National 5 (Scotland) · National 5 English

Critical Reading and Textual Analysis

21 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 21 questions

  1. How long is the National 5 English Critical Reading question paper?
  2. How many marks is the National 5 Critical Reading question paper worth?
  3. The portfolio for National 5 English is made up of what?
  4. In Robert Burns's poem 'To a Mouse', what has happened to the mouse?
  5. In Burns's 'To a Mouse', the lines 'The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley' mean:
  6. In Scots, what does the word 'dreich' describe?
  7. What does the Scots word 'braw' mean?
  8. Who wrote the novel 'Sunset Song', first of the trilogy 'A Scots Quair', and who is its central character?
  9. In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', who says 'Out, damned spot!' while sleepwalking?
  10. In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men', what dream do George and Lennie share?
  11. What is a soliloquy in a play?
  12. A poem has 14 lines, a set rhyme scheme and develops a single idea. What form is it?
  13. What is free verse?
  14. What effect does enjambment have when a sentence runs over the end of a line of poetry?
  15. A novel is narrated in the first person by a character who sees only part of the events. What is the main effect?
  16. A character in the opening chapter finds a cracked mirror, and later suffers a series of misfortunes. This is an example of:
  17. The audience knows a character has been poisoned, but the other characters on stage do not. What is this called?
  18. Rain lashes the window as Anna reads the letter. Which comment best explains the writer's choice of weather?
  19. A narrator describes themselves as honest, but the details they give show them lying to others. What is this narrator called?
  20. Which statement from a critical essay shows analysis rather than description?
  21. Which opening sentence of a critical essay is strongest for the question 'Discuss how a writer builds tension'?

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