LA 6.1.6.c

Description: Identify and explain why authors use literary devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, imagery, rhythm, personification, hyperbole, idioms, analogy, tone, mood).
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 4B, 5A, 6C, 6C

Exemplars

4B: Interpreting Analogies

4B: Interpreting Analogies

Description: Interpreting Analogies

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: F-11

F-11

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1680 words
Author: Adapted from a story by Lewis Carroll
Synopsis: Alice lets her curiosity get the better of her, as she tumbles into a world of fantasy.
Excerpt: Alice, jumping up onto her feet in a moment, was not a bit hurt nor did she seem to be nervous. Gazing up, she saw darkness overhead. Before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost, so away went Alice like the wind.

Question: Choose the sentence in which the author makes a comparison, using the figure of speech called a simile.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe how an author can use figurative language to create suspense and give an example from a selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone

6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone

Description: Recognizing Mood and Tone

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: F-26

F-26

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1548 words
Author: Cullen Murphy
Synopsis: What is a huge cookie-shaped slab of earth doing in the middle of nowhere?
Excerpt: "At first, people thought we were pulling a hoax," Rick recalled. Robert Bianchi, after visiting the mysterious spot, dismissed the possibility of a hoax. "For one thing," he explained, "if it were a hoax, nobody would have pulled it in the middle of nowhere."

Question: In this excerpt, the tone of Bianchi's remark could be described as
  1. practical.
  2. threatening.
  3. desperate.
  4. impatient.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Imagine you are making a movie version of a fictional selection. Describe how you would shoot scenes from the selection to convey an appropriate mood and tone.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

5A: Examining Text Structure

5A: Examining Text Structure

Description: Examining Text Structure

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: F-46

F-46

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1579 words
Author: Heidi McLean
Synopsis: An Internet blog sets off a chain of events that brings a school food program to children in Africa.
Excerpt: Martha was not looking for fame, and she did not seek the media attention she was receiving. Nevertheless, it is not possible to control content that is posted publicly on the Internet, and NeverSeconds had become big news. Some of those who read the blog and wrote about it had reactions like Martha's father had. They thought the meals did not seem very good.

Question: In the following excerpt, which word indicates that the author is about to introduce a different thought?
  1. nevertheless
  2. control
  3. some
  4. possible

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe an author's use of symbols in a selection that you have read. Explain what the symbols represent and how they are applied to the characters and events in the selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone

6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone

Description: Recognizing Mood and Tone

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: F-48

F-48

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1923 words
Author: Anna Fisher
Synopsis: A poor teenager is given an opportunity to study electrical engineering in the city, but her father has different plans for her life.
Excerpt: Her father stared at her as if he saw her for the first time. His eyes grew softer and he said, "I will not be your road block."

Kalpana stifled a scream of happiness and ran to her father. He took her in his arms and held her close. "When you are an astronaut, will you take me to the moon with you?" he asked.

"I will take you to the moon and beyond," she said.

Question: In this excerpt, the author creates a mood of
  1. acceptance.
  2. frustration.
  3. confusion.
  4. somberness.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write five paragraphs in which the description of a setting reflects each of the following moods: anxiety, mystery, boredom, loneliness, elation.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions