RI.5
Description:
Craft and Structure
Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the author’s choices about structure to achieve a particular purpose with an intended audience.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
5A
Exemplars
5A: Examining Text Structure
5A: Examining Text Structure
Description:
Examining Text Structure
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-39
K-39
Grade level: 11
Word count: 1650 words
Author: Christopher Morley
Synopsis: If you have ever been asked to write a certain number of words on a topic, you'll certainly understand the frustration expressed by the newspaper reporter who penned this essay.
Excerpt:
(We ask you to observe our self-restraint. We might have said "drenching downpour of silver Long Island rain," or something of that sort, and thus got several words nearer our necessary total of 1100. But we scorn, even when writing against time, to take petty advantages. Let us be brief, crisp, packed with thought. Let it stand as drench, while you admire our proud conscience.)
Question:
Irony occurs when words are used to convey a meaning that is the opposite their usual meaning. What is ironic about this part of the essay?
- Morley says he is writing succinctly, yet he rambles on for a paragraph about doing so.
- Morley describes a drenching downpour, yet there is no proof it has rained.
- Although he meets his own deadlines, Morley encourages others to take more time to write.
- While he has a talent for writing, Morley has decided to seek work that does not require any writing.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Explain an author's use of description in a selection, and how the description shaped the way you viewed and understood the person, object, or event described.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions