Literal Questions and Quoting
Integrate comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to analyse and interpret complex and abstract ideas.
The easiest marks in the paper, and the ones most often thrown away. The answer is already printed on the page. You are searching, not thinking.
Method
The command words
Name, State, Identify, List, How many, Quote all mean the same thing: go and find it.
One word means one word
If the question says quote ONE word, a sentence is marked wrong — even when the reasoning inside it is correct.
Copy, do not reword
A quotation must match the passage exactly. Change one word and it is no longer a quotation.
Worked example
e.g. Refer to paragraph 4. Quote ONE word which shows that the writer disapproves. (1)
- Read the command word first.The word is Quote. Nothing has to be worked out.
- Check how much you are allowed.It says ONE word. So the answer is one word.
- Go to the paragraph named in the question. Do not read the whole passage again.Paragraph 4 only.
- Find the words and copy them exactly. Same spelling, same punctuation, same number format.Copy it letter for letter.
- Put a quotation inside quotation marks.“reckless”
- Stop. Do not explain a literal answer. There is no mark for the explanation.Write nothing more.
Practice
For each one, decide what the command word is asking and how long the answer should be.
1
“State TWO reasons the writer gives for leaving the city. (2)” — how many separate items must you write, and may you use your own words?
AnswerTwo separate items, set out separately. It says State, not Quote, so your own words are allowed.
2
“Quote a phrase from paragraph 6 which shows the boy is frightened. (1)” — a learner answers: He was frightened because he was shaking. Why is this wrong?
AnswerIt is not a quotation. The question asked for the writer's words, copied exactly and placed in quotation marks — for example “his hands would not keep still”.
3
“Name the town where the story is set. (1)” — a learner writes a full paragraph explaining the setting. What happens to the mark?
AnswerThey still earn only the 1 mark, and have spent time they needed for the 3-mark questions. A literal answer stops at the answer.
4
The passage writes a number in words — two hundred and forty. You are asked to quote it. Is 240 acceptable?
AnswerNot safely. A quotation reproduces the text exactly as printed, including whether a number is written in words or digits. Copy what is on the page.
5
How do you know, before reading the passage, how many items a ‘State’ or ‘Give’ question wants?
AnswerThe mark allocation tells you. Two marks means two items, three marks means three.