Reading Questions

When working on reading comprehension skills it is useful to answer questions. Here are some general questions which you can answer when reading either fiction or non-fiction texts. There is a link below which you can click on to open the document then answer the questions on Microsoft Word too.

Fiction

-Where does the story take place?
-When did the story take place?
-What did the character look like?
-Where did the character live?
-Who are the key characters in the book?
-What happened in the story?
-What kinds of people in the story?
-Explain something that happened at a specific point in the story?

-If you were going to interview this character/author, which questions would you ask?
-Which is your favourite part? Why?
-Who would you like to meet most in the story? Why?
-What do you think would happen next if the story carried on past the ending of the book?
-Who was the storyteller? How do you know?
-Predict what you think is going to happen next. Why do you think this?
-Is this a place you could visit? Why/why not?
-How is the main character feeling at the start/middle/end of the story? Why do they feel that way? Does this surprise you?

-Were you surprised by the ending? Is it what you expected? Why/why not?
-What is the main event of the story? Why do you think this?
-How has the text been organised?
-Why do you think authors use short sentences?
-How did you think it would end/should end?
-Has the author used an unusual layout in the text? Is so, describe it and say why you think they did this?
-Has the author used a variety of sentence structures?
-Has the author put certain words in bold or italic? Why have they done this?

-Why did the author choose this title?
-Do you want to read the rest of the text? How does the writer encourage you to read the rest of the text?
-Can you find some examples of effective description? What makes them effective?
-Which part of the story best describes the setting?
-Can you find examples of powerful adjectives? What do they tell you about a character or setting?
-Can you find examples of powerful adverbs? What do they tell you about a character, their actions or the setting?
-Can you find examples of powerful verbs? What do they tell you about a character, their actions or the setting?
-Find an example of a word you don’t know the meaning of. Using the text around it, what do you think it means?

-Can you think of another story that has a similar theme eg good over evil, weak over strong, wise over foolish?
-Why did the author choose this setting?
-What makes this a successful story?  What evidence do you have to justify your opinion?
-How could the story be improved or changed for the better?
-What was the most exciting part of the story?  Explain your answer as fully as you can.
-What genre is this story? How do you know?
-What was the least exciting part of the story? Explain your answer as fully as you can.
-When the author writes in short sentences, what does this tell you?
 

-Do you know another story, which deals with the same issues eg social, cultural, moral issues?
-Have you ever been in a similar situation to a character in the book? What happened?
-How would you have felt in the same situation?
-What would you have done differently to the character in a particular situation from the book?
-How would you feel if you were treated in the same way as the main character?
-What did the story make you think of?
-Have you read any other stories that have similar characters to this one? If so, which story was it and what happened?
-Do you think this book is trying to give the reader a message? If so, what is it?

Non-Fiction

-What is the text about? What is the title of the text? Who is the author of the text?
-What kind of things would you expect to see in this book?
-Can you find examples of different features of this text type?
-Find something that interests you from the text. Explain why you chose that particular part.
-Where would you look to find out what a technical word means?
-What is on the cover of the book? What does this tell you about the content inside?

-Which parts of the book could help you find the information you need?
-When would you use the contents page in the book?
-When would you use the index page in the book?
-What sort of person do you think would use this book?
-When might someone use this book? Why?
-Can you suggest ideas for other sections or chapters to go into the book?
-Do you think the author of the book is an ‘expert’ about the topic of the book? Why/why not?
 

-Can you find an example of a page you think has an interesting layout? Why did you choose it?
-Why have some of the words been written in italics?
-What are the subheadings for?
-Why have some of the words been written in bold?
-How does the layout help the reader
-What is the purpose of the pictures?
-Can you find examples of words which tell you the order of something?
-What kind of a text is this? How do you know?

-Why does this book contain technical vocabulary?
-Find an example of a technical word. Read
the sentence it’s in. What do you think it means based on how it’s used in the sentence?
-Are there any examples of persuasive language?
-Why do we need a glossary in a text?
 

-Why has the writer written this text?
-Have you found any of the illustrations, diagrams or pictures useful? Why/why not? Try to explain fully
-Why did the writer choose to present the information in the way they did?
-How could the information be presented better?
-What makes this text successful?
-Are there any features that it hasn’t got? Why do you think it doesn’t have them?
-Can you think of another text that is similar to this one? What are the similarities and differences between them?
 

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