Every card in Analysing texts, Year 8: more practice
The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.
- A student writes: 'The writer shows that Tom is lonely.' In a PEEZL paragraph, is this the point, the evidence or the zoom?
The point
HintIt makes a claim; no quotation has appeared yet.
WhyThe opening move states your idea. The evidence and the zoom come after it.
- In this paragraph, which sentence is the zoom: the first or the second? 'The writer describes the house as “decaying”. The word “decaying” suggests rot, as if the house is slowly dying.'
The second
HintWhich one looks closely at what a single word suggests?
WhyThe zoom picks out one word from the quotation and explains its effect. The first sentence only gives the evidence.
- Which word has the more negative connotation: 'thrifty' or 'stingy'?
Stingy
HintOne is a compliment and the other is a criticism.
WhyBoth describe careful spending, but 'stingy' suggests meanness. The feeling a word carries is its connotation.
- 'I ran. I stumbled. I fell.' Does this run of short sentences speed up or slow down the pace?
Speeds it up
HintCount how little time each takes to read.
WhyShort, sharp sentences make the action feel quick and breathless.
- What are verbless 'sentences' such as 'Rain.' and 'Cold, grey streets.' called?
Minor sentences
HintThey are the opposite of a full-sized sentence.
WhyWriters use them for quick snapshots or sudden emphasis, even though they break the usual rules.
- Why do many stories begin in the middle of the action rather than with a long introduction?
To hook the reader straight away
HintThink about what makes someone keep turning pages.
WhyStarting with something happening makes the reader curious and eager to read on.
- What does 'hath' mean in Shakespeare, as in 'Hath he come?'
Has
HintThink of the verb 'to have' with 'he' or 'she'.
Why'Hath' is the old third-person form of 'have', so the line means 'Has he come?'
- In a play, what is an 'aside'?
Words spoken to the audience that the other characters on stage do not hear
HintWho else is in the room, besides the actors?
WhyAn aside lets a character share a secret thought. It often creates dramatic irony.
- In a play, the audience watches a character secretly poison a cup. Another character then picks up the cup, smiling. Why is this dramatic irony?
We know the cup is poisoned but the character does not
HintCompare what we have seen with what she has seen.
WhyThe gap between what the audience knows and what the character knows creates tension.
- A character says 'What lovely weather!' while soaked in a downpour. Is this dramatic irony or verbal irony?
Verbal irony
HintIs anyone in the dark about the truth?
WhyThe speaker says the opposite of what they mean. No one is kept ignorant of the facts, so it is not dramatic irony.
1★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0073
2★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0074
3★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0075
4★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0076
5★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0077
6★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0078
7★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0079
8★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0080
9★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0081
10★ KS3-ENLA-ANA-0082
Keep what you learn
Here, nothing is saved. In your child’s own sky every card is scheduled — it comes back just before they’d forget it — and the professor who wrote it is one tap away.