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Critical Reading: Scottish Set Text

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you study a Scottish set text drama for National 5 and analyse dramatic technique in the extract questions?

Studying a Scottish set text drama: analysing dialogue, stage directions, characterisation and dramatic technique in the printed extract and across the play for the commonality question.
How to study a Scottish set text drama (such as Bold Girls by Rona Munro or Sailmaker by Alan Spence) for SQA National 5: analysing dialogue, stage directions, characterisation, conflict and theme in the printed extract, and preparing the whole play for the 8 mark commonality question.
10 min answer →

How do you study Scottish set text poetry for National 5 and link a printed poem to the poet's other poems?

Studying Scottish set text poetry: analysing imagery, word choice, sound, form and structure in a printed poem and linking it to the poet's other set poems for the commonality question.
How to study Scottish set text poetry (such as poems by Norman MacCaig, Carol Ann Duffy, Edwin Morgan or Jackie Kay) for SQA National 5: analysing imagery, word choice, sound, form and structure in the printed poem, and linking it to the poet's other set poems for the 8 mark commonality question.
10 min answer →

How do you study a Scottish set text prose work for National 5 and analyse a novel or short story extract?

Studying a Scottish set text prose work: analysing narrative voice, characterisation, setting, structure and theme in a novel or short story, for the extract questions and the commonality question.
How to study a Scottish set text prose work (such as short stories by Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown or Anne Donovan, or a novel like The Cone-Gatherers by Robin Jenkins) for SQA National 5: analysing narrative voice, characterisation, setting, structure and theme in the extract and across the text.
10 min answer →

How do you answer the final 8 mark commonality question in the National 5 Scottish text section?

Answering the final 8 mark question: identifying a key idea or feature in the printed extract (2 marks) and discussing how it appears elsewhere in the text, or in the writer's other poems, for the remaining 6 marks.
How to answer the final 8 mark commonality question in Section 1 of SQA National 5 Critical Reading: identifying a key idea, theme, character or technique in the printed extract for 2 marks, then discussing how it appears elsewhere in the text (or other poems) for the remaining 6 marks, using a bullet-point grid.
11 min answer →

How do you answer the extract analysis questions in the National 5 Scottish text section and use reference plus comment?

Answering the Scottish text extract questions: working only from the printed extract to answer understanding and analysis questions on word choice, imagery, characterisation and theme using reference plus comment.
How to answer the extract analysis questions in Section 1 of SQA National 5 Critical Reading: working from the printed extract, answering understanding and analysis questions on word choice, imagery, characterisation and theme with a reference plus a developed comment, ahead of the final 8 mark question.
10 min answer →