LA 12.1.6.b
Description:
Analyze and evaluate the relationships between elements of literary text (e.g., characterization, setting, plot development, internal and external conflict, inferred and recurring themes, point of view, tone, mood).
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
3B, 5B
Exemplars
3B: Analyzing Plot/Character
3B: Analyzing Plot/Character
Description:
Analyzing setting, plot, and character
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-23
K-23
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2412 words
Author: Anton Chekhov
Synopsis: A wager between a banker and a lawyer yields an unexpected result.
Excerpt:
"That cursed bet!" murmured the old man, clutching his head in despair. "He's only forty years old, he will deprive me of my last penny, marry, enjoy life, and I will look on like an envious beggar and hear the same dreaded words from him every day: 'I'm obliged to you for my life's happiness.' No, no, it's too much -- the only escape from bankruptcy and disgrace is that the man should die."
Question:
Based on this excerpt, what conclusion can be made about the banker's motivations?
- His greed drove him to consider committing a terrible crime.
- His jealousy caused him to feign friendship while plotting revenge.
- His selfishness drove him to lie about the original wager.
- His pride caused him to openly reject his wealth while secretly hiding it.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Imagine you are the main character in a selection you read. Would your emotional reactions to events in the selection be the same as those of the actual character? Explain why or why not.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5B: Examining Sequence
5B: Examining Sequence
Description:
Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-23
K-23
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2412 words
Author: Anton Chekhov
Synopsis: A wager between a banker and a lawyer yields an unexpected result.
Excerpt:
During the first year of solitary imprisonment, the lawyer, judging from his frantic short notes, suffered terribly from loneliness and boredom; from his cell day and night came the sound of the piano. He was sent books of whimsical character: novels with complicated yet preposterous love interests, stories of crime and fantasy, comedies, and so on.
In the second year the piano was abandoned and the lawyer requested only classic literature.
In the second half of the sixth year, the prisoner began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history; in the space of four years about six hundred volumes were purchased at his request.
Later, after the tenth year, the lawyer sat immovable before his table and read only the New Testament; the banker found it peculiar that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred erudite volumes should have spent nearly a year examining one book, easy to understand and by no means thick.
In the second year the piano was abandoned and the lawyer requested only classic literature.
In the second half of the sixth year, the prisoner began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history; in the space of four years about six hundred volumes were purchased at his request.
Later, after the tenth year, the lawyer sat immovable before his table and read only the New Testament; the banker found it peculiar that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred erudite volumes should have spent nearly a year examining one book, easy to understand and by no means thick.
Question:
Place these characterizations of the lawyer's years of solitary imprisonment in order, from first to last.
- He played the piano as he suffered from loneliness and boredom.
- He requested only classic literature.
- He intensively studied languages, philosophy, and history.
- He read only the New Testament.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe how the author of a selection uses details to advance the plot.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions