Comprehension: Fiction Set 7
Comprehension: Fiction Set 7 is an 11+ fiction comprehension task built around an extended metaphor in descriptive writing, testing whether pupils can trace one sustained comparison across a passage and explain the combined effect of the words that build it, alongside literal recall and inference questions.
Method
- Read the whole extract once through, noticing if one comparison, such as an animal, a person or a machine, is used more than once to describe the same thing.
- Identify the individual words linked to that comparison, such as 'prowling', 'pacing' and 'growl' if the comparison is to an animal, and note that these build on each other.
- Explain the effect of each linked word separately before drawing them together into one overall point about the extended metaphor.
- Return to the exact phrase a question names rather than describing the passage's overall mood from memory.
- For language questions, always name the technique, such as extended metaphor or personification, and link your explanation to a specific effect on the reader.
- Match your answer's depth to the number of marks available.
Worked example
Extract: 'The sea had been prowling the rocks since dawn, pacing back and forth as though it could not settle, throwing itself against the cliff and dragging back with a low, dissatisfied growl each time it failed to reach any higher.' Question: Explain how the writer uses an extended metaphor to describe the sea in this sentence. (4 marks)
- Identify the sustained comparison of the sea to a restless, prowling animal, built up through the words 'prowling', 'pacing' and 'growl'.
- Explain the effect of 'prowling' and 'pacing': these suggest a large, powerful animal unable to settle, giving the sea a sense of restless energy and threat.
- Explain the effect of 'dissatisfied growl': personifying the sea's sound as an angry, frustrated noise suggests the sea is almost trying and failing to achieve something.
- Comment on how sustaining this one comparison across the whole sentence, rather than using several different images, makes the description feel unified and builds a clear, consistent impression.
- Final answer: The writer uses an extended metaphor comparing the sea to a restless, frustrated animal, sustained through 'prowling', 'pacing' and 'dissatisfied growl', building a single, powerful impression of the sea as dangerous and relentlessly striving.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1What is the sea compared to throughout this extract?Show answer
Answer: A restless or prowling animal.
Q2True or False: The extract suggests the sea is calm and still.Show answer
Answer: False (it is described as prowling, pacing and growling, suggesting restlessness)
Q3Find and copy the word that personifies the sound the sea makes as it retreats.Show answer
Answer: growl
Q4'as though it could not settle' - what does this phrase suggest about the sea's behaviour?Show answer
Answer: It suggests the sea is restless and unable to remain calm or still, constantly moving.
Q5Explain in one sentence why using an animal comparison for the sea, rather than simply describing waves rising and falling, makes the description more powerful.Show answer
Answer: Comparing the sea to a restless animal gives it a sense of will and emotion, making it feel more threatening and alive than a plain, factual description would.
Q6Why might a writer sustain one comparison across several words in a sentence, rather than using a new comparison for every detail?Show answer
Answer: Sustaining one comparison builds a single, clear and powerful impression, whereas switching between several different comparisons could confuse the reader or weaken the overall effect.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Extract: 'By midday the wind had joined in, howling around the lighthouse like something hunting for a way inside.' Find and copy the simile used to describe the wind. Then explain what this simile suggests. (2 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 2 available
Extract: 'The keeper watched the storm from the gallery, feeling the whole tower shudder each time the sea flung itself against the base, as though the building itself had begun to share the sea's fury.' Explain how the writer extends the sea's animal-like characterisation to affect the lighthouse itself. (4 marks)
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Extract: 'Only at dusk did the sea's temper begin to ease, the growl softening into something closer to a tired, steady breathing, as though the whole day's rage had finally worn itself out.' Explain how the writer shows the storm calming in this sentence, and how this relates to the extended metaphor used earlier in the extract. (5 marks)
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 5 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the comprehension: fiction set 7 worksheet pack - 13 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 7 of 11+ English Workbook 1, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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