The extract question is a central feature of IGCSE English Literature — you’ll be given a passage from the text you’ve studied and asked to analyse how the writer achieves particular effects. It rewards close reading above all else: the ability to look at specific words and explain, precisely and perceptively, what they’re doing.
Read the Question Before the Extract
Before you read the extract, read the question. Know what you’re looking for. If the question asks about how the writer presents conflict, read the extract looking for conflict — its presence, its absence, its expression in specific language choices. Reading without a question in mind means you’ll note everything and select nothing.
Mark the Extract As You Read
Read through once for overall understanding. Then read again, marking specific words and phrases that seem significant in relation to the question. You’re not looking for “techniques” first — you’re looking for moments where the language seems chosen rather than accidental. The technique is secondary to the effect; name it only when it helps your analysis.
What to Look For
- Word choice (diction): Why this word and not a synonym? What does it connote?
- Imagery: What comparison is being made? What does the vehicle suggest about the tenor?
- Sentence structure: Short sentences create pace, tension, emphasis. Long, complex sentences slow the reader and suggest complexity, overwhelm, or interiority.
- Dialogue: What does the way a character speaks reveal about them?
- Perspective and narration: Who is narrating? How close are we to the character’s consciousness? What is the narrator’s relationship to the events?
- Setting: How does the physical environment reflect or contrast with what’s happening emotionally?
How to Write Your Response
Work through the extract systematically — usually from beginning to end, though you can group related moments together. For each point:
- Make a specific observation about the language
- Quote the specific words (short quotations embedded in your sentence)
- Analyse: what do those specific words suggest, connote, imply? What effect do they create in the reader?
- Connect: how does this relate to the broader question or theme?
The word “suggests” is your friend — it signals that you’re interpreting rather than merely describing, which is what close reading is.
The Trap to Avoid
Spot the technique, name the technique, and then stop. “The writer uses a simile here” earns very few marks. “The writer compares X to Y — a comparison that suggests…” earns marks. Naming the technique is not analysis. Analysis is explaining the effect of the technique on the reader.
Close reading and extract analysis are practised in every Thorogood English IGCSE English Literature session. Join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.
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