1. To write a character sketch of one of the people in the text. Watch out for the following phrases: ‘What is your impression of …’ ‘What do you learn about …’
2. About the style in which the piece is written. You may be offered several options: ‘Is this piece humorous or descriptive or realistic?’ All of the options will be valid, so choose the one about which you feel you can write the most.
3. To write an imaginative response, based on the piece. You may be asked to put yourself in the shoes of one of the characters. If this is the case, then you must use the text as a reference. These questions are designed to test your knowledge of what you have just read.
4. A question on the visual text or texts accompanying the written text. In this case, you must give as much detail as possible and be sure to relate it to the written text. Think about the overall layout of the picture, the colours, the posture of the people in the picture, etc. This task is similar to work you did in Junior Cycle English when analysing advertisements as part of your Media Studies.
Length of answers
Comprehension Question A is worth 50 points. As a general rule, fi ve marks equal one well- developed point. A well-developed point is a paragraph in which you make a point, give an example or examples from the text to prove the point, and explain how your example supports your point.
