RI.11-12.4

Description: Craft and Structure Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 4B

Exemplars

4B: Interpreting Analogies

4B: Interpreting Analogies

Description: Interpreting Analogies

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: L-31

L-31

Grade level: 12
Word count: 2141 words
Author: Luke Cooper
Synopsis: Landscape architect Frederic Law Olmsted was a mastermind of great urban sanctuaries, including New York's Central Park.
Excerpt: The ability to create the illusion of seclusion in the heart of one of the world's busiest metropolises is a feat unmatched before or since. "This isn't a piece of natural landscape that someone has put a fence around," observed writer Adam Gopnik. "Just the opposite. It's a stage set. ... It's every bit as artificial as Disney World."

Question: What did writer Adam Gopnik mean when he described Central Park as "a stage set"?
  1. It was a man-made site with every detail added for a specific purpose.
  2. It was a piece of natural landscape surrounded by a fence to protect it.
  3. It was a place where people had to be quiet to experience the sounds of nature.
  4. It was a stage on which people could act out their frustrations with city life.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Choose an essay or speech you have read and describe how the author's use of figurative language helped to make the essay or speech effective and/or meaningful. Use details from the selection to explain and support your answer.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions