Close Reading Learning the Basics A First Year Guide

Learning Intentions You are learning more about: The importance of taking your answer from the right place When to quote from the text and when to use your own words Why it is important to check how many marks are available.

READING the question! You are often asked to take your answer from a specific sentence or paragraph. Your answer MUST come from this area. It will be WRONG otherwise!!

READING the question! The number of marks gives you an idea of how much to write. For one mark, your answer should be brief. For higher-value questions, you need to write more.

READING the question! If you are asked to ‘name,’ ‘quote’ or ‘write down,’ you must copy / quote directly from the passage. You should not use your own words or change the passage’s words.

READING the question! If you are asked to ‘explain,’ ‘describe’ or ‘explain fully’ then you need to use your own words as far as possible. Copying will get you zero marks.

SUMMARY Take your answer from the correct place! When asked to ‘write down’ / ‘name’ / ‘quote’ you quote (copy) from the text. If asked to ‘explain,’ ‘describe’ or ‘explain fully’ you should use your own words as much as possible. Let the number of marks available help you decide how long your answer should be.

QUICK REVISION! What should you do if asked to ‘write down’ an answer? Why should you check which paragraph your answer must come from? What does ‘explain fully’ mean? Why should you check how many marks the question is worth?

READING the question! If you are asked to ‘quote,’ ‘write down,’ ‘find’ or ‘name’ then you should just lift your answer straight from the passage. DO NOT USE YOUR OWN WORDS!!