Name___________________________________ Date________________________

Comparing and Contrasting Literal and Higher

Level Thinking Questions
Literal
Higher Level
Thinking
Identification and recall of
information
Knowledge of dates, events, places
Knowledge of major ideas
Mastery of subject matter
Requires recall and gather data from
texts
Responses are straightforward
Requires attending to detail and
improve vocabulary

Indicators
Tell Describe Define
State Relate Label
List Locate Identify
Name Write Who
Find When Where

Examples
What happened after...?
How many...?
Who was it that...?
Can you name the...?
Describe what happened at...?
Who spoke to...?
Can you tell why...?
Find the meaning of...?
Organization and selection of facts and ideas
Interpretation of facts, compare, contrast
Order, group and infer causes
Predict consequences
Understanding information
Grasping meaning
Translate knowledge into new context
Use of old ideas to create new ones
Relate knowledge from several areas
Generalize from given facts
Predict, draw conclusions
Indicators
explain restate distinguish
interpret translate predict
outline compare analyze
discuss describe examine
contrast investigate categorize
identify explain separate

Examples
Can you write in your own words...?
Can you write a brief outline...?
Who do you think...?
What was the main idea...?
Who was the key character...?
Can you distinguish between...?
What differences exist between...?
Can you compare your ... with that presented in...?
Can you explain what must have happened when...?
How is ... similar to ...?
What are some of the problems of...?
Can you distinguish between...?
What were some of the motives behind...?
What was the turning point in the game?
What was the problem with...?