Text Comprehension
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Writer's Craft
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Syntax
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Vocabulary
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Quick Facts
- Exam
- ICAS English
- Provider
- ICAS Assessments / Janison
- Australia
- Years 2–12
- Papers
- Intro and A–J
- Questions
- 35–55 by paper
- Time
- 35–60 minutes
- Scoring
- Correct answers count
- Wrong answers
- No mark deduction
- Pass mark
- No fixed pass
- Grade basis
- Nation/year/subject percentiles
- High Distinction
- Top 1%
Reading Proof
TIP: Text, Intention, Proof
Text: read wholeIntention: identify purposeProof: verify choice
Main Idea vs Detail
Main idea
- Covers whole text
- Unifies key points
- Broad but precise
Detail
- Supports one point
- Narrow information
- May be memorable
Whole message vs support
Evidence Picker
- Answer stated directly→Locate exact evidence(Do not infer)
- Answer implied→Combine text clues(Check every clue)
- Question asks main idea→Cover whole text(Reject narrow detail)
- Question asks purpose→Match intended effect(Consider audience)
- Question asks sequence→Track time signals(Check event order)
- Question uses visual→Read labels first(Link text and image)
- Question asks title→Test whole-text fit(Check double meanings)
- Two options seem true→Choose best supported(Scope decides)
Paper Matrix
- Intro
- Australia Year 235Q · 35m
- Paper A
- Australia Year 345Q · 45m
- Paper B
- Australia Year 445Q · 45m
- Paper C
- Australia Year 550Q · 50m
- Paper D
- Australia Year 650Q · 50m
- Paper E
- Australia Year 750Q · 55m
- Paper F
- Australia Year 850Q · 55m
- Paper G
- Australia Year 955Q · 60m
- Paper H
- Australia Year 1055Q · 60m
- Paper I
- Australia Year 1155Q · 60m
- Paper J
- Australia Year 1255Q · 60m
Inference vs Guess
Inference
- Uses text clues
- Fits every detail
- Can be proved
Guess
- Uses outside hunch
- May ignore evidence
- Cannot be proved
Evidence separates them
Text Purposes
- Narrate
- Tell events
- Describe
- Build qualities
- Explain
- Show how or why
- Argue
- Support a claim
- Persuade
- Influence audience
- Review
- Judge quality
- Inform
- Present facts
- Instruct
- Sequence steps
Fact vs Opinion
Fact
- Can be verified
- Evidence decides truth
- Independent of preference
Opinion
- Expresses judgement
- May use evaluative words
- Can use evidence
Verifiable vs judged
Comprehension Targets
- Explicit detail
- Directly stated information
- Main idea
- Whole-text central message
- Topic sentence
- Paragraph focus
- Sequence
- Event order
- Cause
- Why something happened
- Effect
- What happened next
- Inference
- Evidence-based conclusion
- Prediction
- Likely future outcome
- Assumption
- Unstated belief
- Synthesis
- Combine ideas
Evidence Map
- Quotation
- Exact supporting words
- Example
- Concrete support
- Table
- Compare organised values
- Diagram
- Visualise relationships
- Caption
- Explain image
- Heading
- Preview section
- Title
- Frame whole meaning
- Layout
- Guide emphasis
Craft Analysis
PEE: Point, Evidence, Effect
Point: name techniqueEvidence: locate wordsEffect: explain purpose
Tone vs Mood
Tone
- Writer's attitude
- Revealed by choices
- Can shift
Mood
- Reader's feeling
- Created by atmosphere
- Text-wide effect
Attitude vs feeling
Craft Effect Picker
- Uses like or as→Simile(Compare qualities)
- Equates unlike things→Metaphor(Transfer qualities)
- Nonhuman acts human→Personification(Animate image)
- Statement wildly overstates→Hyperbole(Intensify effect)
- Outcome reverses expectation→Irony(Expose contrast)
- Opening sounds repeat→Alliteration(Create rhythm)
- Question expects no reply→Rhetorical question(Engage audience)
- Certainty level changes→Modality(Measure commitment)
Figurative Devices
- Simile
- Like or as comparison
- Metaphor
- Direct comparison
- Personification
- Human traits for nonhuman
- Hyperbole
- Deliberate exaggeration
- Imagery
- Sensory detail
- Irony
- Meaning or outcome contrasts
- Allusion
- Outside reference
- Symbol
- Deeper represented idea
- Pun
- Double-meaning wordplay
- Idiom
- Fixed nonliteral expression
Sound + Structure
- Alliteration
- Repeated initial consonant sounds
- Assonance
- Repeated vowel sounds
- Onomatopoeia
- Sound-imitating word
- Rhyme
- Matching sound patterns
- Repetition
- Build emphasis or rhythm
- Rhetorical question
- Prompt thought
- Foreshadowing
- Hint later events
- Short paragraph
- Isolate emphasis
- Contrast
- Spotlight difference
Simile vs Metaphor
Simile
- Signals comparison
- Often like or as
- Keeps things separate
Metaphor
- States identity
- No comparison marker
- Transfers qualities
Signalled vs direct comparison
Persuasion + Voice
- Tone
- Writer's attitude
- Mood
- Reader's feeling
- Voice
- Distinctive expression
- Narrator
- Story speaker
- Point of view
- Viewing position
- Emotive language
- Trigger feelings
- Modality
- Certainty or obligation
- Inclusive language
- Build belonging
- Direct address
- Speak to reader
- Evidence
- Support claim
Coordinating Conjunctions
FANBOYS joins equal grammatical units
For: reasonAnd: additionNor: negative choiceBut: contrastOr: choiceYet: contrastSo: result
Colon vs Semicolon
Colon
- Introduces what follows
- List or explanation
- Main clause before
Semicolon
- Links equal clauses
- Ideas closely related
- No conjunction needed
Introduce vs link
Syntax Repair Picker
- Thought is incomplete→Add main clause(Fix fragment)
- Main clauses collide→Add proper join(Fix run-on)
- Subject and verb differ→Match number(Check true subject)
- Time shifts accidentally→Align verb tense(Preserve timeline)
- Pronoun target unclear→Name the referent(Remove ambiguity)
- Ownership is shown→Add possessive apostrophe(Check plural form)
- Explanation follows clause→Use colon(Complete clause first)
- Related main clauses→Use semicolon(Equal clause strength)
Sentence Building
- Subject
- Who or what
- Predicate
- Subject's action or state
- Independent clause
- Complete thought
- Dependent clause
- Needs main clause
- Simple sentence
- One independent clause
- Compound sentence
- Equal main clauses
- Complex sentence
- Main plus dependent
- Relative clause
- Describes a noun
- Fragment
- Incomplete sentence
- Run-on
- Clauses joined incorrectly
Proofreading Check
COPS: Capitals, Organisation, Punctuation, Spelling
Capitals: proper startsOrganisation: logical orderPunctuation: sentence controlSpelling: exact forms
Clause vs Phrase
Clause
- Has subject and verb
- May stand alone
- Can be dependent
Phrase
- Lacks full clause pair
- Acts as unit
- Cannot form sentence
Clause has predication
Punctuation Map
- Full stop
- End statement
- Comma
- Separate sentence elements
- Apostrophe
- Possession or omission
- Colon
- Introduce list or explanation
- Semicolon
- Link related main clauses
- Dash
- Interrupt or emphasise
- Parentheses
- Add extra information
- Quotation marks
- Direct speech or quotation
- Hyphen
- Join compound words
- Question mark
- End direct question
Cohesion + Grammar
- Conjunction
- Join grammatical units
- Connective
- Link idea relationships
- Pronoun
- Point to referent
- Agreement
- Subject matches verb
- Tense
- Place action in time
- Tense consistency
- Maintain time frame
- Active voice
- Subject performs action
- Passive voice
- Receiver foregrounded
- Modifier
- Describe nearby target
- Parallelism
- Match grammatical form
Word Parts
Prefix + Base + Suffix
Prefix: beforeBase: coreSuffix: after
Denotation vs Connotation
Denotation
- Literal definition
- Shared core meaning
- Dictionary starting point
Connotation
- Emotional association
- Can be positive
- Context shapes effect
Definition vs association
Vocabulary Solver
- Definition appears nearby→Restate definition(Direct clue)
- But signals contrast→Infer opposite sense(Antonym clue)
- Examples follow→Name shared category(Example clue)
- Prefix is familiar→Apply prefix meaning(Check final context)
- Suffix is familiar→Identify word class(Then infer meaning)
- Base word is familiar→Build related meaning(Semantic family)
- Phrase seems illogical→Test idiomatic meaning(Avoid literal reading)
- Technical term appears→Use field context(Interpret jargon)
Context Clues
- Definition clue
- Meaning stated nearby
- Synonym clue
- Similar word nearby
- Antonym clue
- Opposite reveals meaning
- Example clue
- Instances define category
- Contrast clue
- But signals difference
- Cause clue
- Result reveals meaning
- Tone clue
- Attitude narrows sense
- Syntax clue
- Grammar reveals word class
Word Relationships
- Synonym
- Similar meaning
- Antonym
- Opposite meaning
- Homonym
- Same form; different meaning
- Homophone
- Same sound; different spelling
- Denotation
- Literal core meaning
- Connotation
- Associated feeling
- Prefix
- Before base
- Suffix
- After base
- Base word
- Core form
- Semantic family
- Related word forms
- Collocation
- Usual word partnership
- Jargon
- Specialist language
Common Traps
Supported vs merely true
Text provides evidence ≠ Outside knowledge alone
Technique vs effect
Name identifies device ≠ Effect explains purpose
Writer vs narrator
Writer creates text ≠ Narrator tells story
Tone vs mood
Tone belongs to writer ≠ Mood affects reader
Comma vs clause join
Comma separates elements ≠ Main clauses need joins
Plural vs possession
Plural usually lacks apostrophe ≠ Possession often uses apostrophe
Familiar vs contextual meaning
Word has known sense ≠ Sentence selects sense
Absolute vs qualified claim
Always may overclaim ≠ Qualifiers narrow scope
Decoration vs visual evidence
Decoration adds appeal ≠ Visuals can carry meaning
Last Minute
- 1.Confirm your country's paper mapping
- 2.Know 35–55 questions by paper
- 3.Answer every question
- 4.Wrong answers lose no marks
- 5.Read titles, labels, captions
- 6.Prove answers from text
- 7.Purpose includes audience effect
- 8.Name technique, then effect
- 9.Track every pronoun referent
- 10.Connectives reveal idea relationships
- 11.Context controls word meaning
- 12.Check agreement, tense, punctuation
- 13.No dictionary, calculator, phone
- 14.Blank paper: ask supervisor
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