Reading Comprehensions – Question A
The reading comprehension on Paper 1 will be your first ever exam question on your first ever Leaving Cert exam and because you will have the texts right in front of you, it’s the ideal section to start you off. You won’t have to worry about remembering poetry quotations, you just have to analyse and respond to the texts on the paper. So how can you maximise marks in this section?
Some key pieces of advice to remember: Read all the texts on Paper 1 including the questions and decide on your Question A and Question B making sure not to choose both from the same text (You’d be surprised how many make this simple error!) Then read the text you’re going to answer Question A on again thoroughly from start to finish.
Read the questions slowly and carefully. Underline important words or phrases. Rewrite the question in simpler language if you’re not sure what you’re being asked. Read the passage again. Underline/ highlight anything you think you might use in your answers and number it (Q1 / Q2 / Q3). Pay attention to how many marks each question is worth and try to keep answers to an appropriate length. 10 marks = half a page, 15 = three quarters and 20 = a full page minimum.
Plan your answer before you begin making sure to check if there is more than one part to the question – if you leave out half the question you are kissing goodbye to half the marks. Avoid including material that is irrelevant, that’s just wasting your time. Make at least one point for every five marks available.
A neat structure to follow in each paragraph is one you will have been taught from Junior cycle up – Point, Quote, Explain. Make a point, in your own words, back it up with evidence from the text, explain it using different words to really show you understand what you are discussing and then move on. Use phrases like ‘also’, ‘furthermore’, ‘nonetheless’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘clearly’ etc. to make your answer flow together as a whole. Don’t use the same phrase twice.
Know your five language types: the languages of persuasion, argument, information, narrative and aesthetic language inside out and upside down. The third question still regularly asks students to find and analyse features of these different language types. Be able to recognise them and know the various techniques that are commonly used by writers using them.
These types of language will rarely appear in total isolation and frequently overlap, for example, an extract from a narrative like a novel may contain the aesthetic use of language in descriptions of characters or settings and an argumentative piece will frequently use the language of information or persuasion to add to its impact.
Don’t worry too much about whether a piece is mostly persuasive or informative – the main thing is to be able to identify elements of the different types of language and understand the effect they have on the reader.
Any of the writing techniques that you learn about while studying poetry, novels and dramas, as well as Paper 1 preparation, can feature in the reading comprehensions so be familiar with as many as you can. Techniques could include; use of humour, imagery, figurative language such as metaphors and similes; use of jargon, quotations, facts, anecdotes, repetition, rhetorical questions, hyperbole, tone, tension, symbolism, personification, onomatopeia, alliteration, assonance etc.
Over the past few years opinion questions based on the student’s own knowledge have appeared more frequently – see my article on opinion pieces in this supplement.
READ THE QUESTIONS SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. UNDERLINE IMPORTANT WORDS OR PHRASES.