Context Questions
Context answers should be short. Students lose more marks here by writing too much than by writing too little.
What a context question is
A short extract from a text you have studied is printed, followed by several short questions. They test whether you can place the extract, understand what is happening at that moment, and comment briefly on the language.
The marks per question are small. Match your answer to the marks, and move on.
The kinds of context question, and what each wants
| Question type | What it wants | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Who is speaking, and to whom? | The names, and their relationship if it is relevant | One sentence |
| Where does this occur in the text? | The stage of the story, not the page number | One sentence |
| What has just happened? | The immediately preceding event, not a summary of the book | One or two sentences |
| What does the speaker mean? | The meaning in plain words, in this situation | One or two sentences |
| Explain the underlined phrase | The literal meaning plus what it suggests here | Two sentences |
| What does this reveal about the character? | A quality, plus the words that show it | Two or three sentences |
| Identify the technique and its effect | Name it, quote it, say what it does | Two or three sentences |
| What happens next? | The immediate consequence, briefly | One or two sentences |
The method
- Read the whole extract before any question. Place it in the text in your own mind first.
- Read all the questions before answering. They often move in order through the extract, and a later question sometimes tells you how to read an earlier one.
- Look at the marks. One mark is one point. Three marks is three points, or one point developed.
- Answer only what is asked. Extra material cannot gain marks, can contradict you, and costs time.
- Quote from the extract, not from memory. The extract is printed in front of you. Use it, and copy it exactly.
- Answer in complete sentences unless a single word is clearly what is wanted.
Short answers, correctly judged
The extract referred to is invented for illustration. Watch how short a full-mark answer can be.
Question: Who is speaking these words, and to whom? (1 mark)
The father is speaking to his son.
Why this answer works
- One mark, one sentence. Anything more is wasted time. Some students write a paragraph here and then run short at the three-mark question below.
Question: What has just happened before this moment? (2 marks)
The son has returned home after several years away and has offered his father money. The father has not yet spoken since he entered the house.
Why this answer works
- Two marks, two facts, two clauses. The answer stays in the immediate context and does not summarise the whole story.
Question: What does the phrase "thirty years" suggest about the father? (3 marks)
It suggests that he has been counting the years of his own struggle, and has been waiting for an opportunity to say so.
The precision of the figure makes the remark sound rehearsed, which implies long-held resentment rather than a reply made on the spur of the moment.
It therefore reveals a pride that has hardened over time into a grievance.
Why this answer works
- Three marks, three developed points, each in its own sentence.
- Notice that the answer moves from what the words say, to what they imply, to what they reveal — the same movement as point, explanation, effect, compressed.
- It is still short. Three sentences is a complete three-mark answer.
Habits that gain and lose marks
Do
- Match the length of the answer to the marks.
- Quote from the printed extract, exactly.
- Answer in your own words where explanation is asked for.
- Answer every question, even briefly.
- Number your answers to match the paper.
Do not
- Summarise the whole text when asked what has just happened.
- Write a paragraph for a one-mark question.
- Copy long stretches of the extract instead of explaining.
- Give two alternative answers and hope one is right — the examiner may mark the first.
- Leave the last question because time ran out on the first.