Transcript Intermediate Close Reading

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?)
100 watts
A Analysis (How?, Which technique?)
E Evaluation (How well?)
Understanding
•
These questions are designed to assess
how well you understand the writer’s
ideas.
• Understanding falls into 3 distinct
categories:
1. Own Words
2. Context
3. 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 decisionmakers 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 necessary
2. “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 Skills
Word 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
B
C
E
D
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