Effect-Led Analysis of a Writer's Choices · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Say what the words do to you

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 14-15
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What do you do first in the cover-the-word trick?

    • Look up the device name
    • Rewrite the line in your own words
    • Cover the word and read the line flat

  2. What is the main job when you analyse a writer's choice?

    • Name the technique as fast as you can
    • Say what it does to the reader
    • Count how many devices appear

  3. A strong answer explains the effect on the reader, not only the technique name.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. A paragraph names a metaphor, a simile, and alliteration, then ends. What is missing?

    • A longer quotation
    • A summary of the plot
    • What each device does to the reader

  5. Hemingway wrote, 'You just open a vein and bleed.' You swap bleed for hurt. What does the swap cost?

    • The blunt shock of the image fades
    • The sentence grows too long to follow
    • The meaning becomes more precise

  6. Where should your analysis begin?

    • A list of device definitions
    • The life story of the writer
    • Your honest response to the line

  7. Which of these analyses is the strongest?

    • The line contains a device the writer uses well
    • The cold detail chills the reader and pushes comfort far away
    • The writer uses good words to describe the scene

  8. Priya writes that a short sentence punches the reader after a slow buildup. A friend says she must name the technique. Who is right?

    • Priya, because she explains the effect
    • The friend, because labels score marks
    • Length alone decides nothing here
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_rONa89oLc4-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Say what the words do to you W1-mt_rONa89oLc4-s1

  1. Cover the word and read the line flat · Reading the line flat shows you the feeling with and without the word.
  2. Say what it does to the reader · Effect comes first. The label is decoration, not the point.
  3. True · Naming alone stops where the real work starts.
  4. What each device does to the reader · Three labels with no effect add up to decoration.
  5. The blunt shock of the image fades · Bleed hits harder than hurt, so the swap drains the shock.
  6. Your honest response to the line · Your real response points straight at the effect to explain.
  7. The cold detail chills the reader and pushes comfort far away · Only the middle answer explains what the words do to a reader.
  8. Priya, because she explains the effect · Effect-led analysis wins over labelling every time.
Worksheet · LightMySky