RL.11.4
Description:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
4A, 4B
Exemplars
4A: Interpreting Word Meaning
4A: Interpreting Word Meaning
Description:
Interpreting Word Meaning
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-24
K-24
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2211 words
Author: H. G. Wells
Synopsis: Are inhabitants of Mars watching Earth and making plans that will pose a mortal threat to the human race?
Excerpt:
That last stage of exhaustion, which to us is still incredibly remote, has become a present-day problem for the inhabitants of Mars. The immediate pressure of necessity has brightened their intellects, multiplied their powers, and hardened their hearts. And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and gray with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
Question:
In this excerpt, what does the author mean by the phrase, "a morning star of hope"?
- Earth presents a possible solution to the problem of preserving Martian existence.
- Mars will become the star of the universe if the warfare mission is successful.
- The scientist who makes the mission possible is considered a star in the scientific field.
- Astronomers on Earth describe Mars as a star when observed in the early morning.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Explain how a character's actions or attitude can change the meaning of a word or phrase.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
4B: Interpreting Analogies
4B: Interpreting Analogies
Description:
Interpreting Analogies
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-31
K-31
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2673 words
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Synopsis: Life is altered forever when Pandora opens a mysterious box.
Excerpt:
It was made of a beautiful kind of wood, with dark, rich veins spreading intricately over its surface, which was so highly polished that little Pandora could see her face reflected in it. As the child had no other mirror, it is odd that she did not value the box merely on this account.
Question:
The author compares the wood on the box to
- a gleaming mirror.
- a walking staff.
- a broken mirror.
- an intricate knot.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
One well-known analogy states, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get." Create a new analogy for this statement ("Life is like…) based on a selection that you have read and explain what you mean. Use details from the selection to illustrate and support your writing.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions