Exercise of the Week #13

A little maths exercise worthy of the heatwave.

Last Week’s Answers

In this sequence question, we mustn’t rule anything out as a red herring or distractor: part of the pattern that is only included to draw your attention from what’s actually happening.

In this puzzle, everything is important!

1. Between each pattern, we can see that the star is changing. If there is a shape which appears throughout the sequence, look to see whether it is rotating, reflecting, growing/shrinking or changing. In this sequence, the star is gaining a point each time.

2. The spiral is also consistent - as above, we need to think about how. In this sequence, the spiral is flipping each time.

3. There’s also something going on with these dots. It’s not enough to say that there’s one extra dot; that’s too surface level. Instead, notice that the new dot remains, and each time, another dot is added. Another way to think about this is that the black dot moves and is replaced by a grey dot each time.

Three things to spot! How many did you find?

Exercise of the Week #9

Verbal reasoning today - another coded problem, this time using letters and numbers.

Last Week’s Answers

We are looking for descriptive devices, so include figurative language (similes and metaphors) and literal description (five senses). Pay attention to your language and try to use alliteration or assonance to add texture to your sentences. Try to be original: avoid cliched similes or lists of adjectives. Remember that one striking word is better than a heap of mediocre vocabulary.

The marking of descriptive work is subjective. It is not as straightforward as ‘They’ve used a simile, gain a mark.’ Instead, the examiner must use their discretion to assess a response’s originality and skill. Here is a putative mark scheme which makes use of ‘bands’ to group responses. Each band would then have a range of marks in such a way that the strongest responses achieve the higher end of a higher band. Note that the only way to achieve zero marks is by doing something spectacularly silly.

Here is an example response. Try to mark down some of the devices that have been used and consider which band you would place it in.

The soothing winter sun ran its silken fingers along the water’s edge. Gently, the stream gurgled secrets to those who stopped to listen: nowadays, mostly rabbits, cautiously exposing their button-noses from the bracken. In bygone times, the waterwheel would groan and clatter; now, it rests motionless, embracing the termites and rot. The symphony of forest sounds is silent now.

Exercise of the Week #6

And we’re back with a springtime reasoning puzzle! Good luck.

Last Week’s Answers

These sorts of questions can be nefarious. Let’s look at a means of tackling them.

PETEE

You might’ve been taught this at school. If not, PETEE stands for: Point, Evidence, Technique, Effect, Emphasis.

Your point is the statement you intend to answer the question with. Everything that follows exists to support the point you have to make.

Evidence is a quote from the text. Pick a good one - ideally something rich that supports your point. When I say ‘rich’, I mean that there should be enough in your quote to explain further. If it has a technique, that’s perfect, as we should then discuss what technique is being used. Don’t worry if it isn’t obvious, like clear use of alliteration or a striking simile: keep your eye out for things like repetition, or juxtaposition.

We next explain what effect this technique has on the reader. What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel?

Finally, we explain why the writer uses the technique - what are they trying to emphasise?

If you use this structure, you’re giving yourself the best chance of securing all marks on these (typically thee to four mark) questions.

Model Answer

The writer creates the impression of a superfically commonplace man with a sinister depth to him. They use a striking simile to describe his glance, which falls ‘as trenchant and heavy as an axe.’ This suggests that he is capable of doing harm with merely a stern look. This emphasises that although he is ‘commonplace’, ‘ordinary’ and ‘usual’, something darker lurks within.

There are other techniques you might prefer to reference.

• There is juxtaposition between his ‘commonplace’ features and ‘remarkably cold’ eyes.

• There is much use of parenthesis in the final lines, drawing attention to the narrator’s unease: he can’t make sense of this man.

• There is sibilance in the last line: ‘expression of his lips, something stealthy - a smile - not a smile’. Perhaps the writer is drawing attention to the character’s snakelike qualities.

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’Heart of Darkness’ is for older readers: something to pick up when you are in years 9 or 10. It’s a critique of European colonialism in Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. The character described in the extract is the unnamed ‘manager’ running an ivory trade on the Congo River.