ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE (HL)
PAPER 1
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE
SECTION A: Comprehension (30)
SECTION B: Summary (10)
SECTION C: Language in Context
, UNDERSTANDING QUESTION LEVELS AND HOW TO ANSWER THEM:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
HERE HIDDEN HEAD / HEART
Literal Re-organisational Inference Evaluation Appreciation
40% 40% 20%
Point and Example Explain Link and Substantiate
(Direct from the text) (Why? So what?) (offer personal opinion)
PEELS = Point, Example, Explain, Link, Substantiate
Although we have isolated the levels in this chart, levels are usually integrated in a
question.
ANALYSIS OF PAPER 1
SECTION A – COMPREHENSION
TYPES OF COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
There are generally THREE types of comprehension questions:
1. GENERAL COMPREHENSION questions test your understanding of the text.
E.g. Account for the writer’s feelings in paragraph 1? (2)
2. VOCABULARY TYPE questions test word meanings (synonyms, antonyms, etc.)
E.g. Explain what the writer means by, ‘The young men and women seem lost in the designer
clothes, dwarfed and dehumanised by their possessions, as if ownership has gone into reverse.”
(2)
3. TECHNICAL TYPE questions test the style/presentation/construction of the text.
E.g. Explain the writer’s purpose in referring to various research findings. (2)