English: The Writer's Choices

These questions are about the words a writer chose. You get a passage with numbered lines. The question picks out some of the writer's words, and asks what they suggest, or why the writer used them. Then you get five answers, and you choose the best one.

So there are two kinds of question: What does … suggest? and Why does the writer …? One kind asks what some words suggest, or mean. The other asks why the writer did something, like repeating a word. There's one of those in the watch-outs below.

The video above and the worked example below work through the same question, with the options in the same order.

The method

Four steps: find the exact words, picture them literally, say what they show here, test each option.

Worked example

This passage is from Treasure Island. Jim's father keeps an inn by the sea, and a strange old sea captain comes to stay.

55 … fierce and blow through his nose like a
56 fog-horn; and we and the people who came …

In lines 55–56, the captain would “blow through his nose like a fog-horn”. What does this suggest?

A. He made a loud, rude noise instead of talking B. He was warning ships away from the rocks C. He had a bad cold from the sea air D. He was singing his old sea-song E. He spoke softly and politely to everyone

1. Find the exact words. Pick out the key words in the question. Lines 55 to 56 tell you where to look, and the quote tells you which words. Go to those lines, and find exactly the words it quotes: blow through his nose like a fog-horn. Those words, and only those, are what the question is about.
2. Picture them literally. What would these words mean if they were really true? A real fog-horn gives a loud, deep blast, to warn ships away from the rocks. But the captain isn't a fog-horn, and he isn't warning ships. He's in the inn, being spoken to. So the writer is comparing the noise he makes to a fog-horn.
3. Say what they show here. Why these words, and not plainer ones, like he snorted? A fog-horn's blast is much louder than a snort. So this is a huge, booming noise. Now look at the moment. Someone speaks to him, and instead of answering, he blasts at them through his nose. That's rude. People soon learn to leave him alone. So, in your head, say what the words show: a very loud, rude noise, instead of an answer.
4. Test each option. Is it about these words, at this moment? If not, cross it out. Option A, he made a loud, rude noise instead of talking: that's just what the words show. Keep it. Option B, he was warning ships away from the rocks: that's what a real fog-horn does, so it takes the words literally. B is out. Option C, he had a bad cold from the sea air: nothing here shows he's ill. So C is out. Option D, he was singing his old sea-song: he does sing it, but in lines 10 and 11, when he first arrives. That's true of the story, but not of these words. So D is out. Option E, he spoke softly and politely to everyone: that's the opposite. He won't even answer, and a fog-horn is loud. So E is out. Only one is left standing, and it fits these words, at this moment.

Answer: A — He made a loud, rude noise instead of talking (these words, this moment)

Things to watch out for

1. Is it about these words? This question asks what By drowning their speaking means, in a poem about rats. Two options borrow things the rats really did: they bit the babies, and they made nests in hats. But those are other lines. These words are about noise: the rats' shrieking and squeaking was louder than the women's voices. True of the poem isn't enough. It must be true of these words.
2. Don't take it literally. Here, every gust of wind struck the walls like the fist of a giant. One option says a giant was trying to knock the tower down. But there's no giant. It's a comparison: each gust hit the tower with huge force.
3. Say what it shows before you say what it does. In this poem, each verse ends by repeating its last words: the moon, the moon. Look at what's happening: they dance, hand in hand, by the light of the moon. Nothing bad is coming, so to build up tension doesn't fit. The repeats make it sound like a song. An effect is only right if it fits the moment.
4. Simile or metaphor? Look for like or as. Like skies at night compares, using like, so it's a simile. Streams full of stars has no like or as. In broad daylight, these stars are really sparkles of sunlight, so calling them stars is a metaphor. And our fog-horn? Like a fog-horn: a simile.

Related

• The complete 11+ question-type guide
• English: Inference Questions — work out what the passage shows but never says
• English: Words in Context — find what one word means in this passage
• English: Finding What the Passage Says — look back and prove it from the text

All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 25+ learning games, timed mock exams and focused practice. Brainblox is an independent app: not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any exam board, school or assessment publisher, and it contains no past papers.