Higher English
Close Reading
Includes Formative Assessment Strategies
Reinforcement Pack
Understanding
The
Linking
Question
Linking Question
Introduction
This is a common question, although it's not asked every year.
The linking question is an Understanding question, but it also requires a bit
of an analysis. You must demonstrate an understanding of each of the two
paragraphs (or sections) being linked. In addition you must identify the
word or words in the link sentence which connect with the preceding
paragraph, and the word or words in the link sentence which connect with
what follows.
Sometimes a link can be as simple as one word or phrase:
 Now – this must link the past with the present.
 Later – this must be the next stage in a development.
 On the contrary – this must go on to give an opposing view.
But you are more likely to be asked to identify specific words or phrases
and show how the sentence performs a linking function in the line of
thought.
Link answers should have four specific parts:

a quotation (from the link sentence) which refers back to the
idea(s) of the first paragraph;

an understanding of the idea(s) of the first paragraph;

a quotation (from the link sentence) which refers to the idea(s) of
the second paragraph;

an understanding of the idea(s) of the second paragraph.
Reinforcement Pack
Question
Linking
-2-
There is a clear formula for answering the link question. You have to
identify in the linking sentence two words or phrases, one pointing back
and the other pointing forward. You then have to link these words/phrases
with the relevant parts of the two paragraphs.
Link = (quote + understanding) + (quote + understanding)
In many examples you will be told that the sentence acts as a link, but the
question could be rephrased so that you have to recognise that what you
are being asked about is the Link question.
eg. What is the function of the sentence in the writer’s line of thought.
By referring closely to specific words and phrases show how it fulfills
this function.
3 marks
This probably is a link question, and your first mark of the three is to
identify the function as a linking one. But always check carefully to see if
it is a link.
-3-
Linking Question
Reinforcement Pack
Another way to think about it…
When does it come up?
Just when the passage is moving away from one topic and moving on
to another. The sentence you will be asked to examine will refer back to
the old topic and forward to the new topic. All you have to do is explain
the connection quoting to show what you mean.
Example:
Scotland in the past
Now let us take our eyes away from the history book and start gazing into
the crystal ball.
Scotland in the future
Question: Referring to specific words or phrases, show how the
sentence beginning, “Now let us take…” acts as a link in the passage.
Answer: The sentence links the previous paragraph which talks about
Scotland in the past – “the history book” to the next paragraph
which talks about Scotland in the future - “the crystal ball.”
OR
Answer: The sentence acts as a link because “the history book” refers
back to the previous paragraph which talks about Scotland in the
past, and “the crystal ball” picks up the topic of the next paragraph
which is about Scotland in the future.
In each case you are following the formula:
LINK = (quote + understanding) + (quote + understanding)
Reinforcement Pack
Question
Linking
-4-
Another way to think about it…
Scotland in
the past
Now let us take
our eyes away
from the history
book …
Quote
these
words
Look for new
topic in the
next few
lines of the
passage
-5-
Refer to
previous
paragraph
Quote
these
words
… and start
gazing into the
crystal ball.
Scotland in
the future
Linking Question
Reinforcement Pack
Example 1
SQA Close Reading Paper 2003
Marks
This week the Home Secretary was assuring his French
counterpart that Britain would clamp down even more
severely on those working here illegally. At the same
time planes advanced for “accommodation centers”,
which will have the immediate effect of preventing
natural integration, while children of immigrants are to
be denied the harmonizing effect of inter-racial
schooling. Meanwhile, ever more sophisticated
technology is to be employed to stem the numbers of
young men who risk their lives clinging to the underside
of trains and lorries, or are paying obscene sums of
money to the 21st century’s own version of slave traders
– those traffickers in human misery who make their
fortunes on the back of other’s desperation.
Yet at the heart of this ever more draconian
approach to immigration policy lie a number of
misconceptions. The UK is not a group of nations
swamped by a tidal wave of immigration. Relatively
speaking, Europe contends with a trickle of refugees
compared with countries who border areas of famine,
desperate poverty, or violent political upheaval. The
countries of origin of the highest number coming here
change from year to year, depending on the hotspots of
global conflict. A significant proportion of refugees want
nothing more that to be able to return to that homeland
when conditions allow.
Question 5
2
Referring to specific words or phrases, show how the
sentence “Yet ………misconceptions.” performs a
linking function in the writer’s line of thought.
Reinforcement Pack
Question
Linking
-6-
General Advice

Look at the first part of the sentence – what is it
saying?
( quote the words)

To what idea do the words refer to in the previous
paragraph ? Explain in your own words.

Look at the last part of the sentence - what is it
saying?
( quote the words)

How does the rest of the paragraph develop the
idea contained in the last part of the sentence?
Explain in your own words.
Response
-7-
Linking Question
Reinforcement Pack
Example 2: SQA Reading Paper 2001
Marks
...........But it is not surprising that, when Scotland is still amid the birth
pains of its own Parliament, we should search the back catalogue of
history to find some emblem of hope. The long chronicle of St Kilda
offers a powerful and inclusive symbol, a looking-glass story in which
people can see themselves. At the moment, however, the popular
narrative offers cold comfort. The story of a marginal parliament
threatened by the malign forces of an overbearing neighbour may
have a familiar ring for nationalists of Eurosceptics, but it is not the
reassurance we are looking for.
If we bypass the historians and head straight for the archive, a
different story begins to emerge. One of the most poignant
elements of St Kilda’s past is that with a very few exceptions the entire
historical record is made up of travellers’ accounts. As none of the
islanders could read and few could speak more that a few words of
English until the late nineteenth century, their history is made up of
external reports.
Question 5
2
In what way does the sentence “If we bypass...........to emerge.” Act
as a link in the writer’s line of thought? You should refer to specific
words and phrases in your answer.
Response
Reinforcement Pack
Question
Linking
-8-
Example 3 : The Darien Scheme
Marks
Greed has often been the downfall of men and women but
seldom in history has an entire nation so stumbled in the pursuit
of fame and fortune. Darien, Scotland’s colony in the sun, was
seen as a potential money-spinner which would enhance
Scotland’s standing in Europe. Within four years the venture had
collapsed. More than 2000 Scots died. The fortunate ones were
buried in Darien’s damp soil. The others never even made it.
They died on the voyage: their bodies dumped over board. Nine
ships were sunk or destroyed by fire or stormy weather.
Who or what was to blame for Darien? Avarice, without doubt,
was one of the villains; William Paterson was another. He was a
merchant of Edinburgh with a glorious vision who sold the idea to
the Scottish people. Patterson was instrumental.........
Question 7
3
Explain the function of the sentence “Who or what was to
blame for Darien?”
Response
-9-
Linking Question
Reinforcement Pack
Example 4: Children’s Books
Marks
The pendulum in this game of literary reputations has begun to swing
back towards Blyton. A rush of new editions of her best-loved stories
is making her centenary, and parents in Norwich have protested
against a city-centre library ban on Blyton. But her rehabilitation is
at best partial, and any respect accorded to her grudging. A
soon-to-be published book of essays by stars in the world of
children’s literature concedes that she told a ripping yarn, but goes
on to pick holes in every other aspect of her oeuvre.
3
Question 5
“But her rehabilitation..........accorded to her grudging.”
Explain fully the part that this sentence plays in the structure of
paragraph 3.
Response
Reinforcement Pack
10 -
Linking Question
-
Marks
Example 5 : The Packsge Holiday
Natural resources in Benidorm, as in so many other resorts, are so
scant that the only industry that could sustain itself there is tourism.
The same goes for our other favourites: were it not for people like
me, Tenerife would be just a barren volcanic outcrop. Instead, it is a
barren volcanic outcrop with tens of thousands of tourists abroad
having the times of their lives to the detriment of none. Pile the
apartment blocks high, sell the holidays cheap, and Europe’s weary
working folk will beat a flight path to your prom.
And who has the right to deprive us?
The environmental lobby, you could respond. “We pack into large
metal boxes which unimaginable quantities of fossil fuels to transport
us thousands of miles,” writes John Rentoul. Yes, we do, because a
combination of well-run tour operators (those mass-market
companies that have survived have had to be good and cheap) and
government subsidy makes it worth our while.
Question 11
2
“And who has the right to deprive us?”
Show how this sentence acts as a link in the writer’s argument.
Response
- 11 -
Linking Question
Reinforcement Pack