In General
A decent InQuIRE will be completely filled out with a
proper summary, at least one question for each category, thoughtful answers
for the questions (in complete sentences where appropriate), and at least
one word listed and defined in the “Definitions” section.
A very good to excellent InQuIRE will be completely
filled out with a proper summary, at least TWO questions for each category,
thoughtful answers for all the questions (in complete sentences where
appropriate), and at least two words listed and defined in the “Definitions”
section.
Summary of Chapter/Excerpt
In this section, you should write a short summary of
the text you read. If the text is 4 or less pages, then your summary
doesn’t need to be more than a short paragraph (about 4-6 sentences). If
your text is more than 4 pages, you should summarize what you’ve read in two
short paragraphs (about 8-12 sentences).
A summary, because it is so short, cannot include every
single detail from the text. However, a good summary should include all the
most important information in the proper order.
Please see the attached InQuIRE sample for a good example of a summary.
Text explicit (“right there”) questions
Text explicit means that the text you’re reading
actually says the answer to the question. It’s an answer you can actually
point to in the text and say, “Hey, look! It’s right there!”
Text explicit/“right there” questions tend to be the
easiest kind of question to answer because you don’t really have to think.
You just need to remember what you’ve read (recall) or go back to the story
and find it.
Answers to text explicit/“right there” questions are
often one word or a short phrase.
Examples:
from Mango Street
Q: Who is the narrator of this story? |
Q: In which chapter does Esperanza get kissed by
an older man? |
A: Esperanza |
A: “The First Job” |
from There Are No Children Here
Q: How many children does LaJoe have? |
Q: Where do Lafayette and Pharaoh live? |
A: eight |
A: the Henry Horner projects |
Question stems for “right
there” questions:
The following list includes
words/phrases that are often used in “right there” questions.
Who… |
What… |
When… |
Where… |
Name… |
Tell… |
How many… |
List… |
Can you remember… |
Identify… |
Describe… |
The “…” refers to what? |
Text implicit (“read-between-the-lines”) questions
Text implicit means that you have to read between the
lines of the text to come up with an answer. This can mean using one or
more clues in a text to think of a probably answer. Text
implicit/“read-between-the-lines” questions often have more than one
possible answer, but the better answers can be justified with clues in the
text.
Text implicit/“read-between-the-lines” questions can
range from simple to hard, but all of them require you to think and
understand the text. Generally, the more clues you need to add up from the
text, the more difficult the question.
Answers to text implicit/“read-between-the-lines”
questions are often one or more sentences and usually include an
explanation/justification of why that answer is the answer.
Examples:
from Mango Street
Q: How is the narrator portrayed in The House on
Mango Street? Pick no more than 5 words and explain your answer.
A: Esperanza is portrayed as
young, thoughtful, inquisitive, and often dissatisfied. Clearly in the
novel, Esperanza is young enough to still be in school, and she uses simple
vocabulary most of the time which indicates that she’s a young person.
She’s both thoughtful and inquisitive because she loves to read and also
always seems to be thinking. We don’t just get her speaking voice in this
novel, but we often get her internal voice which likes to make reflective
comments about what she has witnessed or told us about. Last, she’s not a
very happy person, either with herself (like in the chapter where she
complains about her name), where she lives, and even with the people who
live around her on Mango Street. This last part is interesting though,
because when she finally leaves Mango Street at the end, she also seems
dissatisfied with having to leave people behind.
from There Are No Children Here
Q: Why doesn’t LaJoe leave the projects?
Find evidence in the book to explain.
Q: Why doesn’t Terrence clean up his act?
Justify your idea(s).
Q: What will happen to Lafayette and
Pharaoh? Explain why you think so.
Question stems for
“read-between-the-lines” questions:
The following list includes
words/phrases that are often used in “read-between-the-lines” questions.
What conclusion… |
Distinguish between… |
Find the evidence… |
What is possible… |
What alternative… |
Explore… |
Who… Justify. |
What… Justify. |
When… Justify. |
Where… Justify. |
Why… Justify. |
How… Justify. |
Explain… |
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Text significance (“interpret an element”) questions
Text significance questions ask you to look
specifically at the way the author of a text has put it together. These
kinds of questions can look at very small things, like why an author used a
particular word choice in a particular sentence (like why the author of
“Popular Mechanics” chose not to give his characters names); to medium
things, like figurative language an author used, a title choice (for a
chapter or a whole text), or why an author chose to begin or end a text a
certain way; to large things, like why an author ordered information in a
text in a certain way or why a certain point of view was used.
Text significance/“interpret an element” questions tend
to be very difficult and rarely have a single answer. These questions take
a lot of thinking. Not only do you need to know what the element is
(simile, foreshadowing, dialogue, symbolism, etc.), you also need to
understand the text and understand the elements of the text as choices the
author makes for a bigger purpose. The “purpose” of an element is rarely
“to make the text more exciting.” Rather, interpreting an element involves
understanding the text as a piece of art that communicates (or “means”) more
than just what’s on the surface.
Answers to text significance/“interpret an element”
questions are usually more than one sentence, and justifying your answers is
very important.
Examples:
from Mango Street
Q: Why does the author tell
the stories of Mango Street from Esperanza’s point of view?
from There Are No Children Here
Q: Why does the author include a lot of historical
and modern facts about the Henry Horner Homes between telling the story
about Pharaoh and Lafayette?
Q: Why does the author
include LaJoe’s entire shopping list at the beginning of Chapter 15?
Q: How does the author
foreshadow what happens to Craig?
Q: For what reasons does the
author end the main part of the book with “As LaJoe walked toward the back
to break up the fight, she smiled. At least, she though, I still have both
of them. At least they’re still mine. She never though it could be such a
comfort to hear her sons arguing.”?
Question stems for
“interpret an element” questions:
The following list includes
words/phrases that are often used in “interpret an element” questions.
Why does the author… |
Why doesn’t the author… |
How does the author… |
Why is… |
Why aren’t… |
For what reasons… |
The following list includes
literary elements that are often asked about in “interpret an element”
questions.
figurative language
(simile, metaphor, hyperbole,
onomatopoeia, personification, etc.) |
|
structural choices
(not using quotes or not telling the
audience who’s speaking, how the text is ordered, telling a story inside
a story, etc.) |
|
imagery |
foreshadowing |
mood |
tone |
symbolism |
point of view |
beginnings |
endings |
setting |
word choices |
titles |
character names |
flashback |
|
|
Thematic connection (“universal statement”)
questions
Thematic connection questions ask you to understand the
text overall on a deep level. For this kind of question you need to think
about the text as a whole, adding up all the parts of it in your head.
There isn’t just one answer to a thematic connection question, and usually
you will need to justify your answer.
Thematic connection/“universal statement” questions
involve a good amount of thinking. While one word answers are sometimes ok,
it’s better to always explain your answer.
Keep in mind that themes are big ideas, usually one
word big ideas. A list of common themes appears below, but don’t feel tied
to this list. There are plenty more out there!
Examples:
from Mango Street
Q: What is the biggest theme
in Mango Street?
from There Are No Children Here
Q: What point is the author
trying to make in telling us Lafayette’s and Pharaoh’s stories?
Q: What are we supposed to
understand about the theme of “poverty” in this book?
Question stems for
“universal connection” questions:
The following list includes
words/phrases that are often used in “universal connection” questions.
What is the theme… |
What understanding of (this theme)… |
What point… |
Name (#) themes… |
What major theme… |
What minor theme… |
The is a list of themes often
found in literature. (This list doesn’t name ALL the possible themes.)
Love |
Hate |
War |
Death |
Poverty |
Oppression |
Loyalty |
Friendship |
Family |
Hope |
Honesty |
Innocence |
Growing up |
Injustice |
Justice |
Identity |
Community |
Parenthood |
Definitions
In this section, you should write down 1-5 words you
encounter in your text that you don’t know at all or don’t really know the
definition to. Look up the words and write down the definition THAT MAKES
SENSE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STORY.
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