Eng. Lang. to the Rescue!: COMPREHENSION

A comprehension, in the CSEC examination, demands that the student is able to read a passage and locate the information that is asked. Some questions are simple recall, while others require some level of analysis. Types of passages used in the examination are:
*Literary
Persuasive
Expository

LITERARY PASSAGE: The literary passage is the most commonly utilized in the examination, therefore, it will be the focus of this forum. Excerpts for the examination are commonly taken from:
novels
short stories
Poems
Plays

Tone, mood and purpose are three important concepts around which many of the questions that are assigned to the literary passage is based.

Tone can be identified through the attitude that the narrator employs to tell the story, poem or play. Therefore, in order to identify tone, it is important that the student identifies words that carry negative or positive connotations within the passage. Examples of tone are: nice, disgusting, disappointing etc.

Mood/ atmosphere can be identified by observing the descriptive details, or feelings that are displayed in the passage. Examples of atmosphere are: sad, happy, gloomy, sunny. Please note that similar adjectives can be used to describe the mood and the tone. However, this is not always the case, eg. Tone = tense, mood = pensive. An individual might be in a pensive mood, therefore his/her's tone becomes tense as a result.

Purpose is gleaned by identifying:
(a) the speaker
(b) who is being spoken to
(c) what the conversation is about
(d) what the characters hope to achieve with the conversation
(e) the language that the characters use and why
Examples of purpose are: to persuade, convince, analyze, argue etc

TIPS: A few helpful tips for working ones way through a comprehension passage in the CXC Examination are as follows:

Read the questions first
Read the passage through carefully, yet quickly
Read the paragraphs / stanzas with sets of questions in mind, in descending order
Continue reading and answering in descending order.
Know a list of literary devices that you might be called upon to discuss in any of the three types of comprehensions.
Answer in complete sentences.
Answer only what is asked.

VOCABULARY: A list of words that might be helpful to know, in order to complete a comprehension exercise successfully, are as follows:
Allusion
Atmosphere
Comic Relief
Connotation
Denotation
Irony (verbal / situational / dramatic)
Persona
Point of view (first / third / omniscient)
Symbol
Tone

WHAT DOES POETRY AND PROSE MEAN?

Prose and poetry are two ways of classifying types of writing. Sometimes we group literature according to the topic matter (fiction, non-fiction, mystery, drama, and so on), but here we're grouping it according to format. Fortunately, the distinction between what is prose and what is poetry is usually pretty instinctive.

Let's start with the term that's probably more familiar: poetry.

Poems are often easy to spot because the author is usually working to create a unique structure involving all of the senses. For instance, the poet may arrange words very deliberately on the page to look a certain way; poets choose words not only for their meaning, but also because they rhyme or sound out a special rhythm; some poets even limit themselves to a fixed number of words or syllables. Even punctuation and grammar can be manipulated by the poet to fit in with the poem's structure.

In contrast, the word prose comes from a Latin word meaning straightforward, and that's what prose writing is like. The story being told might be complex, but you can count on all the features of everyday speech, such as paragraphs, sentences, and all the usual punctuation. Types of literature that usually fall into the prose category include most essays, short stories, novels, and plays.

Just to keep you on your toes, be aware that authors sometimes dabble in a combination of both forms. For example, Shakespeare is known for switching back and forth within his plays, having certain characters speak in poetry and others in prose.

Click on the link for Poetry and Prose Handout

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/p-as_docs/PoetryandProse.pdf

A World of Prose:
Berry
Blackout
Emma
Mom Luby and the Social Worker
Raymond's Run
Septimus
Shabine
The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream
The Day the World Almost Came to an End
The Man of the House
To Dah-Duh in Memoriam