Appreciation Questions — N.Q.E.L.
Analyse text structures and language features and evaluate their effectiveness in achieving their purpose.
Questions about how the writing works — diction, sentence length, imagery, tone, structure. The most commonly failed level, because learners describe the effect instead of naming the technique.
Method
N — Name the technique
Be specific. Metaphor, not ‘imagery’. Short sentence, not ‘the way it is written’.
Q — Quote the words
Point at the exact words doing the work.
E — Effect
What does it make the reader see, feel or realise?
L — Link
Tie the effect back to the writer's purpose or the argument of the passage.
Two phrases that always score zero
‘It makes it more interesting.’ ‘It makes you want to read on.’ Name the feeling or the idea instead.
Worked example
e.g. Comment on the effect of the two short sentences: ‘Her father called it junk. Nomsa called it stock.’ (2)
- Name the technique. Look at length, structure, word choice, sound and punctuation.Two short parallel sentences placed in juxtaposition.
- Quote the exact words that carry it.“Her father called it junk. Nomsa called it stock.”
- State the effect. What does the reader see, feel or realise?The sentences are identical in shape, so all the emphasis falls on the two different nouns.
- Link it to the writer's purpose.It presents her way of seeing as a decisive reframing, not a difference of opinion.
- Match the parts to the marks. Two marks is usually technique plus effect. Three marks needs a link, or three separate observations.Two marks: name it, then say what it does.
Practice
Name the technique before you write anything else.
1
A paragraph opens with the single word sentence ‘Still.’ Comment on the effect. (2)
AnswerTechnique — a one-word sentence used as a concession. Effect — it accepts everything critical just said and then refuses to end there, so the passage stays honest without becoming bleak. It also slows the reader for the final image.
2
A learner writes: The writer uses good description which makes the passage more interesting. Rewrite this so it could score.
AnswerName and quote first: The writer uses the metaphor ‘a queue of customers’ to describe a power cut, which turns a nightly hardship into a business opportunity and shows how she has reframed her situation.
3
‘Discuss the effectiveness of the final paragraph as a conclusion. (3)’ — what should the shape of your answer be?
AnswerThree separate observations, each named, quoted and explained. Typical choices: the sentence structure, a return to an earlier image, and the significance of the final word.
4
What is the difference between a paradox and an oxymoron?
AnswerA paradox is a whole statement that seems contradictory but is true — the country's most reliable feature is its unreliability. An oxymoron is two contradictory words side by side — deafening silence.
5
A question asks about ‘the writer's tone’. What must your answer include beyond naming the tone?
AnswerThe words that create it. Naming the tone is one mark; proving it from diction, punctuation or sentence length earns the rest.