Analysing texts, Year 8: more practice

The point

提示It makes a claim; no quotation has appeared yet.

为什么The opening move states your idea. The evidence and the zoom come after it.

The second

提示Which one looks closely at what a single word suggests?

为什么The zoom picks out one word from the quotation and explains its effect. The first sentence only gives the evidence.

Stingy

提示One is a compliment and the other is a criticism.

为什么Both describe careful spending, but 'stingy' suggests meanness. The feeling a word carries is its connotation.

Speeds it up

提示Count how little time each takes to read.

为什么Short, sharp sentences make the action feel quick and breathless.

Minor sentences

提示They are the opposite of a full-sized sentence.

为什么Writers use them for quick snapshots or sudden emphasis, even though they break the usual rules.

To hook the reader straight away

提示Think about what makes someone keep turning pages.

为什么Starting with something happening makes the reader curious and eager to read on.

Has

提示Think of the verb 'to have' with 'he' or 'she'.

为什么'Hath' is the old third-person form of 'have', so the line means 'Has he come?'

Words spoken to the audience that the other characters on stage do not hear

提示Who else is in the room, besides the actors?

为什么An aside lets a character share a secret thought. It often creates dramatic irony.

We know the cup is poisoned but the character does not

提示Compare what we have seen with what she has seen.

为什么The gap between what the audience knows and what the character knows creates tension.

Verbal irony

提示Is anyone in the dark about the truth?

为什么The speaker says the opposite of what they mean. No one is kept ignorant of the facts, so it is not dramatic irony.