Comprehending Written and Multimodal Texts
What comprehension actually requires
Comprehension questions test whether you can reconstruct meaning, not whether you can locate a sentence. Work at three levels: literal (stated facts), inferential (what the text implies through wording, sequencing or omission) and evaluative (the writer's attitude or purpose). For multimodal texts - advertisements, infographics, web pages, film stills described in the prompt - meaning is carried jointly by headline, image, caption, layout, colour and typography. Ask what each mode adds that the others do not.
Concepts to master
- Main idea versus supporting detail: a topic sentence may be implied by the accumulation of examples.
- Text structure: problem–solution, cause–effect, comparison, chronological recount, argument with rebuttal. Structure signals where key claims sit.
- Cohesion and reference: pronouns, ellipsis and substitution chains tell you what a noun phrase refers to.
- Register and audience: formal vocabulary, nominalisation and passive voice often signal an expert or institutional audience.
- Visual grammar: salience (size, placement, colour contrast), gaze (demand versus offer images), and framing.
Traps in questions
Options that are true in the real world but not in the text; options that quote accurate words but misstate the relationship between them; extreme quantifiers ('always', 'never') where the text says 'often'; confusing the writer's example with the writer's claim; and mistaking an image's decorative element for its persuasive function.
Rule of thumb
Answer in the text's own logic: locate the relevant sentence or visual element, paraphrase it in your head, then eliminate any option that adds, deletes or reverses information. If two options survive, the correct one is usually the more cautious paraphrase.
Worked example: A poster shows a smiling child holding a glass of milk, with the caption 'Strong bones start here.' The question asks for the poster's persuasive technique. Locating the elements gives: happy child (positive emotional appeal), imperative-like claim (causal promise), and the product as the implied cause. The answer combines emotional appeal with an implied causal claim - not merely 'it uses a picture of a child'.