11 Plus Exams Forum

Please mayi ask for some advice - if the Q in Comprehension paper is asking "What is your opinion...?", does the answer need to include what the child thinks, or does the answer need to say opinion + reference to text? My son said that he referenced to the text ONLY when the question is specifically asking "provide evidence from the text", all other questions he just wrote his opinion etc, without making a reference to the text...

Did every question just ask ‘ What is your opinion?’ Or did it refer to the text?Presumably the latter? In which case DS would need the explain his opinion, which would be impossible to do without reference to the text?

mad?
thank you for your quick reply. My son does not remember exactly how the Q was phrased, but he just says it was about his opinion about the character...

some Q.in the paper said specifically to provide the evidence from the text, but as this Q.did not say to reference the text, he assumed, it is not needed? Please let me know your thoughts.

Is this for an actual exam that he has taken? If so I suggest ignoring anything he says for the sake of your own sanity, and not asking him about it for the sake of his. What is done is done.
To answer your question, I cannot see how one can answer the question about something from a text, without referring to that text in some way,, unless providing a 3 word answer eg 'He is nice'. I can't imagine such an answer would score highly but I reiterate, if this was 'the real thing' leave it be, he will be stressed enough already.

The purpose of comprehension is to test your understanding of the text.

The word comprehend means to understand.

You should always let the text speak for you and not paraphrase the text.

In English your opinion is equally as valid as anyone else, even the author.

Robert Frost wrote a poem called "The Road not taken" which he always insisted was just about two roads in a wood. He wrote the poem for his friend Edward Thomas who he used to go walking with and who was always indecisive about which road to take.

But others decided that it was actually about your journey in life and he was overruled, even though they were his words and it was his poem.

So you can convey an opinion about a text that others disagree with, but as longer as you back up your answer with reference to the text you will get the marks.

Always use the text in every answer. If it says in your own words use synonyms of the words in the text but that is still using the text. DG

Of course you need to back up your opinion with examples from the text.

Sorry this is a tangent but I still very clearly remember the injustice of getting 18/20 in a comprehension aged 8. I lost the two marks on a "why do you think...?" question and argued vociferously that since the answer was what I thought, then I had to automatically get given two marks. The teacher did not agree!

If a student is asked for their opinion that means they are being invited to explain what they infer about a character/situation etc. It is all about subtexting, and of course you need to elaborate through textual reference. Your ds's opinion about such and such a character will be based on what the text says.

yes, that makes sense...thank you for all your replies.