Language Skills for Higher English Link Questions
Another type of question which is designed to test your understanding of meaning, as well as your appreciation of the structure of the text, is the so-called ‘link’ question. You will be asked to show how one sentence provides a ‘link’ in the argument or line of thought. The ‘argument’ need not be a discussion: here ‘argument’ means the progression of ideas in piece of writing, and the link will join one idea to the next.
Usually, but not invariably, the ‘link’ sentence will stand at the beginning of a paragraph. Part of the sentence – often, but not always the first part – will refer back to the previous topic and another part of the sentence will introduce the new topic which follows.
What are the two main ideas in this line of thought? Shakespeare’s work is very widely known. William Shakespeare is easily the best-known of our English writers. Virtually every man in the street can name some of his plays and his characters, and many people can also recite lines of his poetry by heart. However, despite our familiarity with his work, we know relatively little of the man himself. We do not know when or why he became an actor, we know nothing of his life in London , and almost nothing of his personal concerns. Not very much is known about the personal life of Shakespeare. Which sentence provides a link between these two ideas?
Such questions are usually worth 2 marks, which are awarded for correctly identifying the parts of the sentence that link back and forward and the two topics which they connect.
Question: Show how the third sentence acts as a link in the argument.
You should show the link by first quoting the part of the link sentence which refers back to the earlier topic, saying what this topic is. William Shakespeare is easily the best-known of our English writers. Virtually every man in the street can name some of his plays and his characters, and many people can also recite lines of his poetry by heart. However, despite our familiarity with his work, we know relatively little of the man himself. We do not know when or why he became an actor, we know nothing of his life in London , and almost nothing of his personal concerns. The phrase “our familiarity with his work” looks back at the topic of how widely known Shakespeare’s work is.
You should then quote the part of the link sentence which looks forward to the next topic, explaining what this is. William Shakespeare is easily the best-known of our English writers. Virtually every man in the street can name some of his plays and his characters, and many people can also recite lines of his poetry by heart. However, despite our familiarity with his work, we know relatively little of the man himself. We do not know when or why he became an actor, we know nothing of his life in London , and almost nothing of his personal concerns. The second part of the sentence “we know relatively little of the man himself� introduces the new topic, namely the things that are not known about Shakespeare, and a list of these
The sentence may also begin with a linking word or phrase such as ‘but’ or ‘however’ which points to a change of direction and you should also comment on this. William Shakespeare is easily the best-known of our English writers. Virtually every man in the street can name some of his plays and his characters, and many people can also recite lines of his poetry by heart. However, despite our familiarity with his work, we know relatively little of the man himself. We do not know when or why he became an actor, we know nothing of his life in London , and almost nothing of his personal concerns. The conjunction ‘however’ which begins the sentence suggests a contrasting idea to follow.
Use this formula when answering context questions:
The phrase (quote the phrase from the link question) looks back at the topic/ideas (refer to the topic in the previous paragraph/ sentences). [The conjunction _____ suggests a contrasting idea to follow.] The phrase (quote the phrase from the link question) introduces the new topic, (refer to the topic in the proceeding paragraph/sentences).
The phrase ‘illicit grandeurs of her forbears’ looks back to the ideas of the mother’s connections with ‘the Castle’, and with the noblemen who murdered Edward II (1 mark); the phrase ‘quite ordinary poverty’ introduces the idea of the difficult circumstances which follow in detail, such as the girl having to leave school to look after a large family of brothers and sisters because her mother was ill (1 mark).
The phrase ‘the position’ looks back to the stance the beggar had occupies at the end of the drive by the gates (1 mark); the phrase ‘brought the old man little benefit’ introduces the idea that the old man became too weak to beg, and eventually dies of exposure after a snowfall (1 mark).
The phrase ‘the appearance’ looks back to the previous paragraph which was a list of the features of the Queen’s beauty (1 mark); the phrase ‘the character of Mary Stuart’ introduces a description of her intellect and personality (1 mark).
The word ‘vast’ refers back to the very large numbers working in service (1 mark); the word ‘heterogeneous’ which means of many different kinds, introduces an explanation of the huge variety of types of service (1 mark).
The phrase ‘all these qualities’ refers back to the list of Einstein’s eccentricities such as wearing no socks (1 mark); the phrase ‘would still not have been sufficient’ introduces what was necessary to make him an international celebrity – ‘the missing ingredient’ – which was the extreme difficulty of his theory. (1 mark).
The phrase ‘the years as a golden boy’ refers back to the description of Alastair’s successful school career (1 mark); the phrase ‘made a sad contrast’ introduces the idea of the list of disasters which over him later at University (1 mark).