Analyzing Complex Literature — Drills · Grade 12 English
Chapter: Close Reading & Literary AnalysisWhat these drills covers
By the end of Analyzing Complex Literature you should be able to:
- I can read dense, allusive texts closely, drawing inferences and supporting them with strong and thorough textual evidence.
- I can sustain an interpretation across a whole work while identifying precisely where the text leaves matters deliberately uncertain.
2 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.
Vocabulary used: close reading, allusion, ambiguity, inference, textual evidence, interpretation.
Problem 1
Answer and explanation
Before interpreting, establish who is speaking, what is happening, and what a sentence literally says. Mark an uncertainty rather than guess past it. Show an actual application before considering the method recalled.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 2
Answer and explanation
The detail supports a local inference about concealment. Avoid converting one action into an absolute claim about every situation.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.