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Unit 4: Close study of literary texts
Quick questions on Close reading of literary extracts for the EA: QCE English Unit 4 (Topic 2)
15short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the five layers of close reading?Show answer
A strong close reader attends to five layers, often simultaneously:
What is the close-reading procedure for EA preparation?Show answer
The EA is closed-book; the close reading has to be done before the exam. A working procedure:
What is what strong close reading looks like?Show answer
A strong close reader, given a single sentence, can say:
What is common close-reading errors?Show answer
Surface paraphrase. "This sentence describes a man who said nothing because he had nothing to say" paraphrases. It does not close-read. A close reading attends to specific craft choices and their effects.
What is close reading and the EA prompt?Show answer
The EA prompt typically asks how the text constructs a specific concern (a theme, a character, a representation, a perspective). The close reading you have done is the evidence.
What is 1. Lexis?Show answer
Specific vocabulary, register, denotation and connotation. A word that could have been chosen differently is doing specific work. Why "departed" rather than "left"?
What is 2. Syntax?Show answer
Length, complexity, rhythm. A short sentence after a string of long ones marks emphasis. A paragraph of fragments marks breakdown or compression.
What is 3. Voice?Show answer
Who speaks, in what tense, with what reliability. First-person retrospective vs free indirect discourse vs third-person omniscient. The choice of voice determines what the reader can know.
What is 4. Structure?Show answer
Where the scene falls in the text, what precedes and follows it, what the text omits. A scene placed near the opening positions everything that follows; a scene placed near the closing inflects everything that preceded.
What is 5. Aesthetic features?Show answer
Recurring images, patterns, framing devices, parallel scenes, contrasts and ironies that operate across the whole text.
What is step 1. Identify 8 to 12 high-yield extracts?Show answer
Choose passages that are dense with craft and that speak to the central concerns the EA is likely to address. Spread them across the text:
What is step 2. Annotate each extract by layer?Show answer
For each extract, write at least one annotation per layer. Mark:
What is step 3. Cluster the extracts by concern?Show answer
After annotating, group the extracts by what they speak to. Common clusters:
What is step 4. Memorise short embeddable quotations?Show answer
From each cluster, identify 6 to 8 short embeddable quotations (4 to 8 words each is ideal). The EA is closed-book; you must reproduce these from memory.
What is step 5. Practise integrating clusters into paragraphs?Show answer
Take a sample EA prompt and assemble a body paragraph using one cluster's quotations and annotations. The practice integrates close reading with thesis construction.