Literature: Prescribed Prose and Poetry
Literature questions come from the prescribed prose and poetry textbook. They test theme, character, motive, setting, narrative technique, tone, imagery, figures of speech, rhyme, and the link between form and meaning.
Core rules
- Prose: identify who acts, what changes, and why; distinguish narrator from author; support character claims with an action or quotation.
- Poetry: read for literal sense first, then tone; identify simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, repetition, and rhyme; explain effect, not just label.
- Theme: state it in one sentence, then support it with two details.
- Character: give a trait, an action, and a short quotation.
- Context: connect the extract to the title and ending.
Worked example
Suppose an extract shows a speaker returning to a childhood home and saying the gate 'still creaks the same song'. Question: What is the effect of 'song'? Reasoning: 'still' signals continuity; 'creaks' is a sound; calling it a 'song' personifies the gate and makes the memory affectionate rather than merely noisy. Answer: It suggests the speaker's fond familiarity with the past. Do not answer 'the gate sings' literally; explain the figurative effect.
Traps that cost marks
- Retelling the story instead of answering the question.
- Naming a poetic device without explaining its effect.
- Ignoring a shift in tone.
- Confusing the poet with the speaker.
- Quoting a line without commenting on it.