More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Notice first: read these and say what they share — "**Says**: The text says the door is locked and that she did not turn around — both are stated." / "**Implies**: The text implies finality, signalled by the deliberate pairing of 'locked' and 'did not turn around' — neither alone implies as much." / "**Invites**: The text invites a reading of decision rather than fear, because the narrator has refused to show us her face throughout the chapter."
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Close reading at C2: (a) THE TEXT SAYS — direct propositional content (highest claim, easiest to defend); (b) THE TEXT IMPLIES — defensible inference from cues (mid-level; needs at least two cues); (c) THE TEXT INVITES — interpretation the structure encourages even if not stated (needs argument from pattern); (d) THE READER BRINGS — what is yours, not the text's (must be named as such).
2.From 'He read the letter once, slowly, and then put it in the drawer with the others' — write ONE 'implies' claim.
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'The text implies there is a collection of such letters and that this one is being added to it deliberately, not destroyed.'
3.From the same sentence — write ONE 'invites' claim.
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'The text invites a reading of patient accumulation: the drawer is being filled for someone, eventually.'
4.From the same sentence — write ONE 'reader brings' acknowledgement.
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'I bring my own assumption that the letters are from a single sender; the text does not specify.'
5.Sort these into "natural" and "not natural" and justify each decision out loud: "**Says**: The text says the door is locked and that she did not turn around — both are stated." · "**Implies**: The text implies finality, signalled by the deliberate pairing of 'locked' and 'did not turn around' — neither alone implies as much." · "**Invites**: The text invites a reading of decision rather than fear, because the narrator has refused to show us her face throughout the chapter." · "**Reader brings**: I bring my own reading of leaving relationships; the text supports a leaving reading but does not require it to be romantic."
6.Build three sentences on this pattern about your own week — one neutral, one emphatic, one tentative.
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Close reading at C2: (a) THE TEXT SAYS — direct propositional content (highest claim, easiest to defend); (b) THE TEXT IMPLIES — defensible inference from cues (mid-level; needs at least two cues); (c) THE TEXT INVITES — interpretation the structure encourages even if not stated (needs argument from pattern); (d) THE READER BRINGS — what is yours, not the text's (must be named as such).
1.Fill: 'The reading rests on three lines of ____ ____.' (2 words)
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textual evidence
2.Fill: 'She reads the chapter ____ ____ ____.' (3 words)
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against the grain
3.Fill: 'The ____ ____ is also the most generous one.' (2 words)
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strongest reading
4.Complete in context: "The reading rests on three lines of ______."
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textual evidence
5.Complete in context: "I weigh that reading against three things in the text and find it lighter."
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to weigh (a reading) against
6.Complete in context: "She reads the chapter against the grain — and the text rewards it."
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to read against the grain
7.Complete in context: "I think we're over-reading the silence in paragraph two."
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to over-read
8.Complete in context: "The strongest reading is also the most generous to the character."
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the strongest reading
9.Complete in context: "Interpretive humility is not the same as having no view."
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interpretive humility
10.Cover the list. Which words can you still recall, and what does each one add that a simpler word wouldn't?
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textual evidence — specific words or patterns in the text that support a claim | to weigh (a reading) against — to compare interpretations on the evidence | to read against the grain — to interpret a text against its surface invitation | to over-read — to extract more meaning than the text supports | the strongest reading — the interpretation best supported by the text | interpretive humility — the discipline of holding readings provisionally
1.Give two natural word partners for "textual evidence" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: The reading rests on three lines of textual evidence.
2.Give two natural word partners for "to weigh (a reading) against" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: I weigh that reading against three things in the text and find it lighter.
3.Give two natural word partners for "to read against the grain" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: She reads the chapter against the grain — and the text rewards it.
4.Give two natural word partners for "to over-read" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: I think we're over-reading the silence in paragraph two.
5.Give two natural word partners for "the strongest reading" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: The strongest reading is also the most generous to the character.
6.Give two natural word partners for "interpretive humility" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Interpretive humility is not the same as having no view.
7.Choose three words from this lesson and build one sentence that uses all three naturally.
1.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "textual evidence": "The reading rests on three lines of textual evidence."
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Keep the meaning of: specific words or patterns in the text that support a claim
2.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to weigh (a reading) against": "I weigh that reading against three things in the text and find it lighter."
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Keep the meaning of: to compare interpretations on the evidence
3.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to read against the grain": "She reads the chapter against the grain — and the text rewards it."
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Keep the meaning of: to interpret a text against its surface invitation
4.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to over-read": "I think we're over-reading the silence in paragraph two."
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Keep the meaning of: to extract more meaning than the text supports
5.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "the strongest reading": "The strongest reading is also the most generous to the character."
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Keep the meaning of: the interpretation best supported by the text
6.Summarise the lesson's main idea in exactly 20 words — no more, no less.
1.Paragraph A: a parent watching a child sleep.
2.Paragraph B: two colleagues passing on a stairwell.
3.Paragraph C: a character refusing an invitation.
4.Long turn (2 minutes, no notes): Teacher provides a 150-word paragraph 10 minutes ahead of the challenge. You prepare a 5-minute close-reading talk: state your reading, defend it with THREE textual cues (one each: says, implies, invites), name what you are bringing as reader, and weigh ONE alternative reading. Teacher takes notes and gives one-minute structured feedback.
5.Record 90 seconds using at least four of: textual evidence, to weigh (a reading) against, to read against the grain, to over-read, the strongest reading. Listen back and mark one thing to make more precise.
1.Plan first: write a three-line outline (position → strongest support → concession) before you draft.
2.Choose any paragraph from a book or article you've read this month. Write a 200–220-word close-reading response. You MUST: (a) state your reading in one sentence, (b) defend it with at least two textual cues (named as 'the text says' / 'the text implies' / 'the text invites'), (c) acknowledge what you bring as reader, (d) name one rival reading and weigh it, (e) use at least three target items. (200–220 words). Include: textual evidence, to weigh (a reading) against, to read against the grain, to over-read, the strongest reading, interpretive humility.
3.Model analysis: compare your text with the model. What does the model do in its first and last sentences that yours doesn't?
1.When a candidate is given an image, quote or text, examiners reward grounded interpretation over free association.
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Anchor every claim to one visible cue in the prompt. Move SAYS → IMPLIES → INVITES → READER once each.
2.What does the text SAY directly?
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It is a cold morning. Edward insists on walking. He has not slept. He has told no one. He has re-packed twice and left out the second jumper.
3.What does the text IMPLY that supports the contested reading?
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The repeated re-packing, the unspoken thought about the second jumper, the secrecy ('he had told no one').
4.What does the text IMPLY that complicates the contested reading?
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The framing of 'his mother coming out' suggests inheritance and presence, not severance; the case is described as small.
5.What does the text INVITE?
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A reading of ambivalent departure — going somewhere, uncertain whether to stay, leaving room for return.
6.Is the contested reading the STRONGEST one?
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Defensible but over-stated. 'Leaving for good' is one possible reading; 'going away ambivalently' is better supported.
1.In your own words, when do you use "Close reading: defending from the text"?
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Close reading at C2: (a) THE TEXT SAYS — direct propositional content (highest claim, easiest to defend); (b) THE TEXT IMPLIES — defensible inference from cues (mid-level; needs at least two cues); (c) THE TEXT INVITES — interpretation the structure encourages even if not stated (needs argument from pattern); (d) THE READER BRINGS — what is yours, not the text's (must be named as such).
2.Complete naturally: "The reading rests on three lines of ______."
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textual evidence
3.Complete naturally: "I weigh that reading against three things in the text and find it lighter."
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to weigh (a reading) against
4.Complete naturally: "She reads the chapter against the grain — and the text rewards it."
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to read against the grain
5.Complete naturally: "I think we're over-reading the silence in paragraph two."
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to over-read
6.Complete naturally: "The strongest reading is also the most generous to the character."
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the strongest reading
7.Two-minute retell: summarise the reading/listening from this lesson without looking at it.
8.When did you last hold a reading too long after the text stopped supporting it?
9.Where do you find yourself MOST tempted to over-read?