---
title: "Reading Comprehension"
description: "103 topics in English, in the order they build on each other."
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/areas/reading-comprehension
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/areas/reading-comprehension.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Reading Comprehension

103 topics in English, in the order they build on each other.

Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/areas/reading-comprehension

- [Book Features and Author's Reasons](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/book-features-and-authors-reasons-mt_XeMZdf2Y9W): Identify front cover, back cover, and title page of a book; identify the reasons an author gives to support points in informational text
- [Listening to Texts Read Aloud](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/listening-to-texts-read-aloud-mt_mLPEMpYb_R): Listen to and discuss poems, stories, and non-fiction at a level beyond independent reading; confirm understanding of texts read aloud by asking and answering questions about key details
- [Characters, settings, and events](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/characters-settings-and-events-mt_sSQlLOnAow): Identify characters, settings, and major events in stories; become familiar with key stories, fairy tales, and traditional tales and retell them with key details in sequence
- [Predicting what happens next](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/predicting-what-happens-next-mt_8-POYyg7GJ): Predict what might happen next in a story based on what has been read so far; discuss the significance of titles and events
- [Different Types of Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/different-types-of-texts-mt_gZIo5oiBMt): Recognise common types of texts (storybooks, poems, non-fiction); name the author and illustrator and define the role of each in telling or presenting a text
- [Main Topic of Informational Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/main-topic-of-informational-texts-mt_aFvsj35QzC): Identify the main topic and retell key details of informational texts; describe connections between individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information
- [Pictures and Text Working Together](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/pictures-and-text-working-together-mt_OlhMP7ShFT): Describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear; use pictures to support and extend comprehension
- [Reading between the lines](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/reading-between-the-lines-mt_E5KC4AnRLW): Ask and answer questions about key details in literary and informational texts; make simple inferences based on what characters say and do
- [Main Topic & Key Details](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/main-topic-and-key-details-mt_QCWWmDMYZR): Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph informational text, determine the focus of specific paragraphs, and explain how key details support the main idea
- [Non-Fiction Text Features](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/non-fiction-text-features-mt_ZhUuT__i2H): Recognise different non-fiction text structures and features (headings, contents, glossary, index), understanding how texts are organised to present information
- [Retelling Stories with Structure](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/retelling-stories-with-structure-mt_zlSoIKPyId): Retell stories including key details in sequence, describe characters, settings, and major events using evidence from the text, and describe the overall structure of a story (beginning, middle, ending)
- [Story Sequence and Central Message](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/story-sequence-and-central-message-mt_VEwM7ClYYE): Discuss the sequence of events in narrative texts and how items of information are related in non-fiction, retelling stories including key details and demonstrating understanding of central message or lesson
- [Story lessons and morals](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/story-lessons-and-morals-mt_v33BwiyRnd): Determine the central message, lesson, or moral of a story, fable, or folktale, explaining what the story teaches the reader and supporting the interpretation with key details from the text
- [Why the author wrote it](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/why-the-author-wrote-it-mt_OltpfaX7l6): Distinguish one's own point of view from that of the author of an informational text and identify the author's purpose
- [Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/firsthand-and-secondhand-accounts-mt_j32D5DZX7x): Compare and contrast a firsthand account (autobiography, diary, letter) with a secondhand account (biography, textbook, news report) of the same event or topic, identifying differences in focus and information provided
- [How authors support their points](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/how-authors-support-their-points-mt_k-V37x3zsF): Explain how an author of an informational text uses reasons and evidence to support particular points, evaluating whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient
- [Text & Media Connections](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/text-and-media-connections-mt_t06dHX2ZYw): Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions from the text
- [Multiple Accounts of Events](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/multiple-accounts-of-events-mt_5FREdVoS8s): Analyse multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent
- [Supporting ideas with evidence](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/supporting-ideas-with-evidence-mt_S3XMQOYt_D): Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which specific points
- [Spotting Facts and Opinions](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/spotting-facts-and-opinions-mt_jJBprWe2pe): Tell the difference between a statement of fact (something anyone can check) and a statement of opinion (what someone thinks or feels), and start noticing which is which in simple books, adverts and conversations
- [Fact vs opinion](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/fact-vs-opinion-mt_V6456X6pJE): Distinguish between statements of fact and statements of opinion in texts, recognising how authors blend factual information with subjective viewpoints
- [Discussing Texts as a Group](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/discussing-texts-as-a-group-mt_thsY1ZesaU): Participate in discussions about what is read, taking turns and listening to others; explain understanding clearly; actively engage in group reading activities
- [Themes and messages](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/themes-and-messages-mt_yHQacItlhf): Identify recurring themes (good vs evil, friendship, bravery) and conventions (once upon a time, moral at the end, hero's journey) across a wide range of books including fairy stories, myths, legends and traditional tales
- [Morals in Fables, Folktales and Myths](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/morals-in-fables-folktales-and-myths-mt_H0ajATAlus): Explain how the central message, lesson, or moral of a story is conveyed through key details across diverse text types including fables, folktales, and myths
- [Themes Across Cultures and Traditions](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/themes-across-cultures-and-traditions-mt_tX0R4-4WXy): Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes, topics, and story patterns (e.g., good vs evil, quest narratives, trickster tales) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures
- [How Authors Treat Similar Themes](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/how-authors-treat-similar-themes-mt_jO0gHMk7Ti): Compare and contrast stories in the same genre on their approaches to similar themes and topics, identifying how different authors treat common ideas
- [Expressive and Sensory Language](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/expressive-and-sensory-language-mt_fL1Xz8ostr): Recognise recurring literary language in stories and poetry, identify words and phrases that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses, and discuss favourite words and phrases
- [Text Features & Presentation](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/text-features-and-presentation-mt_aVZJhPbc_1): Identify how language choices, text structure and presentational features (illustrations, diagrams, bold print, layout) contribute to the overall meaning and effect of a text
- [Structural terminology](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/structural-terminology-mt_ujwtRoYJ34): Use structural terminology (chapter, scene, stanza) to refer to parts of literary texts and describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections
- [How Parts Build a Whole Text](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/how-parts-build-a-whole-text-mt_PetJM-AYz9): Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a story, drama, or poem, analysing how each part contributes to the whole
- [Purpose, audience, and context](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/purpose-audience-and-context-mt_jIcgbCmziD): Identify the purpose, audience, and context of a text and use this knowledge to support comprehension — recognising how writing aimed at different audiences (academic, popular, persuasive) uses different conventions, register, and tone
- [Cultural Allusions and Word Meaning](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/cultural-allusions-and-word-meaning-mt_ZanQuV90qi): Determine the meaning of words and phrases as used in literary texts, including understanding references to mythology and cultural allusions (e.g., Herculean, Achilles' heel)
- [How Language Choices Affect the Reader](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/how-language-choices-affect-the-reader-mt_furAIwoO9t): Evaluate how authors use language including figurative language, considering the impact of word choices, imagery, and literary devices on the reader
- [Connecting Ideas in Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/connecting-ideas-in-texts-mt_w4wKFP3jud): Describe connections between events, ideas, or concepts in informational text using time, sequence, cause-and-effect, and comparison language, and identify logical connections between sentences and paragraphs
- [Combining information from texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/combining-information-from-texts-mt_8FwtdJzeDh): Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably, combining and comparing what each source contributes
- [Explaining Events & Ideas](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/explaining-events-and-ideas-mt_nKS_vCYrg3): Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in an informational text, including what happened and why, by citing specific textual evidence about causes, effects, and steps in a process
- [Structure of information texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/structure-of-information-texts-mt_oVwNnjYPUY): Describe the overall structure of an informational text (chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) and explain how the author's chosen structure helps convey information and ideas
- [Comparing Structure in Information Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-structure-in-information-texts-mt_-1okUh0Jdv): Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more informational texts, identifying patterns such as chronology, comparison, cause/effect, or problem/solution
- [Explaining Relationships in Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/explaining-relationships-in-texts-mt_iv-BJS9W60): Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in historical, scientific, or technical texts based on specific information
- [Synthesising across multiple texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/synthesising-across-multiple-texts-mt_kJ4xXKL_nO): Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably, combining information without plagiarising
- [Analysing Text Structure](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/analysing-text-structure-mt_II6iw4BmJI): Analyse how a text's structure — including its overall organisation, use of chapters, stanzas, scenes, paragraphs, or sections — contributes to its meaning, style, and development of ideas
- [Following Multi-Step Procedures](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/following-multi-step-procedures-mt_b_3jwAsZ7a): Follow a written multi-step procedure precisely when carrying out experiments, taking measurements or performing technical tasks: read the whole procedure first, work through the steps in order, and notice when a result signals a missed step
- [Analysing Connections in Informational Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/analysing-connections-in-informational-texts-mt_1F3cnUHjMb): Analyse how individuals, events and ideas interact in informational texts: how an idea shapes a person's actions, how events influence one another, and how authors use comparisons, analogies and categories to connect or distinguish them
- [Interpreting visual information in texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/interpreting-visual-information-in-texts-mt_KbCCmLmxYN): Interpret information in charts, diagrams, maps, tables and timelines, and explain how it supports or adds to an informational text
- [Multimedia elements in texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/multimedia-elements-in-texts-mt_xsk3iuNVVI): Analyse how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text such as graphic novels, multimedia presentations, or illustrated editions of fiction and poetry
- [Using Multiple Sources](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/using-multiple-sources-mt_JVVKT-_AD9): Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or solve a problem efficiently
- [Comparing Characters Across Stories](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-characters-across-stories-mt_GLY3R3YSlf): Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories; identify similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic
- [Connecting reading to experience](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/connecting-reading-to-experience-mt_5n-O41lUgn): Link what is read or heard to own experiences; draw on background knowledge and vocabulary to support understanding of texts
- [Self-Correcting While Reading](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/self-correcting-while-reading-mt_rQ2YJJi4uh): Check that text makes sense while reading and self-correct inaccurate reading by re-reading or using context
- [Inferring characters' feelings and motives](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/inferring-characters-feelings-and-motives-mt_ukLvUD8DFA): Draw inferences from independently-read texts, such as inferring characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence from the text
- [Main Ideas & Note-Taking](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/main-ideas-and-note-taking-mt_sMAcZW6vWM): Identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise them; retrieve and record information from non-fiction texts using notes, tables or other methods
- [Finding Theme and Summarising](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/finding-theme-and-summarising-mt_A0htaNaK7b): Determine the theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, and provide an objective summary that captures the key events without personal opinions
- [Quoting accurately from texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/quoting-accurately-from-texts-mt_ak_ZgoMKRQ): Quote accurately from literary and informational texts when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences, using quotation marks and citations correctly
- [Summarising Non-Fiction Main Ideas](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/summarising-non-fiction-main-ideas-mt_XnRhhEqJLJ): Determine two or more main ideas of an informational text and explain how they are supported by key details, then summarise the text without personal opinions
- [Tracing Theme Across a Text](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/tracing-theme-across-a-text-mt_wGxq92Na5g): Determine and analyse the theme or central idea of a text, trace how it develops across the text through key details and events, and provide an objective summary distinct from personal opinion
- [Forms of Poetry and Performance](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/forms-of-poetry-and-performance-mt_gR5_n99Ntt): Recognise different forms of poetry (free verse, narrative poetry, haiku) and discuss their features; prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and perform with understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action
- [Poems, Drama & Prose](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/poems-drama-and-prose-mt_4IxR66uGLc): Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, identifying structural elements unique to each form: verse, rhythm, and meter in poetry; cast of characters, dialogue, and stage directions in drama; chapters and paragraphs in prose
- [Comparing Texts Across Media](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-texts-across-media-mt_wpLz5Y17cJ): Compare a written text with its audio, video or multimedia version, analysing how each medium portrays the subject; weigh the advantages and disadvantages of different mediums for presenting a particular topic or idea
- [Characters' Viewpoints and Responses](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/characters-viewpoints-and-responses-mt_xjl6AEhnjk): Identify and compare characters' points of view, recognise who is narrating a story, describe how characters respond to events and challenges, and compare characters' experiences across different stories or versions of the same story
- [Character traits and motivation](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/character-traits-and-motivation-mt_KmPZ5diLEP): Analyse character traits, motivations, and feelings using text evidence, and distinguish one's own point of view from that of the narrator or characters
- [In-depth character and setting analysis](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/in-depth-character-and-setting-analysis-mt_Eehl12cSnN): Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details from the text such as a character's thoughts, words, actions, and interactions
- [Narrator's Point of View](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/narrators-point-of-view-mt_E_OryWIYkn): Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including distinguishing between first-person and third-person narration and explaining how the narrator's perspective shapes the reader's understanding
- [Comparing Characters, Settings and Events](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-characters-settings-and-events-mt_WRlJ0-hAOG): Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details about how characters interact, settings influence action, or events connect
- [Different viewpoints in texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/different-viewpoints-in-texts-mt_LCJNRaRXtW): Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described, recognising the difference between limited and omniscient narration and how perspective shapes storytelling
- [Recommending Books](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/recommending-books-mt_0MfpLj0Uhb): Recommend books to peers, giving reasons for choices based on knowledge of a wide range of genres, authors, and themes, and making comparisons within and across books
- [Comparing Books](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-books-mt_sUVOS2jH3J): Make comparisons within and across books, identifying similarities and differences in themes, characters, settings, and authorial choices across multiple texts
- [Critical comparison across texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/critical-comparison-across-texts-mt_1GF5MeNZPA): Make critical comparisons of themes, characters, settings, styles, or arguments across two or more works, including texts from different periods, genres, or cultures
- [Wide Independent Reading Across Genres](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/wide-independent-reading-across-genres-mt_9k1qcpvVi_): Read widely and independently across fiction and non-fiction — including whole novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and non-fiction from different genres, periods, and cultures — building stamina, breadth, and personal taste as a reader
- [Justifying views about texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/justifying-views-about-texts-mt_IX37F4rNed): Provide reasoned justifications for views about texts, supporting interpretations and opinions with evidence and logical arguments
- [Using and Evaluating Textual Evidence](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/using-and-evaluating-textual-evidence-mt_dmFnJzxKwz): Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly and what can be inferred, distinguishing between strong and weak evidence and explaining how the evidence supports a point
- [Evaluating arguments in non-fiction](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/evaluating-arguments-in-non-fiction-mt_gMSFymQlrW): Evaluate arguments and claims in non-fiction texts. Assess whether reasoning is sound and evidence is relevant and sufficient. Distinguish between fact and opinion, and recognise bias, propaganda, and rhetorical techniques.
- [Figurative Language and Literary Devices](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/figurative-language-and-literary-devices-mt_DVSHx3YMkN): Determine the meaning of figurative and connotative language in context, analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, and identify literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, and irony
- [Plot Structure and Character Development](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/plot-structure-and-character-development-mt_Hqz5y_tWz2): Analyse how plot structure unfolds through episodes or key events, and how characters develop, respond to challenges, and change over the course of a narrative — including the relationship between character, setting, and plot
- [Narrative Perspective and Unreliable Narrators](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/narrative-perspective-and-unreliable-narrators-mt_x2sWtfTeYT): Analyse point of view and narrative perspective (including first person, third person limited and omniscient, and unreliable narrator) and how the author's or narrator's perspective shapes the reader's understanding and creates effects such as suspense, irony, or humour
- [Poetic forms and conventions](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/poetic-forms-and-conventions-mt_aClzPBiS9k): Recognise and understand poetic conventions — including form (sonnet, ballad, free verse), metre, rhyme scheme, stanza structure, imagery, and sound devices (alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia) — and analyse how poets use them for effect
- [Understanding drama and performance](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/understanding-drama-and-performance-mt_tIi6L1n7kF): Understand how dramatists communicate meaning through performance — including staging, direction, set design, lighting, and actors' choices — and how different productions can interpret the same script differently
- [Effect-Led Analysis of a Writer's Choices](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/effect-led-analysis-of-a-writers-choices-mt_rONa89oLc4): Treat every language feature as a decision the writer made, and argue what that decision does to a reader. The move here is away from labelling devices and towards explaining effect.
- [How a News Story Is Framed](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/how-a-news-story-is-framed-mt_fh7yPuodva): A report is a set of choices before it is a set of facts: which event was covered, whose account leads, what the headline promises, what the last paragraph quietly concedes. Two accurate reports of one event can leave opposite impressions.
- [Checking a Claim Before You Repeat It](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/checking-a-claim-before-you-repeat-it-mt_alX03luQ-m): Trace a claim back to whoever first made it, then check whether anyone independent says the same. Most of the work is leaving the page you are on: a confident sentence with no traceable origin is the normal shape of something false.
- [Inference and Implication in Close Reading](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/inference-and-implication-in-close-reading-mt_ZsYmlv5QuC): Read what a text implies but never states, building a chain of inferences from small details. The test is whether the text can bear the reading or the reader has supplied it.
- [Analysing Tone and Its Shifts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/analysing-tone-and-its-shifts-mt_mZSdiW9z1W): Name a text's tone precisely, show which diction and syntax produce it, and find the line where the tone turns. A shift in tone is usually where the meaning of a passage sits.
- [Images and Charts as Argument](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/images-and-charts-as-argument-mt_X1vajiAqrM): A photograph is cropped, a chart has an axis, a caption tells the reader what to see. Each of those is an argument made without a sentence, and each can be checked the way a sentence can.
- [Free Indirect Style and Narrative Distance](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/free-indirect-style-and-narrative-distance-mt_r3DLUmwC6G): Read prose where a narrator's words and a character's thoughts run together, and judge how close the narration stands to the character at any moment. That distance is a choice, and it moves.
- [Analysing Structural Choices in Whole Texts](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/analysing-structural-choices-in-whole-texts-mt_siYSy_kXUU): Read structure as a sequence of decisions: where a text starts, how its focus narrows or widens, where the perspective moves, and what the ending does with the opening. Position carries meaning independently of content.
- [Building an Analytical Paragraph](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/building-an-analytical-paragraph-mt_g6V2qZrdWR): Write a paragraph of analysis that holds one point, embeds short quotations inside its own sentences, and keeps returning to the argument instead of retelling the text.
- [Poetry: Imagery and the Speaker's Voice](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/poetry-imagery-and-the-speakers-voice-mt_RYvng3ESeS): Read a poem through its images and its speaker: who is talking, at what distance from the poet, and how a run of images carries the poem's argument.
- [Poetry: Form, Sound, and Line as Meaning](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/poetry-form-sound-and-line-as-meaning-mt_16EYLKp49Q): Explain how a poem's shape carries meaning: the pull between metre and speech rhythm, what a line break does to the word left hanging, what a form promises, and where the poet breaks it.
- [Comparing Two Poems](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-two-poems-mt__cGKUS-Mlo): Compare poems by method rather than by checklist: find the concern they share, then argue how each poet handles it differently, moving between the two inside a paragraph.
- [Scanning a Line: Metre, Stress, and Substitution](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/scanning-a-line-metre-stress-and-substitution-mt_jF8TId2BYf): Mark the stresses in a line of verse, name the pattern it sets up, and find where the poet departs from it. The departures are usually where the reading starts.
- [Genre as a Set of Expectations](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/genre-as-a-set-of-expectations-mt_2OD97Y6LmG): Treat a genre as the promises a reader brings to a text, then examine whether the writer meets, delays or refuses them.
- [Drama: Stagecraft as Method](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/drama-stagecraft-as-method-mt_RYVZd0zENq): Analyse a play as something staged: entrances and exits, silence, what an audience sees before it hears, dramatic irony, and stage directions read as part of the writing.
- [Reading Nineteenth-Century Prose Unseen](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/reading-nineteenth-century-prose-unseen-mt_9kI4W1A79W): Work out an unfamiliar older extract with no notes: unpick long sentences, infer archaic vocabulary from its surroundings, and hold the sense of a passage whose syntax delays the point.
- [Context That Serves the Reading](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/context-that-serves-the-reading-mt_xjq2wvDyYF): Use what was true when a text was written to sharpen a reading of its language, and keep the context tied to the text instead of writing a paragraph of history beside it.
- [Comparing Writers' Viewpoints Across Non-Fiction](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-writers-viewpoints-across-non-fiction-mt_ORnNTCIy4T): Compare two non-fiction texts on one subject, often written a century apart: what each writer thinks, how each makes a reader feel it, and where their methods diverge.
- [Critical Evaluation of a Writer's Success](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/critical-evaluation-of-a-writers-success-mt_opMDJ3ov_i): Answer the question that asks how far you agree: judge how well a writer achieves a stated effect, and support the verdict with the text's own methods rather than with taste.
- [Tragedy: The Shape of the Fall](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/tragedy-the-shape-of-the-fall-mt_PBjNKW9yUC): Read tragedy as a genre with a shape: a protagonist with something to lose, a fall an audience can see coming, and an ending that asks what the loss bought. Then test the shape on a modern text and say which parts it keeps or drops.
- [Reading Through a Critical Lens](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/reading-through-a-critical-lens-mt_ceYRZV1vOe): Use a critical approach as a set of questions to put to a text: who holds power here, whose work goes unseen, whose story is left out. A lens is a way of asking, not a verdict to apply.
- [Arguing With Published Criticism](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/arguing-with-published-criticism-mt_RHkHphHUHO): Treat a critic's published reading of a text as a position to test. Agree with the parts that hold and respond where the reading breaks down. Keep the essay's argument your own, using the critic's view to challenge it.
- [Comparing Whole Texts Around a Question](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/comparing-whole-texts-around-a-question-mt_lUatQWgP2g): Build a comparison of two whole texts from one critical question, with the argument moving between them instead of taking each in turn. A difference counts when it answers the question.
- [Working an Unseen Text Against the Clock](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/working-an-unseen-text-against-the-clock-mt_9yk_tpun2R): Produce an argued response to an unfamiliar text within a fixed time. Use a practice plan for reading, planning, writing and checking, and select points you can support rather than recording every observation.
- [Close Reading at Depth](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/close-reading-at-depth-mt_FG1xqyBhdk): Work a short passage until the reading is dense: several strands tracked at once, and the detail that resists a first reading given weight rather than passed over.
- [From Noticing to a Literary Thesis](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/from-noticing-to-a-literary-thesis-mt_51UHXhXCo6): Turn a page of annotations into one arguable claim about the text, narrow enough to defend at essay length and open enough that a reader could disagree.
- [Sustaining a Literary Argument Across an Essay](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/sustaining-a-literary-argument-across-an-essay-mt_GeEKS_WMne): Hold one thesis through a whole essay: every paragraph advances the case, quotation stays short and embedded, and the order follows the argument rather than the order of the book.