Characters and why they act for 11 plus English

A character is built from what they say, what they do, and how other people react to them. Motivation is the reason behind what they do. So read the whole picture, not one moment, and keep asking why. What they do, and why they do it.

Ella snapped at her brother when he asked to borrow her bike.

That night, while he slept, she crept out, pumped up his flat tyre and leaned the bike against his door.

She snaps at him. That is one grumpy moment. Then, when nobody is watching, she mends his tyre. What someone does when nobody is watching tells you the most. So Ella is kind, even if she is short-tempered. And why does she do it in secret? She wants to help without making a fuss.

The trap is judging from one moment. Unkind, from the snap alone. One action is a clue, not the whole character. Read to the end before you decide.

• 1.1Finding the answer in the textFind it, then check it
• 1.2Reading between the linesNo clue, no answer
• 1.4What a word means in the passageSwap it in, read it back
• 1.5Why the writer did itSay what it does to the reader
• 1.6Similes, metaphors and moreSay it in plain words
• 1.7Order and structureFind the event, then look either side
• 1.8Reading an older textFind the main sentence, then put old words into today's words

Every 11 plus English topic