Success Homeschool

Year 11 English · Close reading

Name: ______________________

Date: ____________

1. In close reading, what does 'diction' refer to?
- ☐ (a) Sentence length
- ☐ (b) Word choice
- ☐ (c) Rhyme scheme
- ☐ (d) Paragraph order
2. 'By April it was already forgetting us.' Which device is used?
- ☐ (a) Simile
- ☐ (b) Alliteration
- ☐ (c) Personification
- ☐ (d) Hyperbole
3. Which pair from the passage best shows juxtaposition?
- ☐ (a) Mum's yellow curtains and the 'weak tea' curtains
- ☐ (b) March and April
- ☐ (c) The house and the lemon tree
- ☐ (d) Dad and winter
4. Which is the strongest interpretation of the passage?
- ☐ (a) The family bought new curtains.
- ☐ (b) Lemon trees need pruning in winter.
- ☐ (c) Selling houses is common.
- ☐ (d) The passage explores grief at how quickly a family's traces are erased from a place.
5. What is the best order for a close-reading paragraph?
- ☐ (a) Idea, then summary, then opinion
- ☐ (b) Detail, connotations, pattern, interpretation
- ☐ (c) Plot summary only
- ☐ (d) Quotation followed by a new quotation
6. What is the term for the arrangement of words into sentences? (one word)
7. A recurring image or idea, like the yellow colours in the passage, is called a… (one word)
8. Placing two contrasting images side by side is called… (one word)

Answer sheet

1. Word choice — Diction is the writer's choice of words.
2. Personification — A house cannot literally forget; it is given a human capacity.
3. Mum's yellow curtains and the 'weak tea' curtains — Warm yellow is placed against pale, lifeless 'weak tea', highlighting the contrast.
4. The passage explores grief at how quickly a family's traces are erased from a place. — An interpretation makes a claim about meaning, not just events.
5. Detail, connotations, pattern, interpretation — Close readings build from precise detail to a larger idea.
6. Syntax — Syntax covers sentence length, order and structure.
7. Motif — Motifs develop meaning through repetition.
8. Juxtaposition — Juxtaposition highlights differences by placing ideas together.