2. Then after this write down what suggestions or associations (connotations) there are for this particular word.

TASK: What are the connotations of the following pictures - Make a list of all the connotations and associations you can think of for each image.

A

ED

CB

A: Barbie Doll

B: Hamburger

C: The Statue of Liberty

D: Bus

E: Nike Swoosh

Cultural Differences

• How we read a sign depends on our culture:

EXAMPLE: In Britain, we associate the colour white with innocence, purity, weddings

In China, white is the colour of mourning and is worn at funerals