Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

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bubblechops
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:19 pm

Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by bubblechops »

Hello,

This if my first time posting - I hope someone can just give mea bit of advice - daogroupie I think you might be the right person to help.

I have a very clever girl (at a state school, has passed for some selective grammars) who is doing some indie entrance exams in next few weeks for a bursary place (I could never afford the fees) so she needs to do well.

Her English and literacy is excellent, her creative writing is great but she does struggle with some of the more complex comprehension questions in the sample papers of one school in particular. And I have to say, even though I'm a writer and have degree/post grad degree even I'm struggling on a few of the comprehension questions as I'm finding it difficult to understand exactly what answer the school is looking for - I've put a couple of questions below and wonder if anyone can help me with what it is they are asking the child to draw out from the text? Thank you


6. Explain the effect of the description in bold (from line 14):
“When he had passed behind those trees and seen the flick-flick-flick of the
house between them,” [3 marks] DOES THIS MEAN EFFECT ON THE READER? HOW IT MAKES YOU FEEL/THINK

7. Explain 2 ways in which the writer uses language effectively in the following
description (from lines 28-29):
“The sun’s rays gleamed over all the garden, warming it to life and sucking up
the drenching dew;” [3 marks] - DOES THIS MEAN BRINGING IN METAPHORS ETC OR TALK ABOUT HOW IT'S HIGHLY DESCRIPTIVE/PAINTS A PICTURE

9. How does the author make the passage exciting for the reader? You can write
about words/phrases, Tom’s voice in the story and sentence lengths and
sentence types.(8 marks) AGAIN IS THIS TALKING ABOUT TECHNICAL ASPECTS - USE OF METAPHORS/SIMILES ETC OR IS IT EMOTION - WHAT DO THEY MEAN BY 'TOM'S VOICE' ?

Any help much appreciated as frankly I don't think I'd get anything approaching full marks!
Daogroupie
Posts: 11101
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by Daogroupie »

I know this paper well and use it all the time.

I will pm you. DG
bubblechops
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:19 pm

Re: Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by bubblechops »

Thank you!
Cake999
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:35 pm

Re: Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by Cake999 »

Could you please share so we can learn also?
piggys
Posts: 1636
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:29 am

Re: Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by piggys »

It's from Tom's Midnight Garden.

They would be expecting you to comment on the use of language here - for example in Q7 there is sustained personification as well as interesting verb choices (sucking, gleamed, warming etc) and alliteration. A good answer will identify or acknowledge the language technique (how I hate that expression) but more importantly, will express their ideas regarding how and why it adds to the overall impression and effect on them. So the verb 'gleamed' conveys brightness and suggests colour and warmth;it's no good writing "it makes it more descriptive" because that is a given.
bubblechops
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:19 pm

Re: Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by bubblechops »

Thank you Piggys, that's really helpful
Ros82
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2016 7:47 pm

Re: Help in 11+ more complex comprehension please!

Post by Ros82 »

flick-flick-flick
Repetition is a recognised technique. Don't forget to name this technique which is used to drive home the effect in the passage in your Q6 answer/ explanation.
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