Prose (Prescribed Textbook) - Comprehension and Analysis
The prose section tests close reading of the prescribed lessons: character, motive, conflict, theme and the writer's craft. It does not test whether you can retell the plot. Extracts are usually lifted from taught lessons, but the questions ask about meaning, not memory of page order.
What is tested
- Extract comprehension: three or four questions on a paragraph, including vocabulary from it.
- Character: "What kind of person was X? Give two reasons."
- Theme and message; justification of the title; "personal response" items such as "Do you agree? Why?"
- The effect of a particular phrase or image on the reader.
Method
- Prepare every lesson on a five-line card: who, where, the conflict, the turning point, the lesson conveyed.
- A two-mark answer needs two distinct points; a four-mark answer needs a claim, textual evidence and an explanation of how the evidence supports the claim.
- For personal response, take a clear position, then give one reason from the text and one from real life.
- For title questions, prove the title with two specific incidents.
Worked example
Question: "The narrator says he felt ashamed after the old man's visit. Why?" Reasoning: name the incident (the narrator had judged or neglected him), name the change in understanding (he recognised the old man's dignity or generosity), then link both to the word "ashamed". Strong answer: "He was ashamed because he had misjudged the old man, who repaid rudeness with generosity." Weak answer: a summary of everything the old man did.
Traps
Retelling the story instead of answering; attributing the narrator's opinion to the author; one sentence for a two-mark question; describing only what happened when the question asks why; ignoring the second part of a two-part question.