2019 JC2 GP Lecture (T1W6) Students’ Copy

Yishun Innova Junior College

JC2 2019 General Paper
Lecture 5: Paper 2 Skills –
Figurative Language SAQs

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

1. Identify the features of the following question types:

- Analogy Questions
- Irony Questions
- Paradox Questions

2. Apply the steps required to answer these question types more accurately

No. Content Page/s

1 Overview of SAQs 2

2 Introduction 3

3 The Analogy Question 3-5

4 The Irony Question 6-7

5 The Paradox Question 8

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1. Overview of Short Answer Question Types

Ticks indicate question types done.

Direct Paraphrase
Paraphrase
(mostly found from Closet Paraphrase
the passage)
(may include some
inference)

Punctuation
Main Categories of SAQs

Vocabulary
Inferential

Inferential Qns Point-Illustration

Logical
Suggestion
Figurative
Language

Identification
Others
Combination

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 2. Introduction

Figurative language is a term used to describe an author's use of language to extend

meaning. This is achieved by deviating from the literal meaning of words or by deviating from
the usual arrangement of words.

Figurative language helps us to:

▪ visualize the idea – see it as a picture and understand it better
▪ save words – no need for long explanations
▪ cue in or tune in to the attitudes and feelings of the author – how the author wants his
writing to be interpreted.

3. The Analogy Question

What is an analogy?
An analogy is a comparison between two unrelated or dissimilar things because of an
element that is shared.

Forms of Analogy:
▪ Use ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘than’ → Simile (‘My mind is like an ocean’)
▪ Leave out ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘than’ → Metaphor (‘My mind is an ocean’)
▪ Give inanimate or non-human things or ideas human-like qualities → Personification (‘The
boat hugged the shore’; ‘The bomb tricked me.’)

Why is it used?
1. To make a (difficult/unfamiliar) concept easier to understand or more relatable to the
reader
2. To make the idea more vivid
3. To stir emotions

How to identify this question type:

Analogy questions usually come in the form of a question that asks you to explain a
comparison that has been made. They therefore often contain words like ‘compare’ or ‘like’.

Note:
▪ You must be aware that an imagery has been used to explain the situation/argument.
▪ The words ‘analogy’, ‘simile’, ‘metaphor’ or ‘personification’ are unlikely to be used in the
question.

Examples:
1. Explain how using humour to deal with ‘normally unacceptable’ content is ‘like a sugar
coating to bitter medicine’. [2]

2. Explain why the author compares ‘the concept of tolerance’ to ‘a tree trunk’. [2]

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Steps to answering an Analogy Question:

1. Explain the analogy using the following steps:

Step 1: Explain the imagery used.
Step 2: Show the similarity between the imagery and the relevant situation/argument in the
passage.

2. If the question asks why the comparison is made, give a reason/reasons. (Example 2)

3. Paraphrase key words taken from the passage.

Example 1

This, however, is a sign of a healthy comedy culture because it means that comedians are
pushing social boundaries. Stories and expressions that are normally unacceptable are met
with laughter and agreement when they are told on stage. The fact that the content is
encrusted in humour is like a sugar coating to bitter medicine. The laugh takes away the
sting. (IJC Prelim 2015)

Explain how using humour to deal with ‘normally unacceptable’ content is ‘like a sugar
coating to bitter medicine’. [2]

From the Passage Suggested Answer

…comedians are pushing social
boundaries. Stories and
expressions that are normally
unacceptable are met with
laughter and agreement when they
are told on stage. The fact that the
content is encrusted in humour is
like a sugar coating to bitter
medicine. The laugh takes away
the sting.
a) Just as medicine which tastes awful but is
good for us is made easier to swallow by a
sweet external layer, [1]
[Cannot lift: “sugar” or “bitter”]
b) so content which may be socially significant
but usually hard to take is more easily
received when it is funny. [1]
Note: There must be an attempt at comparison
for any marks to be awarded.

Note:
* The ‘how’ in the question means you only need to show the similarity between the
imagery used (‘sugar coating bitter medicine’) and the given situation in the passage (‘using
humour to relay unpopular content’).

* Steps 1 and 2 cannot be reversed.

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 Example 2 – Lecture Practice

Before one denounces intolerance, one first needs to examine the qualities it shares with
tolerance, for doesn’t tolerance, just like intolerance, set limits, make judgements, and rather
than reconcile people, set them apart? … Like the rings embedded within a tree’s trunk which
one can only see by slicing the trunk open, it is only by dissecting the concept of tolerance that
one becomes aware of the magnitude of meanings nestled within it. In many contexts
(regarding abortion, religion, and race) the word ”tolerance” connotes disrespect and often
contempt to those being tolerated; to tolerate something implies that it is somewhat flawed,
somewhat imperfect, in so far as it disagrees with one’s own values and beliefs.
(CJC Prelim 2012)

Explain why the author compares ‘the concept of tolerance’ to ‘a tree trunk’? [2]
From the Passage You try!
Like the rings Purpose:
embedded within a The author is using a tree trunk as an analogy to …………………….
tree’s trunk which one
can only see by slicing ………………………………………………………………………………
the trunk open, it is only
by dissecting the Explanation of analogy:
concept of tolerance that
one becomes aware of 1. A tree trunk ……………………………………………………………
the magnitude of
meanings nestled within …………………………………………………………………………..
it.
2. Similarly, tolerance…………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………….

Note: The ‘why’ in the question suggests the need to explain the purpose of using the
analogy before explaining the similarity between the imagery and the given situation (Steps
1 and 2).

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 3. The Irony Question

What is an irony?
1. An outcome which is the opposite of or significantly different from what is intended or
expected. (Situational Irony)

2. Use of words that are opposite to their usual meaning. (Verbal/Linguistic Irony)

Why is it used?
1. To be amusing

2. To mock/taunt/deflate/show annoyance or disapproval (In this case we can use the word
Sarcasm/Sarcastic)

Steps to answering an Irony question:

1. Work out the irony using the Reverse method.

2. Write your answer according to the following steps:

Step 1: State the situation (usually given)
Step 2: Infer the expectation (not given)
Step 3: State the outcome (always given)

3. Use key indicators for irony: the words ‘assume’ or ’expect’ to show expectation and
connectors such as ‘but’, ‘however, ‘instead’, ‘yet’, ‘on the contrary’ to introduce the
unexpected outcome.

4. Paraphrase key words taken from the passage.

Example 1

However, the brutal fact is that, while one-third or more of city-dwellers in the developing world
live on or below the poverty line, only about one-third of the rural population lives above it. A
typical study of urbanisation in the developing world concludes that despite appalling housing
conditions, lack of fresh water and services, minimal health care and few chances of finding a
job, the urban poor are on average "better off than their rural cousins, on almost every indicator
of social and economic well-being".

Explain the irony of city living. [2]

From the passage Is this a good answer?

despite appalling housing conditions, (a) City dwellers have a poor quality of life,
lack of fresh water and services,
(b) but, people in the rural areas are even worse off.
minimal health care and few chances
of finding a job
→ Refer to the definition of irony. Is the irony explained
the urban poor are on average “better
in this answer?
off than their rural cousins, on almost
every indicator or social and
The answer explains the irony. ( )
economic well-being
The answer does not explain the irony. ( )

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 Using the Reverse Method to work out the irony:

1. Note the outcome of the situation (the irony lies in the outcome).
2. Infer an expectation which is the opposite of the outcome.
3. Check that the given situation does logically lead to the expectation you inferred.

steps
Explaining the irony of city living clearly using the suggested steps:

From the passage Suggested answer

despite appalling housing conditions,
lack of fresh water and services,
minimal health care and few
chances of finding a job
the urban poor are on average “better
off than their rural cousins, on
almost every indicator or social
and economic well-being
(a) Given the poor living conditions in the city,
(b) one would expect city dwellers to have the
lowest quality of life in the country.
(c) Instead, they have a higher standard of
living and quality of life than people in rural
areas.

Situation→ Expectation → Outcome

Example 2 - Lecture Practice

One of the areas in which we are increasingly spectators and not participants is
cooking. Babette, fortunately, was once a revered chef in Paris. For the rest of us,
the loss of many of our traditional kitchen skills has led to the popularity of the
cookery programmes which proliferate on our screens. The book accompanying the
series will feature prominently in bookshops, where it will jostle for space, ironically, 5
with the book trumpeting the latest diet. This book will usually feature a female pop-
culture celebrity confessing excess, describing the path to transformation and
revealing the state of bliss now attained. The effects of too much food, it is claimed,
can be easily reversed by a swift diet, thereby producing the contemporary ideal of
feminine beauty – thinness – despite other eras and cultures decrying it as evidence 10
of low status or even neglect. (GCE ‘A’ Level 2010 & Term 1 Week 3 Booster)

Using your own words as far as possible, explain the irony which the author describes in
lines 4-6. [2]

Given the ……………………………………………………………………………………….......,

one would expect that………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Instead,……………………………………………………………………………………………….

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 4. The Paradox Question

What is a paradox?
A statement or situation that seems self-contradictory and possibly even absurd, but upon
reflection or when examined in another light, may be true.

A paradoxical saying you may be familiar with is ‘Be cruel to be kind.’

Steps to answering a Paradox question:

1. Explain the seeming contradiction or absurdity.

2. Give reasons why it is true or it makes sense (often stated in the passage).

3. Use key indicators of paradox: ‘seems contradictory’ or ‘seems absurd’…’yet in

reality’ or ‘but is is actually true’ or ‘yet it makes sense’.

4. Paraphrase key words taken from the passage.

WARNING: Avoid the use of irony indicators such as ‘assume’ and ‘expect’ when
explaining paradox!

Example

The story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” illustrates the logic. When the little boy shouted
that the emperor was naked, he was not telling them anything they did not already know.
However, he was changing their knowledge nonetheless, because now everyone knew
that everyone else knew that the emperor was naked. That emboldened them to challenge
the emperor’s authority with their laughter. The story reminds us why humour is no 5
laughing matter — why humour, even when tasteless, is terrifying to dictators and
protected by democracies. Humour, especially satire and ridicule, can stealthily challenge
assumptions by forcing its audience to see that those assumptions lead to consequences
that everyone recognises are absurd. That is why humour so often serves as an
accelerant to social progress and should not be suppressed. 10
(IJC Prelim 2016)

“humour is no laughing matter” (lines 5 – 6).

Explain why this is a paradox. Use your own words as far as possible. [3]
From the passage
…humour is no laughing matter —
why humour, even when tasteless, is
terrifying to dictators and protected
by democracies. Humour, especially
satire and ridicule, can stealthily
challenge assumptions by forcing
its audience to see that those
assumptions lead to
consequences that everyone
recognises are absurd.
Suggested answer
(a) It seems contradictory for something that creates
amusement to be serious. [1]
Yet, it is true because humour can
(b) surreptitiously [1]
(c) go against basic norms
(d) by making its recipients realise that these basic norms
result in ridiculous outcomes.
[1 mark for either (c) or (d)]