Enhancing Reading Comprehension and Analysis Skills

Higher RUAE
Reading for Understanding,
Analysis and Evaluation
The Exam
Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Total marks: 30
2 passages
1
st
 passage + analysis questions = 25 marks
Compare 1
st
 and 2
nd
 passage (areas of
agreements and/or disagreements) = 5
marks
Use your checklist!
Revision Techniques
Put every term and definition onto a
flashcard AS YOU GO
Read broadsheet newspaper articles and
annotate them
Use old past papers wisely
Speak to me if you are unsure about any
technique
Use your checklist to reflect on
progress
And Remember…
All techniques found in RUAE can be
applied to your own writing.
The more you use a linking sentence or try
to think of relevant word choice, the more
you will be able to identify and analyse
these techniques.
The more comfortable you are in analysing
the imagery of a poem for critical reading,
the more confident you will be in analysing
unseen metaphors in RUAE
Understanding
Most mistakes made here
Practise is key!
Hence –
Term 1 – to show understanding of main ideas of
each writer; to highlight any unknown vocabulary
and to highlight as many techniques as possible
Term 2 – to show understanding of ideas and to
analyse techniques that have been learned in RUAE
or through analysis of class texts
Term 3 – to show understanding of all techniques,
including tone created and how tone is created. To
also compare ideas from different writers on same
subject.
Show Understanding
Own words
Bullet points
One point per mark
Includes:
Summarise points made
Show understanding of word from context
Show how sentence performs linking
function
Example:
Thinking of Grandpa now, I recall the
clouds of pungent smoke that he puffed
from his favourite briar, his small shrewd
eyes, still very blue, and the gleaming
dome rising from fleecy tufts of white
hair
Question – What three characteristics
of Grandpa does the author remember?
  
3 marks
Answer and Explanation
She remembers her grandfather smoked a strong-
smelling pipe. He also had intelligent blue eyes and a
bald head with a little fluffy white hair.
Explanation / Method
Understanding of ‘briar’ – shown by using the word
‘pipe’
Metaphor ‘gleaming dome’ – simplified to bald head
Understanding of ‘shrewd’ – shown by using the
word ‘intelligent’
‘Grandpa’ is colloquial – more formal term
‘Grandfather’ is used
‘Eyes’ is a common word, no obvious alternatives
Understanding Question
 
Read lines 1 – 7
 
Explain in your own words why the writer seems
surprised that there is so much coverage of the
“countryside debate”.
2 marks
 
Rural Mania
 
The “countryside debate” has rarely been out of the news in Britain in recent years.
Reading the newspapers, watching television, listening to the radio, entering a
bookshop, one could be forgiven for thinking that we still live in small peasant
communities dependent upon the minutest shift in agricultural policy. Sometimes it
has seemed almost as if we were still in the early nineteenth century when we relied
on the countryside to survive, so extensive have been the debates, so fierce the
passions aroused.
Answer
“one could be forgiven for thinking that we still live in small peasant communities
dependent upon the minutest shift in agricultural policy.”
Idea that we are still a rural society (1) affected by
farming laws (1)
 
 
“it has seemed almost as if we were still in the early nineteenth century when we
relied on the countryside to survive”
Idea that we are still living in the past (1) when we
were more rurally dependent (1)
Understanding Question
Read lines 21 – 29
 
Referring to lines 25 – 29, explain in your own words what the
writer believes to be a ‘particularly worrying aspect of the new
rural mania’ (line 23).
 
It might be thought—indeed, it is widely assumed—that it must be good for the
countryside to be returned to the central position it enjoyed in British life long ago.
Yet there is a particularly worrying aspect of the new rural mania that suggests it
might finally do the countryside more harm than good.
  
This is the identification, in the current clamour, of the countryside in general
and the landscape in particular with the past—the insistence on the part of those who
claim to have the best intentions of ruralism at heart that their aim is to protect what
they glibly refer to as “our heritage”. This wildly over-used term is seriously
misleading, not least because nobody appears ever to have asked what it means.
Answer
Any of the following ideas:
That rural features are the only way of understanding
our history
Desire to preserve what is perceived as “our heritage”
Difficulty in defining what is meant by the term “our
heritage”
Now complete practice questions in 
Higher English
Language Skills
Remember…
You don’t have to translate the text – if
words are already very simple you shouldn’t
have to change them.
Read the passage as a whole – what is it
about? Do you get the jist?
How many marks is this question worth?
This should give you a clue as to how much
information is necessary.
Finally, never repeat phrases or
complicated words – these are the aspects
of the passage you are being tested on!
Understanding – context
questions
In “Context” questions, you will be asked to
explain the meaning of a word or phrase,
show how you deduced the meaning from
its position in the text by quoting clues in
the sentences surrounding the word. You
must explain how they help to confirm the
meaning.
It is usually possible and advisable to quote
two pieces of evidence.
Example
The rumour that Douglas was a prisoner was
The rumour that Douglas was a prisoner was
still 
still 
unsubstantiated.
unsubstantiated.
  There had been no
  There had been no
witnesses to his bailing out of the plane, and
witnesses to his bailing out of the plane, and
no solid information could be expected from
no solid information could be expected from
beyond enemy lines for weeks, perhaps even
beyond enemy lines for weeks, perhaps even
months.
months.
Show how the context helped you arrive at
the meaning of the word unsubstantiated.
Answer
The word “unsubstantiated” means
unconfirmed. The context conveys this:
“no witnesses” who could say for sure
the news was true, and the phrase “no
solid information” also repeats the idea
of there being no firm proof.
Example
Glasgow’s constant proclamation of its present success story is
justified on the basis that it benefits the city: confidence will
breed confidence, tourists will visit, businesses will relocate and
students will enrol. But, despite the gains this approach has
brought for Glasgow and cities like it, there are signs that the
wind is starting to come out of the sails. What felt radical when
Dublin, Barcelona and Glasgow embarked on the city makeover
path in the late 1980s and early 1990s, now feels derivative and
is delivering diminishing returns. When every city has
commissioned a celebrity architect and pedestrianised a cultural
quarter, distinctiveness is reduced to a formula.
 What does the writer mean by the words “radical” (line 13) and
“derivative” (line 14) in his discussion of city development?
Answer
Radical – this means original, drastic, different.
This is clear because the writer mentions cities
employing popular architects “celebrity architects”
and referring to the idea of the entire city being
made different “City makeover”.
Derivative – unoriginal, imitative, copied.
This is clear as the writer uses a list of other cities
who have used a similar approach to highlight the
extent that this has been done before.
Now complete the examples in the language skills
textbook.
Linking Sentence
Show how once sentence provides a ‘link’ in
the argument.
Quote the part of the sentence which
refers back to the earlier topic
Explain what this topic is
Quote the part of the sentence which
looks forward to the next topic
Explain what this topic is
And when I hear politicians—most of them comfortably off—trying to deny
enlightenment and pleasure to “working class” people, I reach for my
megaphone. Maybe Tommy Tattoo and his mates do use cheap flights to the
sunshine as an extension of their binge-drinking opportunities, but for
thousands of people whose parents would never have ventured beyond
Blackpool or Rothesay, air travel has been a social revelation.
 
So, before we all give the eco-lobby’s anti-flying agenda the
unconditional benefit of the doubt, can we just review their strategy as a
whole?
 
Remember, it is not just air travel that the green tax lobby is trying
to control: it is a restriction on any mobility. Clamping down on one form of
movement, as the glib reformers have discovered, simply creates intolerable
pressure on the others. Londoners, for example, had just become accustomed
to the idea that they would have to pay an £8 congestion charge to drive into
their own city when they discovered that the fares on commuter rail and
underground services had been hiked up with the intention of driving away
customers from the public transport system—now grossly overcrowded as a
result of people having been forced off the roads by the congestion charge.
Referring to specific words and/or phrases,
show how the sentence “So, before … as a
whole?” (lines 13-14) performs a linking
function in the writer’s argument.
Question
 
Answer
Four elements are required:
1 “eco-lobby’s anti-flying agenda” …
2 … refers back to the restrictive air
travel proposals discussed in the opening
two paragraphs;
3 “their strategy as a whole”/“can we just
review”
4 … leads into the discussion of the eco-
lobby’s proposed restrictions on travel as a
whole/on energy use in general
Example
William Shakespeare is easily the best-known
of our English writers.  Virtually every man in
the street can name some of his plays and his
characters, and many people can also recite
lines of his poetry by heart.  
However, despite
our familiarity with his work, we know
relatively little of the man himself
.  We do
not know when or why he became an actor, we
know nothing of his life in London, and almost
nothing of his personal concerns.
Question
Show how the third sentence acts as a link in
the argument.
Answer
The conjunction “however” which begins the
sentence suggests a contrasting idea to follow.
The phrase “our familiarity with his work” looks
back at the topic 
of how widely know
Shakespeare’s work is.
The second part of the sentence, “we know
relatively little of the man himself”, introduces
the new topic, 
namely the things that are not
known about Shakespeare, and a list of these
follows this “link” sentence
Now complete questions in language skills book.
Revision
Read the comments/opinion sections of
broadsheet newspapers
Pick out two paragraphs from each and
summarise the main points made by the
writer
Highlight a linking sentence and explain
how it performs a linking function
Find a word you don’t understand and
attempt to figure it out from the context
– then look it up to check that you were
right.
Figures of Speech
Figures of Speech
Imagery (simile, metaphor, personification
Imagery (simile, metaphor, personification
) sight
) sight
Alliteration
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia
Pun
Pun
Hyperbole
Hyperbole
Litotes (understatement)
Litotes (understatement)
Circumlocution
Circumlocution
Euphemism
Euphemism
Paradox
Paradox
Oxymoron
Oxymoron
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition
Neologism
Neologism
Archaism
Archaism
Cliché
Cliché
sound
Overstating
understating
talking in circles
Contrasts, opposites, contradictions
New, old and overused
Imagery
An imagery questions will require you to
focus on analysing metaphor, simile or
personification.
There are different styles of answering
this question, however we will focus on
using the ‘just as, so it is, this is
effective because’ method.
When I was 18 I travelled to Indonesia.  When
I returned home I held the inevitable slideshow
for long-suffering friends.
 
There was a shot of an old farmer.  He
was as sinewy as a Balinese carving.  He stands,
unsmiling, holding onto some willowy branches,
as if he has indeed been hewn from the tree.
“Don’t you mind taking pictures of people?”
asked a friend.  I thought it a strange question.
There was a perfect picture opportunity and I
made the most of it.
Just as
 a
 
“Balinese carving” features lots
of thin intricate lines,
 
so it is in the
passage
 that the farmer is slim with
sinews in his body that form lots of
intricate and patterned lines.  
This is
effective because
 
it highlights what an
attractive subject the farmer is for a
photograph as he looks like a work of art.
Given that writer is questioned about why
he takes such photographs, it strengthens
his argument that it was indeed a
“perfect picture opportunity”.
Near Bombay there are historic caves
which are a popular day-trip destination.
Climbing several hundred steps, you are
assaulted by trinket-sellers, café owners,
monkeys and, most bizarre of all, village
women with empty water-pots on their
heads.  They run ahead of you to pose
stiffly and insist that you take a picture.
Then they ask for money.  These women
know what tourists want: an “authentic”
look.  No plastic water containers, please.
Just as
 an “assault” involves attacking
someone
 
forcefully and perhaps
unexpectedly,
 
so it is in the passage
 that the
various village people unexpectedly surround
the writer, almost attacking him as they
approach and offer themselves as possible
subjects for a photograph.  
This is effective
because
 
it highlights how keen these people
are to have their photograph taken and also
gives a sense of how many there are.  The
negative connotations of “assault” underline
the writer’s point that this is not an
altogether pleasant experience.
I am inclined to see the shape of British
post-war history as having been not unlike
that of a gigantic wave.  It was a wave
which began to gather in the mid-Fifties,
as the world finally began to emerge from
the shadows cast by the Second World
War – a wave of expectation, of nervous
excitement, born of the growing sense
that somehow Britain, the West and
mankind were moving forward into a new
era, of a kind never known before.
Just as a ‘gigantic wave’ is a large, fast, overpowering
and frightening force that can destroy everything in
its path and change the landscape forever; so it is in
the passage that British post-war history is a period
of time when a lot of things changed forever, at a
frightening speed and with a powerful force that
moved into the next century. This is effective
because the comparison allows us to look back over
history and appreciate the sheer scale and speed in
which everything changed.
Above all in the late Sixties there were the
first signs of a growing weariness with the
relentless battering of change.  Around
1967, we suddenly began to hear a new set
of words – “conservation”, “the environment”,
“pollution”, “ecology” – expressing a growing
sense of horror at what our wonderful,
runaway technology was doing to our cities,
to our countryside and rivers and seas, to
other species, to the whole balance of
nature on the planet.  Somehow, the feeling
ran, things seemed to have got out of hand.
 
 
Having invented the modern city, 19th
century Britain promptly reeled back in
horror at what it had done. To the
Victorians exploring the cholera-ridden
back alleys of London’s East End, the city
was a hideous tumour sucking the life out
of the countryside and creating in its place
a vast polluted landscape of squalor,
disease and crime. In their eyes, the city
was a place to be feared, controlled and, if
possible, eliminated.
Figures of Speech - Sound
Figures of Speech - Sound
Alliteration: 
A series of words in which the same letter is
repeated, usually at the beginning of two or more words 
in order
to create a particular effect
.
He carried a box of books up to the storeroom on the top floor
of the building.
There are three words beginning with “b” here but all of them are
simple nouns and there does not appear to be any particular
literary effect intended. However, when the travel writer Patrick
Leigh-Fermor, describing a town in Holland, talks about the
clip-clop of clogs on the cobblestones
the alliteration is clearly deliberate: you can almost hear the
rhythmical sound of the wooden shoes on the street.
Figures of Speech - Sound
Figures of Speech - Sound
Onomatopoeia 
is a name given to words which imitate the sound
they are describing. Often used in conjunction with alliteration. As
in the above quotation, alliteration helps to create an onomatopoeic
effect. This is how D.H. Lawrence describes a snake drinking from
a water trough in his poem 
Snake:
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
Silently.
The alliteration of the letter “s” (also known as 
sibilance
) creates a
“hissing” effect appropriate to a description of a snake.
Figures of Speech - Sound
Figures of Speech - Sound
Pun:
 a play on words involving words which sound similar but have
different meanings. Usually the intended effect is humour
“Waiter!”
“Yes sir?”
“What’s this supposed to be?”
“It’s 
bean
 soup, sir.”
“I don’t care what it’s 
been
. What is it now?”
Figures of Speech
Figures of Speech
overstating, understating, talking in circles
overstating, understating, talking in circles
Hyperbole 
is a deliberate exaggeration in order to emphasise the
point being made – often for a humorous effect. The television
presenter Clive James often uses this technique with great skill.
He describes Marlon Brando as “Hollywood’s number one broody
outcast” and says that:
He could order a cheeseburger with fries and make it sound like
a challenge to the Establishment.
Extract from 
Fame in the Twentieth Century 
by Clive James
Figures of Speech
Figures of Speech
overstating, understating, talking in circles
overstating, understating, talking in circles
Litotes 
is the opposite of hyperbole: deliberate understatement. In
My Family and Other Animals
, Gerald Durrell writes of his mother:
On Monday morning I found her in the garage being pursued round
and round by an irate pelican which she was trying to feed with
sardines from a tin.
“I’m glad you’ve come dear,” she panted, “this pelican is a little
difficult to handle.”
As with so many other figures of speech, hyperbole and litotes are not
confined to writing but are often used in everyday conversation:
Isn’t there anything to drink? I’m dying of thirst! (Hyperbole)
The teacher wasn’t exactly overjoyed when I told her that I’d left
my work at home. (Litotes)
Figures of Speech
Figures of Speech
overstating, understating, talking in circles
overstating, understating, talking in circles
Euphemism: 
a way of making an unwelcome truth seem less harsh
or unpleasant by dressing it up in inoffensive language. Many
euphemisms are connected with the subject of death, e.g. saying
“passed away” 
rather than “died”.
Euphemisms are equally plentiful in the world of politics. One of
the most famous examples came from the 1950s Prime Minister,
Sir Anthony Eden, who once said 
“We are not at war with Egypt.
We are in a state of armed conflict.”
Figures of Speech 
Figures of Speech 
contrasts, opposites and contradictions
Paradox: 
a statement which appears to be a contradiction but
which, on closer examination, does contain a truth.
For example, 
to preserve the peace, prepare for war
This seems to be a contradiction, but it is based on the “deterrent”
idea that if one side builds up its military strength then the enemy
will not dare to attack, and thus peace will be maintained.
The oft-quoted comment by Oscar Wilde is an example of paradox:
“Nowadays people know the price of everything, and the value
of nothing.”
Figures of Speech 
Figures of Speech 
contrasts, opposites and contradictions
Oxymoron: 
a condensed form of paradox, in which two opposites
are place side by side to heighten the effect of contrast.
Edwin Muir’s poem 
The Horses
 ends with horses coming to a group
of human survivors of a nuclear war and voluntarily allowing
themselves to be used to plough the land: the poet describes their
action as:
 “free servitude”.
Figures of Speech 
Figures of Speech 
contrasts, opposites and contradictions
Juxtaposition 
simply means placing side by side. In the example of
oxymoron, it could be said that the two opposites are placed in
juxtaposition. A writer might deliberately place two sentences
beside each other to highlight the contrast between them.
Dustin Hoffman became famous in the sixties in 
The Graduate
playing a nervous young man who suspected that life in America
was stacked against him. In the seventies he became more
famous still as an even more nervous, slightly less young man,
who 
knew
 that life in America was stacked against him.
Figures of Speech 
Figures of Speech 
new, old and overused
Neologism: c
oining of a new word, usually to describe a recent
development or invention for which an appropriate term does not exist.
microwave oven, filofax, sky plus, video-conferencing
Archaism: 
denotes a word from the past which is no longer in current
use, the opposite of neologism.
Arm thyself lightly, mount to horse, keep thy land, aid thy men, hurtle
into the press. Thou needest not to strike another, neither to be
smitten down.
A writer may deliberately try to write in an archaic style in an attempt
to recapture the feel of a historical period.
Cliché: 
an expression which at one time might have been original but has
now become overused,
 “in this day and age” 
or 
“as white as snow” 
are clichés and should be
avoided like the plague”
A wee test
Next week there will be a wee class quiz
to test your knowledge of all the
language techniques you have learned so
far
If you do not know any, you will be
required to write out their definitions
five times each.
Word Choice
Once you feel confident in answering
questions relating to word choice, you
may find that this is one of the easiest
ways to pick up marks.
Main thing to always focus on –
CONNOTATIONS AND EFFECTS
Look out for…
Verbs
Adverbs
Adjectives
“Stress” words
will, should, have to, might, can’t, won’t
never, always, often, sometimes, maybe
Layout of answer
 
“Quotation of word”
Connotations
How it (does what the question asks)
or
 
The word “_____”
 
has connotations of…
This (use the words from the question)
by suggesting…
How does it make clear the change in
attitude to “living together outside
marriage”?
 
In the past, living together outside
marriage was seen by liberals as a
definite choice, as a rebellious stance,
whereas now it is usually seen as mere
laziness, as a pale imitation of the real
thing.
“rebellious”
Connotations: rule breaking, going against
authority
Makes clear the change in attitude by
suggesting that then people who didn’t get
married were breaking society’s rules of what
a couple should do.
 
The word “imitations” 
has connotations of
something being fake and not as good as the
real thing.  
This 
makes clear the change in
attitude
 by suggesting that people who don’t
get married now are seen as merely engaging
in a poor copy of marriage that is not as good
as the real thing.
How does it convey his strength of
feelings about what he had done?
 
When I think about it now, I cringe.  How
could I feel I had the right to control
someone, just to get a photo?  But it’s
something you see everywhere: the
abuse of the power of the camera.
“Quotation of word”
Connotations
How it conveys the strength of feelings
about what he had done
or
 
The word “_____”
 
has connotations of…
This conveys the strength of feelings
about what he had done by suggesting…
“cringe”
Connotations: embarrassment, shrinking away,
avoidance
Conveys the strength of feelings about what he had
done as he is clearly embarrassed about it and
therefore wouldn’t do it again.
or
 
The word “abuse”
 
has connotations of misuse or
hurting something.  
This conveys the strength of
feelings about what he had done by suggesting that
he has misused the power that a camera has over
others.  The strongly negative connotations of abuse
show that he feels very badly about his actions.
How does it convey his attitude to
photographers?
 
For photographers, the story of the
interaction with their subjects has a
different ending, and they scuttle away
clutching little plastic containers from
which to recreate a few frozen
moments in the easy comfort of First
World sitting rooms.  After the rounds
of polite congratulation, the bundle of
memories is then stuffed into a drawer
often never to be looked at again.
 
“Scuttle”
Has connotations of an unpleasant
creature running away quickly in a
sneaky, skitterish manner
Coveys attitude to photographers by
suggesting that what they do is
disgusting, unpleasant, sneaky and
cowardly.
 
“scuttle”
Connotations: moving quickly and sneakily like an
animal, comical image, embarrassment
Conveys his attitude as he is mocking these people,
seeing them as embarrassed by their actions so they
are moving away quickly and sneakily, as if not to be
noticed.
or
 
The word “clutching”
 
has connotations of holding
tightly to something in a possessive and almost
paranoid manner.  
This conveys his attitude by
suggesting that these people are pathetic because
they are holding so tightly to their camera spools, as
if they are terrified of losing them because they are
so important to them.
How is it used effectively to emphasise her point of view
that speaking “properly” should be encouraged?
 
Good speaking is a powerful force for social
mobility.  Children from articulate families who
talk together over meals have a huge advantage
from the start; the others, who rarely converse
with adults and are bored by school, either
communicate in grunts or adopt the comparative
richness of street slang, rap and patois.  You
may be communicating beautifully with your
friends, but you are excluded from all the best
chances if you can’t command your own language
to serve you properly.  And even if you do haul
yourself into a decent job you will never be
confident, never joyfully articulate.  Owning a
fine language should be a source of pride, not
shame.
Using the word choice sheet
You will be given a sheet with some word
choice examples
Complete this on your own and then
swap with a partner.
Discuss your answers, change if
necessary and then hand in.
Revision
Read a passage from either a past paper
or a newspaper.
Find and analyse both imagery and word
choice.
Sentence Structure
Commenting on sentence
structure
A very broad area of RUAE
You need to learn all sentence structure
techniques – no getting around them!
You need to be able to explain what
effect is created by these techniques
Answering a sentence
structure question
Sentence structure refers to how a
sentence is put together. This is often one
of the most difficult questions as there
are so many options.
Identify a feature of sentence structure
Quote the example
Comment on the effect.
Remember that the effect will depend on the
context of the passage!
What not to do
Don’t just identify a technique such as
parenthesis.
Explain what information is in the
parenthesis
Explain the effect putting this
information into parenthesis has
Sentence Structure
Sentence Types
Sentence Types
Command
Command
Question (and rhetorical questions –
Question (and rhetorical questions –
persuasion)
persuasion)
Exclamation
Exclamation
Statement
Statement
 minor sentence (no verb: creates impact and
 minor sentence (no verb: creates impact and
informality)
informality)
Paragraphing
When a writer wishes his writing
to have instant impact, or to be
particularly easy to understand, he
uses very short paragraphs.
A single sentence paragraph may
throw emphasis onto a statement
or idea. It may be used to slow the
action and create suspense.
revision
How do you answer a context question?
How do you answer a link question?
Can you remember the different types
of sentences?
What significance does a one-sentence
paragraph have?
Punctuation
Inverted commas
To indicate a title
For spoken words
For quotations
To mark off a foreign word from a sentence
To mark off a word or a phrase from a
sentence to show that the writer is distancing
himself from it
Colon
Introduces a quotation, a list, an explanation or
an expansion of the previous statement
punctuation
Semi-colon
To separate clauses in a list
To balance two similar or opposing ideas in a sentence
Dash
To add on an extra piece of information
To add an after-thought
To indicate the breaking off in a sentence
A series of dashes could be used informally to convey an
outpouring of ideas or emotions
Two dashes
Can mark off an extra, non-essential piece of information in
the middle of a sentence – a technique known as parenthesis.
This information can either be factual or the writer’s opinion.
Sentence patterns
List
Inversion
Repetition
Climax
Anti-climax
Antithesis
Parenthesis and listing
Parenthesis has been used by the writer to
include extra information/his opinion
about… This makes the reader think of...
The writer has listed all the ….. To show
that … This creates a …… (effect might be
cumulative e.g. to show that there is more
than what is there or to give the
impression of an endless amount of blah
blah blah)
inversion
The basic order for a sentence is subject verb
object
I love English
I ate the cake
The subject will come first, followed by the
words that tell us more about the subject (the
predicate)
He climbed higher and higher
However, occasionally the predicate comes
before the subject
Higher and higher he climbed
This technique, where the subject is delayed,
is known as inversion and can be used to alter
the emphasis in a sentence.
repetition
A writer may decide to repeat certain
words in order to achieve a particular
purpose. This purpose will depend on the
context of the passage.
Climax and anti-climax
Climax refers to placing a number of
items in ascending order, with the most
important being kept to the last
Anti-climax refers to when the author
builds up to something which does not in
fact come.
antithesis
Another way of arranging ideas within a
sentence is to balance opposites together
to create a contrast – this is called
antithesis.
E.g “My fellow Americans, ask not what
your country can do for you; ask what you
can do for your country.”
Antithesis can be used to state a point in a
memorable way; or it can be used to create
a humorous effect.
Long and Short Sentences
Long and Short Sentences
Long sentences: often formal, can build
Long sentences: often formal, can build
tension or build up an argument
tension or build up an argument
Short sentences: informal, used to
Short sentences: informal, used to
create drama or impact
create drama or impact
Revision Quiz
You will now be given a revision quiz that
will test your knowledge of all sentence
structure techniques – if you get any of
these wrong you will have to write out
their definitions five times.
Sentence Structure Steps
Sentence Structure Steps
Step One:  identify the aspect of
Step One:  identify the aspect of
sentence structure or punctuation
sentence structure or punctuation
Step Two: explain why it has been used,
Step Two: explain why it has been used,
linking this to the 
linking this to the 
content
content
 of the
 of the
passage
passage
Step Three: relate back to the question
Step Three: relate back to the question
Where most critics allege a dumbing down, I
see a progressive story: popular culture
steadily, but almost imperceptibly, making our
brains sharper as we soak in entertainment
usually dismissed as so much lowbrow fluff. I
hope to persuade you that increasingly the
non-literary popular culture is honing different
mental skills that are just as important as the
ones exercised by reading books.
Question:
Show how the writer’s use of language in lines 9-14
(“Where … books.”) emphasises the contrast between
his positive view of “other forms of culture” and the
negative view held by “most critics”.
The writer uses a colon in “I see a
progressive story:”
This is used to introduce a fuller
development of his argument of the
‘progressive story’
This emphasises his positive tone when
writing about other forms of culture.
 
The writer uses a balanced sentence
structure of “Where most critics allege a
dumbing down, I see a progressive story”
This contrast emphasises how positive he
views the idea of  ‘other forms of culture’
and how negative the critics view it.
This also makes the writer seem more sure
of his idea, and the critics less certain –
meaning that the reader will probably
agree with the writer’s argument.
Example Questions
Yet if you sweep away the apoplectic froth and the self-interested
posturing and look at the reality, the “threat to the countryside”
recedes dramatically. Yes, we do occupy a crowded little island. But
what makes it seem crowded is that 98 per cent of us live on 7 per
cent of the land. Britain is still overwhelmingly green. Just 11 per
cent of our nation is classified as urban.
Show how the writer’s sentence structure emphasises his view that
the threat to the countryside is much less serious than the English
middle classes suggest.
Answer
1. The writer positions “Yet” at the start of the opening sentence which
suggests a turning point in the argument
2. The writer uses contrast in the opening sentence of “sweep away”/“look at”.
This moves
argument forward.
3. The writer positions the conjunction “But” at start of 3rd sentence which
suggests a contradiction to 2nd sentence
4. The writer uses repetition of “seem crowded” following “crowded” to
emphasise 3
rd
 sentence’s contradiction
5. The writer uses short sentences at the end to drive home his point.
6. The writer positions “Just” at start of final sentence to emphasise how small
the statistic is.
Sentence Structure Question
Sentence Structure Question
Identify an aspect of sentence structure and
Identify an aspect of sentence structure and
explain what the writer achieves by using it
explain what the writer achieves by using it
Let every nation know, whether it
Let every nation know, whether it
wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay
wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay
any price, bear any burden, meet any
any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend, oppose any
hardship, support any friend, oppose any
foe to assure the survival and success
foe to assure the survival and success
of liberty.
of liberty.
Sentence Structure Answer
Sentence Structure Answer
Repetition of the expressions used in a list
Repetition of the expressions used in a list
format. The word ‘any is always preceded by a
format. The word ‘any is always preceded by a
verb and followed by noun. This adds
verb and followed by noun. This adds
momentum to the speech and helps it to sound
momentum to the speech and helps it to sound
convincing.
convincing.
A climax is used as the statements are placed
A climax is used as the statements are placed
in ascending order building to the most
in ascending order building to the most
important point about defending the rights of
important point about defending the rights of
the individuals in the country.
the individuals in the country.
Antithesis is used relating to the statements
Antithesis is used relating to the statements
of ‘support’ and ‘oppose’, and ‘friend’ and ‘foe’
of ‘support’ and ‘oppose’, and ‘friend’ and ‘foe’
to indicate how dedicated to the cause the
to indicate how dedicated to the cause the
speaker is.
speaker is.
Sentence Structure Question
Sentence Structure Question
 
 
Identify an aspect of sentence structure and
Identify an aspect of sentence structure and
explain what the writer achieves by using it
explain what the writer achieves by using it
The second and the third day passed,
The second and the third day passed,
and still my tormentor came not.  Once
and still my tormentor came not.  Once
again I breathed as a free man.  The
again I breathed as a free man.  The
monster, in terror, had fled the
monster, in terror, had fled the
premises for ever!  I should behold it no
premises for ever!  I should behold it no
more!  My happiness was supreme!
more!  My happiness was supreme!
Sentence Structure Answer
Sentence Structure Answer
Series of exclamations, aiming to show the
Series of exclamations, aiming to show the
relief that the speaker is feeling at having been
relief that the speaker is feeling at having been
left alone
left alone
Inversion is used to delay the revelation that
Inversion is used to delay the revelation that
the tormentor had not been back: ‘tormentor
the tormentor had not been back: ‘tormentor
came not’, thus emphasising the relief.
came not’, thus emphasising the relief.
Parenthesis is used ‘in terror’ showing that
Parenthesis is used ‘in terror’ showing that
actually the creature itself had left in a state
actually the creature itself had left in a state
that shows it would be unlikely for it to return.
that shows it would be unlikely for it to return.
Varieties of language
Jargon
A type of formal language which
includes technical terms relating to a
particular subject or occupation.
Rhetorical language
Usually used to put across a particular
stance as part of a dignified piece of
writing
Often used in persuasive speeches
Makes use of the rhetorical question (ie
the writer assumes you already agree
with what they have to say)
Dialect and slang
Types of informal language
Dialect refers to language spoken in a
particular area
E.g. Glaswegian, Galloway Irish, Caithness
etc
Slang refers to non-standard English.
E.g. words such as ‘innit’
Now do the task on pages 33 - 35
Language
Formal and informal language
Jargon
Rhetorical language
Dialect and slang
Literal and figurative language
Figures of speech
Contrasts, opposites and contradictions
These
techniques will
help you identify
tone – we will go
over this next
week!
Emotive language
Emotive language refers to particular
words and phrases that are used to stir
up the emotions of a reader.
2 17 year old males stole a phone from a 50 year
old woman
2 thugs ruthlessly mugged a grandmother
The writer might also use hyperbole,
repetition, exclamations and rhetorical
questions to make his language emotive.
Revision
Revise all types of language for another
wee quiz – remember if you get any
answers wrong you will be required to
write the correct answer out five times!
Tone
Tone does not relate directly to
meaning but rather to 
the way in which
something is said.  
It refers to a
particular attitude or feeling conveyed
by the writer.
In speech, the tone of voice used would
make the speaker’s feelings clear.  In
writing, however, you must look at the
word choice to find clues to the feeling
or attitudes of the author.
Tone Varieties
humorous
flippant
informal
 and 
conversational
friendly
effusive
Irony
tongue-in-cheek
satirical
serious
formal,
Ponderous
Emotive
Humorous Tone
If the writer is being light-hearted, or
humorous 
in a straightforward way,
shows the author finds his subject
amusing and he hopes his reader will too.
A light-hearted tone will often include
informal
 and 
conversational 
language,
(colloquialisms)
Flippant Tone (linked to
humour)
A 
flippant 
tone is where the author is
showing an irreverent attitude to
something normally taken seriously.
An example is to be found in Philip
Larkin’s poem 
Church Going, 
where the
poet enters a church and describes the
altar thus: “some brass and stuff, up at
the holy end.”
Here the use of colloquial and informal
expressions conveys his lack of respect.
Conversational Tone
A 
conversational
 tone describes a particularly
chatty, friendly 
tone, as if the writer is
confiding in a friend.
An example is the narrative tone in the
opening chapter of 
Sunset Song 
by Lewis
Grassic Gibbon, where the writer is gossiping
to his readers about his characters:
“Chae…wasn’t the quarrelsome kind except
when roused, so he was well-liked, though folk
laughed at him.  But God knows, who is it they
don’t laugh at?”
Effusive or Persuasive
Effusive
 tones are often filled with
enthusiasm and are frequently used in
advertising.
A list of gushing superlatives would be
an example of this.
Excessive or exaggerated praise
Ironic Tone
Irony 
is the name given to the figure of
speech where an author says the
opposite of what he really means.
This could be purely for humorous
effect, but there is often a serious
purpose behind irony.  An author’s
feelings can be expressed more
forcefully for being inverted in this
way.
Tongue-in-Cheek Tone
A 
tongue-in-cheek 
tone is a form of
irony: the writer will 
sound 
serious, but
there will be a sense of ridicule behind
this.
Euphemism 
is a common feature of this
tone.  An example might be the
expression “tired and emotional” to
mean “drunk” which the satirical
magazine 
Private Eye 
uses to avoid
lawsuits from the prominent people
whom it exposes.
Satirical Tone
A 
satirical 
tone is an extreme form of irony,
involving a writer being funny in a savage way:
he holds a subject up to ridicule in order to
attack it.
This is the tone adopted by George Orwell in
Animal Farm, 
for example, where he satirised
Russian Communists by comparing them to
pigs.  The satirist’s purpose is deeply serious
although on the surface he may appear light-
hearted.
Irony, Sarcasm and Satire
Irony
Verbal Irony
When someone says the opposite of what they
mean, usually to convey their attitude towards
the subject that they are speaking of.
Satire
The use of irony for critical purposes
Sarcasm
Irony used to mock, criticise harshly, or ridicule
someone
Irony – Identify the ironic phrases below
The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being
told) the most important Department under Government.  No public
business of any kind could possibly be done at any time, without the
acquiescence of the Circumlocution Office.  If another Gunpowder
Plot had been discovered half an hour before the lighting of the
match, nobody would have been justified in saving the parliament until
there had been half a score of boards, half a bushel of minutes,
several sacks of official memoranda, and a family-vault full of
ungrammatical correspondence, on the part of the Circumlocution
Office.
This glorious establishment had been early in the field, when the one
sublime principle involving the difficult art of governing a country, was
first distinctly revealed to statesmen.  It had been foremost to study
that bright revelation, and to carry its shining influence through the
whole of the official proceedings.  Whatever was required to be done,
the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public
departments in the art of perceiving – HOW NOT TO DO IT.
Through this delicate perception, through the tact with which it
invariably seized it, and through the genius with which it always acted
on it, the Circumlocution Office had risen to overtop all the public
departments…
Serious Tones
A 
serious 
tone is obviously used for
serious purposes, on solemn occasions: a
funeral speech, for example.
Look out for 
formal, or ponderous
phrases
 
Emotive Tones
 
An 
emotive
 tone is used for serious purposes.  It aims to
stir up emotions in the reader, by shocking, angering or
disturbing them by using words or expressions expressing
extreme emotions.
Example: sports journalist criticising the tension at a
Rangers/Celtic match:
Nowhere else on the planet do footballers perform in front
of vast crowds so full of bile, hatred and bigotry.  I have
yet to find another place on the planet where a sporting
occasion includes a ritual singing of some ditty celebrating a
distant battle which took place 307 years ago.
Here the writes uses 
repetition
, and 
hyperbole
: “on the
planet”; he uses words expressing extremes: “vast”, and
strong emotions: “bile, hatred, bigotry”.  He uses so called
“loaded” words: for example, “some ditty” implies a sense of
contempt.
Identify the ways the writer has used emotive language
Why Tonya the wicked witch is still running from her
past
She answers the door of her rented house like a
fugitive, her eyes nervously scanning the empty street.
Tonya Harding cannot disguise the fact that she is a
young woman on the run from a notorious past.
Her probation may have ended six months ago but she is
discovering that, although she recently fled her old
neighbourhood in Portland, Oregon, the scent of scandal
clings to her like cheap perfume.
Almost four years ago, Harding became the most
loathed and vilified sportswoman in the world when she
was implicated in the violent plot to cripple Nancy
Kerrigan, her American rival for Olympic figure skating
glory.  It was a crime motivated by monstrous greed and
an assault so cowardly that even now, with the next
Winter Olympics fast approaching, Americans turn
crimson with shame at the mention of her name.
Tonya Example Answers
‘wicked witch’ evokes hatred, alliteration adds
to the impact, and witch connotes a more than
human degree of evil.
‘like a fugitive’ , ‘nervously scanning’ and ‘on
the run’ create the impression of furtiveness
making the reader dislike Tonya. ‘Notorious
past’ hints at further wickedness.
‘the scent of scandal clings like cheap
perfume’ metaphor simile combination, gives
the impression that Tonya is common and low
class.
Tone Question Steps
Identify the tone
Quote words or phrases and punctuation
that helped you to identify the tone
Explain how these conveyed the tone
used by the author by referring to the
connotations of the words.
Comment on any figures of speech which
re-enforce the tone.
Tone Question 1: Identify the tone and
explain how the writer achieves this.
Hulk goes into action against the heavies, flinging them about in
slow motion.  Like Bionic Woman, Six Million Dollar Man and
Wonderwoman, Hulk does his action numbers at glacial speed.
Emitting slow roars of rage, Hulk runs very slowly towards the
enemy, who slowly attempt to make their escape.  But no matter
how slowly they run, Hulk runs more slowly.  Slowly he picks them
up, gradually bangs their heads together, and with a supreme burst
of lethargy throws them through the side of a building.
Hardly have the bricks floated to the ground before Hulk is
changing back into spindly David Banner, with a sad cello weeping on
the soundtrack.  One thinks of Frankenstein’s monster or the
Hunchback of Notre Dame.  One thinks of King Kong.  One thinks
one is being had.  Why can’t the soft twit cut the soul-searching
and just enjoy his ability to swell up and clobber the foe?  But
David is in quest of “a way to control the raging spirit that dwells
within him.”  Since the series could hardly continue if he finds it,
presumably he will be a long time on the trail.
Tone Answer 1
Tone is humorous throughout by mocking the
absurd techniques used in the TV show: slow
motion to represent action.
‘action numbers at 
glacial speed
’, ‘supreme
burst of lethargy
’ – employs a list of
oxymorons to emphasise the ridiculousness:
‘heavies’, ‘sad cello weeping on the sound track’,
mocking the clichés of the genre
‘why can’t the soft twit…’ Uses colloquialisms to
express his frustration at the silliness of the
plot
Contrast of his down to earth language: ‘clobber
the for’ with the pretentious programme
language: ‘in quest of the way to control the
raging spirit’
‘he will be a long time on trial’ - Ironic final
statement
Revision
Now revise all tones and their
definitions, as well as how to answer the
tone question.
You will be given a wee test – remember
that any incorrect answers will have to
be done again – 5 times!
The Final Question on two passages -
what will this question look like?
Consider the attitude displayed by each
writer. Identify 
key areas of agreement
and disagreement 
in their points of view.
You should support your answer by referring to
important ideas in the passages.
You may present your answer to this question
in continuous prose or in a series of developed
bullet points.
Or
 key areas of agreement
Or 
key areas of disagreement
Read the question properly
Agreement?
Disagreement?
Agreement 
and
 disagreement?
Agreement 
or
 disagreement?
5 marks
How many areas?
Between 4 and 5
You will get marks for correctly
identifying the key areas, and marks for
supporting your answers by referring to
the passage
Bullet point the key areas
How to get 5 marks
5 marks
identification of essential areas (4 or 5), with an intelligent use of
supporting evidence (quotations and explanations for each one)
4 marks
identification of essential areas, with sound use of supporting evidence
3 marks
identification of essential areas, with some supporting evidence
2 marks
identification of only one essential area with reasonable supporting evidence
1 mark
identification of only one essential area with minimal or no supporting
evidence
0 marks
failure to identify any essential area and/or complete misunderstanding of
the task
Rule of thumb: one key area of agreement and one key area of disagreement (if
the question asks you to look at both – otherwise two key areas of one or the
other) + reference to the passages = 3 marks
Example bullet point
One key agreement is…
For example, passage one stated that … “…”
and passage two suggested that… “…” From
these it is clear…
Another key agreement is…
However the writers disagree on … For the
writer of passage one states that …. And
this is clear when they say “…” yet the
writer of passage two disagrees and
suggests that … “…”
Look at your checklist
What are you confident with?
What are you not confident with?
Revision
Now you know all terms and definitions
that will be assessed in RUAE
Read two articles on the same subject
and FULLY annotate them (including
effects created)
Write down the five main ideas for each
writer
Explain where they agree/disagree
Give one, take one
Take two stickers – on one write down
what you feel good at and on the other
write down an area that you are unsure
about
Go around the room, find someone who is
good at the thing you are struggling with
and get them to explain it to you
Similarly, look for someone who is
struggling with what you are confident in
and share your knowledge
RUAE Techniques
You will each write down one term and
definition onto a flashcard (you will be told
which one)
Go around the room and ask someone else
to define that term/or steps for answering
a particular question
You can give them a hint, but if they still
don’t know then explain it to them
Once you have both shown you know what
the two terms mean – swap your cards
Repeat process with everyone in the class
Terms and question types
Context question
Linking question
Sentence structure
question
Imagery question
Tone question
Word choice question
Final question
Colon
Semi-colon
Dash
Inverted commas
Parenthesis
Inversion
Sentence types
Flippant tone
Irony
Satirical tone
Effusive tone
Jargon
Antithesis
Climax
Litotes
Pun
Minor sentence
Neologism
Oxymoron
Paradox
Class Revision notes
Working in pairs:
you will be given an area of RUAE and 1-2 A4
sheets of blank paper
Write down all your helpful hints and tips –
including an example from a past paper and
possibly acronyms or mind maps or anything
else you can think of
Be as neat as possible
Don’t write anything too near the margin
I will then take all of these pages and turn
them into a revision book for the class to
use before the exam.
Team Games tournament
You will need:
Groups of four
A RUAE question paper
A blown up version of the passages –
everyone must read this before we begin
A score sheet
Scissors (to cut out your score strip at the
end)
Close Reading Team Games
Tournament
Start in a team of 4 (where possible) and give yourself a
name – this is your 
home
 team.
Then move into new groups of four – there should be 
no
member of the same home team in a group
In your new groups, you will go round anti-clockwise, taking
turns to ask each other questions from the paper given to
you
Roles:
Reader – reads out a question
Recorder – writes down who is answering  on the score sheet
and whether they got the question right
Responder – answers the question
Rescuer  - allowed to give one clue to the responder
Once one question has been answered, switch roles
At the end of the tournament
Cut the score sheet into strips and take
back your strip to your home team
Count up how many questions were
answered, how many points they were
worth and how many points were won
Over 85% = chocolatey goodness for
the whole team
Less than 85% = nothing – even if one
member got every question right!
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Develop your reading comprehension and analysis skills by practicing techniques such as comparing passages, using flashcards for revision, and demonstrating understanding through bullet points. Apply these methods to analyze texts effectively, identify literary techniques, and extract key information. Strengthen your ability to evaluate and interpret written content through thoughtful reflection and practice.

  • Reading skills
  • Analysis techniques
  • Revision methods
  • Comprehension practice
  • Literary analysis

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  1. Higher RUAE Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation

  2. The Exam Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes Total marks: 30 2 passages 1stpassage + analysis questions = 25 marks Compare 1stand 2ndpassage (areas of agreements and/or disagreements) = 5 marks Use your checklist!

  3. Revision Techniques Put every term and definition onto a flashcard AS YOU GO Read broadsheet newspaper articles and annotate them Use old past papers wisely Speak to me if you are unsure about any technique Use your checklist to reflect on progress

  4. And Remember All techniques found in RUAE can be applied to your own writing. The more you use a linking sentence or try to think of relevant word choice, the more you will be able to identify and analyse these techniques. The more comfortable you are in analysing the imagery of a poem for critical reading, the more confident you will be in analysing unseen metaphors in RUAE

  5. Understanding Most mistakes made here Practise is key! Hence Term 1 to show understanding of main ideas of each writer; to highlight any unknown vocabulary and to highlight as many techniques as possible Term 2 to show understanding of ideas and to analyse techniques that have been learned in RUAE or through analysis of class texts Term 3 to show understanding of all techniques, including tone created and how tone is created. To also compare ideas from different writers on same subject.

  6. Show Understanding Own words Bullet points One point per mark Includes: Summarise points made Show understanding of word from context Show how sentence performs linking function

  7. Example: Thinking of Grandpa now, I recall the clouds of pungent smoke that he puffed from his favourite briar, his small shrewd eyes, still very blue, and the gleaming dome rising from fleecy tufts of white hair Question What three characteristics of Grandpa does the author remember? 3 marks

  8. Answer and Explanation She remembers her grandfather smoked a strong- smelling pipe. He also had intelligent blue eyes and a bald head with a little fluffy white hair. Explanation / Method Understanding of briar shown by using the word pipe Metaphor gleaming dome simplified to bald head Understanding of shrewd shown by using the word intelligent Grandpa is colloquial more formal term Grandfather is used Eyes is a common word, no obvious alternatives

  9. Understanding Question Read lines 1 7 Explain in your own words why the writer seems surprised that there is so much coverage of the countryside debate . 2 marks Rural Mania The countryside debate has rarely been out of the news in Britain in recent years. Reading the newspapers, watching television, listening to the radio, entering a bookshop, one could be forgiven for thinking that we still live in small peasant communities dependent upon the minutest shift in agricultural policy. Sometimes it has seemed almost as if we were still in the early nineteenth century when we relied on the countryside to survive, so extensive have been the debates, so fierce the passions aroused.

  10. Answer one could be forgiven for thinking that we still live in small peasant communities dependent upon the minutest shift in agricultural policy. Idea that we are still a rural society (1) affected by farming laws (1) it has seemed almost as if we were still in the early nineteenth century when we relied on the countryside to survive Idea that we are still living in the past (1) when we were more rurally dependent (1)

  11. Understanding Question Read lines 21 29 Referring to lines 25 29, explain in your own words what the writer believes to be a particularly worrying aspect of the new rural mania (line 23). It might be thought indeed, it is widely assumed that it must be good for the countryside to be returned to the central position it enjoyed in British life long ago. Yet there is a particularly worrying aspect of the new rural mania that suggests it might finally do the countryside more harm than good. This is the identification, in the current clamour, of the countryside in general and the landscape in particular with the past the insistence on the part of those who claim to have the best intentions of ruralism at heart that their aim is to protect what they glibly refer to as our heritage . This wildly over-used term is seriously misleading, not least because nobody appears ever to have asked what it means.

  12. Answer Any of the following ideas: That rural features are the only way of understanding our history Desire to preserve what is perceived as our heritage Difficulty in defining what is meant by the term our heritage Now complete practice questions in Higher English Language Skills

  13. Remember You don t have to translate the text if words are already very simple you shouldn t have to change them. Read the passage as a whole what is it about? Do you get the jist? How many marks is this question worth? This should give you a clue as to how much information is necessary. Finally, never repeat phrases or complicated words these are the aspects of the passage you are being tested on!

  14. Understanding context questions In Context questions, you will be asked to explain the meaning of a word or phrase, show how you deduced the meaning from its position in the text by quoting clues in the sentences surrounding the word. You must explain how they help to confirm the meaning. It is usually possible and advisable to quote two pieces of evidence.

  15. Example The rumour that Douglas was a prisoner was still unsubstantiated. There had been no witnesses to his bailing out of the plane, and no solid information could be expected from beyond enemy lines for weeks, perhaps even months. Show how the context helped you arrive at the meaning of the word unsubstantiated.

  16. Answer The word unsubstantiated means unconfirmed. The context conveys this: no witnesses who could say for sure the news was true, and the phrase no solid information also repeats the idea of there being no firm proof.

  17. Example Glasgow s constant proclamation of its present success story is justified on the basis that it benefits the city: confidence will breed confidence, tourists will visit, businesses will relocate and students will enrol. But, despite the gains this approach has brought for Glasgow and cities like it, there are signs that the wind is starting to come out of the sails. What felt radical when Dublin, Barcelona and Glasgow embarked on the city makeover path in the late 1980s and early 1990s, now feels derivative and is delivering diminishing returns. When every city has commissioned a celebrity architect and pedestrianised a cultural quarter, distinctiveness is reduced to a formula. What does the writer mean by the words radical (line 13) and derivative (line 14) in his discussion of city development?

  18. Answer Radical this means original, drastic, different. This is clear because the writer mentions cities employing popular architects celebrity architects and referring to the idea of the entire city being made different City makeover . Derivative unoriginal, imitative, copied. This is clear as the writer uses a list of other cities who have used a similar approach to highlight the extent that this has been done before. Now complete the examples in the language skills textbook.

  19. Linking Sentence Show how once sentence provides a link in the argument. Quote the part of the sentence which refers back to the earlier topic Explain what this topic is Quote the part of the sentence which looks forward to the next topic Explain what this topic is This formula will NEVER change!!!

  20. And when I hear politiciansmost of them comfortably offtrying to deny enlightenment and pleasure to working class people, I reach for my megaphone. Maybe Tommy Tattoo and his mates do use cheap flights to the sunshine as an extension of their binge-drinking opportunities, but for thousands of people whose parents would never have ventured beyond Blackpool or Rothesay, air travel has been a social revelation. So, before we all give the eco-lobby s anti-flying agenda the unconditional benefit of the doubt, can we just review their strategy as a whole? Remember, it is not just air travel that the green tax lobby is trying to control: it is a restriction on any mobility. Clamping down on one form of movement, as the glib reformers have discovered, simply creates intolerable pressure on the others. Londoners, for example, had just become accustomed to the idea that they would have to pay an 8 congestion charge to drive into their own city when they discovered that the fares on commuter rail and underground services had been hiked up with the intention of driving away customers from the public transport system now grossly overcrowded as a result of people having been forced off the roads by the congestion charge.

  21. Question Referring to specific words and/or phrases, show how the sentence So, before as a whole? (lines 13-14) performs a linking function in the writer s argument.

  22. Answer Four elements are required: 1 eco-lobby s anti-flying agenda 2 refers back to the restrictive air travel proposals discussed in the opening two paragraphs; 3 their strategy as a whole / can we just review 4 leads into the discussion of the eco- lobby s proposed restrictions on travel as a whole/on energy use in general

  23. Example William Shakespeare is easily the best-known of our English writers. Virtually every man in the street can name some of his plays and his characters, and many people can also recite lines of his poetry by heart. However, despite our familiarity with his work, we know relatively little of the man himself. We do not know when or why he became an actor, we know nothing of his life in London, and almost nothing of his personal concerns. Question Show how the third sentence acts as a link in the argument.

  24. Answer The conjunction however which begins the sentence suggests a contrasting idea to follow. The phrase our familiarity with his work looks back at the topic of how widely know Shakespeare s work is. The second part of the sentence, we know relatively little of the man himself , introduces the new topic, namely the things that are not known about Shakespeare, and a list of these follows this link sentence Now complete questions in language skills book.

  25. Revision Read the comments/opinion sections of broadsheet newspapers Pick out two paragraphs from each and summarise the main points made by the writer Highlight a linking sentence and explain how it performs a linking function Find a word you don t understand and attempt to figure it out from the context then look it up to check that you were right.

  26. Figures of Speech Imagery (simile, metaphor, personification) sight Alliteration Onomatopoeia Pun Hyperbole Litotes (understatement) Circumlocution Euphemism Paradox Oxymoron Juxtaposition Neologism Archaism Clich New, old and overused sound Overstating understating talking in circles Contrasts, opposites, contradictions

  27. Imagery An imagery questions will require you to focus on analysing metaphor, simile or personification. There are different styles of answering this question, however we will focus on using the just as, so it is, this is effective because method.

  28. When I was 18 I travelled to Indonesia. When I returned home I held the inevitable slideshow for long-suffering friends. There was a shot of an old farmer. He was as sinewy as a Balinese carving. He stands, unsmiling, holding onto some willowy branches, as if he has indeed been hewn from the tree. Don t you mind taking pictures of people? asked a friend. I thought it a strange question. There was a perfect picture opportunity and I made the most of it.

  29. Just as a Balinese carving features lots of thin intricate lines, so it is in the passage that the farmer is slim with sinews in his body that form lots of intricate and patterned lines. This is effective becauseit highlights what an attractive subject the farmer is for a photograph as he looks like a work of art. Given that writer is questioned about why he takes such photographs, it strengthens his argument that it was indeed a perfect picture opportunity .

  30. Near Bombay there are historic caves which are a popular day-trip destination. Climbing several hundred steps, you are assaulted by trinket-sellers, caf owners, monkeys and, most bizarre of all, village women with empty water-pots on their heads. They run ahead of you to pose stiffly and insist that you take a picture. Then they ask for money. These women know what tourists want: an authentic look. No plastic water containers, please.

  31. Just as an assault involves attacking someone forcefully and perhaps unexpectedly, so it is in the passage that the various village people unexpectedly surround the writer, almost attacking him as they approach and offer themselves as possible subjects for a photograph. This is effective becauseit highlights how keen these people are to have their photograph taken and also gives a sense of how many there are. The negative connotations of assault underline the writer s point that this is not an altogether pleasant experience.

  32. I am inclined to see the shape of British post-war history as having been not unlike that of a gigantic wave. It was a wave which began to gather in the mid-Fifties, as the world finally began to emerge from the shadows cast by the Second World War a wave of expectation, of nervous excitement, born of the growing sense that somehow Britain, the West and mankind were moving forward into a new era, of a kind never known before.

  33. Just as a gigantic wave is a large, fast, overpowering and frightening force that can destroy everything in its path and change the landscape forever; so it is in the passage that British post-war history is a period of time when a lot of things changed forever, at a frightening speed and with a powerful force that moved into the next century. This is effective because the comparison allows us to look back over history and appreciate the sheer scale and speed in which everything changed.

  34. Above all in the late Sixties there were the first signs of a growing weariness with the relentless battering of change. Around 1967, we suddenly began to hear a new set of words conservation , the environment , pollution , ecology expressing a growing sense of horror at what our wonderful, runaway technology was doing to our cities, to our countryside and rivers and seas, to other species, to the whole balance of nature on the planet. Somehow, the feeling ran, things seemed to have got out of hand.

  35. Having invented the modern city, 19th century Britain promptly reeled back in horror at what it had done. To the Victorians exploring the cholera-ridden back alleys of London s East End, the city was a hideous tumour sucking the life out of the countryside and creating in its place a vast polluted landscape of squalor, disease and crime. In their eyes, the city was a place to be feared, controlled and, if possible, eliminated.

  36. Figures of Speech - Sound Alliteration: A series of words in which the same letter is repeated, usually at the beginning of two or more words in order to create a particular effect. He carried a box of books up to the storeroom on the top floor of the building. There are three words beginning with b here but all of them are simple nouns and there does not appear to be any particular literary effect intended. However, when the travel writer Patrick Leigh-Fermor, describing a town in Holland, talks about the clip-clop of clogs on the cobblestones the alliteration is clearly deliberate: you can almost hear the rhythmical sound of the wooden shoes on the street.

  37. Figures of Speech - Sound Onomatopoeia is a name given to words which imitate the sound they are describing. Often used in conjunction with alliteration. As in the above quotation, alliteration helps to create an onomatopoeic effect. This is how D.H. Lawrence describes a snake drinking from a water trough in his poem Snake: He sipped with his straight mouth, Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body, Silently. The alliteration of the letter s (also known as sibilance) creates a hissing effect appropriate to a description of a snake.

  38. Figures of Speech - Sound Pun: a play on words involving words which sound similar but have different meanings. Usually the intended effect is humour Waiter! Yes sir? What s this supposed to be? It s bean soup, sir. I don t care what it s been. What is it now?

  39. Figures of Speech overstating, understating, talking in circles Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration in order to emphasise the point being made often for a humorous effect. The television presenter Clive James often uses this technique with great skill. He describes Marlon Brando as Hollywood s number one broody outcast and says that: He could order a cheeseburger with fries and make it sound like a challenge to the Establishment. Extract from Fame in the Twentieth Century by Clive James

  40. Figures of Speech overstating, understating, talking in circles Litotes is the opposite of hyperbole: deliberate understatement. In My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell writes of his mother: On Monday morning I found her in the garage being pursued round and round by an irate pelican which she was trying to feed with sardines from a tin. I m glad you ve come dear, she panted, this pelican is a little difficult to handle. As with so many other figures of speech, hyperbole and litotes are not confined to writing but are often used in everyday conversation: Isn t there anything to drink? I m dying of thirst! (Hyperbole) The teacher wasn t exactly overjoyed when I told her that I d left my work at home. (Litotes)

  41. Figures of Speech overstating, understating, talking in circles Euphemism: a way of making an unwelcome truth seem less harsh or unpleasant by dressing it up in inoffensive language. Many euphemisms are connected with the subject of death, e.g. saying passed away rather than died . Euphemisms are equally plentiful in the world of politics. One of the most famous examples came from the 1950s Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, who once said We are not at war with Egypt. We are in a state of armed conflict.

  42. Figures of Speech contrasts, opposites and contradictions Paradox: a statement which appears to be a contradiction but which, on closer examination, does contain a truth. For example, to preserve the peace, prepare for war This seems to be a contradiction, but it is based on the deterrent idea that if one side builds up its military strength then the enemy will not dare to attack, and thus peace will be maintained. The oft-quoted comment by Oscar Wilde is an example of paradox: Nowadays people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

  43. Figures of Speech contrasts, opposites and contradictions Oxymoron: a condensed form of paradox, in which two opposites are place side by side to heighten the effect of contrast. Edwin Muir s poem The Horses ends with horses coming to a group of human survivors of a nuclear war and voluntarily allowing themselves to be used to plough the land: the poet describes their action as: free servitude .

  44. Figures of Speech contrasts, opposites and contradictions Juxtaposition simply means placing side by side. In the example of oxymoron, it could be said that the two opposites are placed in juxtaposition. A writer might deliberately place two sentences beside each other to highlight the contrast between them. Dustin Hoffman became famous in the sixties in The Graduate playing a nervous young man who suspected that life in America was stacked against him. In the seventies he became more famous still as an even more nervous, slightly less young man, who knew that life in America was stacked against him.

  45. Figures of Speech new, old and overused Neologism: coining of a new word, usually to describe a recent development or invention for which an appropriate term does not exist. microwave oven, filofax, sky plus, video-conferencing Archaism: denotes a word from the past which is no longer in current use, the opposite of neologism. Arm thyself lightly, mount to horse, keep thy land, aid thy men, hurtle into the press. Thou needest not to strike another, neither to be smitten down. A writer may deliberately try to write in an archaic style in an attempt to recapture the feel of a historical period. Clich : an expression which at one time might have been original but has now become overused, in this day and age or as white as snow are clich s and should be avoided like the plague

  46. A wee test Next week there will be a wee class quiz to test your knowledge of all the language techniques you have learned so far If you do not know any, you will be required to write out their definitions five times each.

  47. Word Choice Once you feel confident in answering questions relating to word choice, you may find that this is one of the easiest ways to pick up marks. Main thing to always focus on CONNOTATIONS AND EFFECTS

  48. Look out for Verbs Adverbs Adjectives Stress words will, should, have to, might, can t, won t never, always, often, sometimes, maybe

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