L.3
Description:
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
4B, 5C, 5C, 5C, 6A, 6C
Exemplars
6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone
6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone
Description:
Recognizing Mood and Tone
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-52
C-52
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1231 words
Author: Adapted from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
Synopsis: Is a job as a carpenter, electrician, or car mechanic the right career for you?
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
The tone of this selection is best described as
- plain and factual.
- false and cruel.
- sad and confusing.
- boastful and incorrect.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Give examples of selections you have read that create a mood through the setting, feelings of characters, and choice of words.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
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
5C: Examining Genre
5C: Examining Genre
Description:
Examining Genre
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-11
J-11
Grade level: 10
Word count: 2199 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: Skylar and Jason's relationship is already strained when they're paired together for a class project. Will their "no-technology" challenge make them, or break them?
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
This selection can best be described as
- contemporary fiction.
- historical fiction.
- rhetorical argument.
- political memoir.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Choose a narrative text. Describe how the author uses language and dialogue to relay information about characters and events.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5C: Examining Genre
5C: Examining Genre
Description:
Examining Genre
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-44
J-44
Grade level: 10
Word count: 2387 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: Not all ballerinas had conventional beginnings or moved smoothly into the world of ballet with its centuries of ingrained traditions.
Excerpt:
One of her uncles placed her in an orphanage, hoping she'd be adopted and transferred to a safer location. But life in the orphanage was daunting for the three-year-old girl, who recalled being labeled "the devil's child" and being ill-treated by the orphanage's caretakers because she had vitiligo -- a skin condition that causes blotches of lightened skin. Incredibly, children in the orphanage were assigned numbers classifying them from most favored to least favored; DePrince was ranked 27th out of 27 children.
Question:
If this excerpt on DePrince became part of an autobiography, how would it be different?
- It would delve more into DePrince's feelings and struggles as an orphan.
- It would focus more on her uncle's motivations for placing her in an orphanage.
- It would criticize the administration and social practices of the orphanage.
- It would reflect the writer's opinions and biases about adoption.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Choose an expository piece, such as a speech or an essay. Describe how the author uses language to relay information, or make (or respond) to an argument.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5C: Examining Genre
5C: Examining Genre
Description:
Examining Genre
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-51
F-51
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1334 words
Author: Barbara D. Krasner
Synopsis: Immigrants to the United States had to pass physical examinations, and a chalk mark on the shoulder indicated their result.
Excerpt:
This is a fictional story, but it is based on facts about immigrants' experiences at Ellis Island, the port of entry for those arriving by ship in New York.
With as many of their belongings as they could stuff into satchels and suitcases, the Palmieri family took a seven-hour train ride to the port city of Palermo. There, they boarded the ship, called the "Sicilian Prince," that would take them to America.
With as many of their belongings as they could stuff into satchels and suitcases, the Palmieri family took a seven-hour train ride to the port city of Palermo. There, they boarded the ship, called the "Sicilian Prince," that would take them to America.
Question:
The genre of this selection could be described as
- historical fiction.
- contemporary fiction.
- science fiction.
- classical fiction.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Choose a narrative text. Describe how the author uses language and dialogue to relay information about characters and events.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
6A: Recognizing Author's Intent
6A: Recognizing Author's Intent
Description:
Recognizing Author's Purpose
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-7
F-7
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1795 words
Author: Adapted from a story by O. Henry
Synopsis: A wise couple gives each other the greatest gift.
Excerpt:
Della's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a cascade of brown silk. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly.
"Jim will think I look like a chorus girl!" she said to herself. "But what could I possibly have done with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?"
"Don't make any mistake about me, Della," he said, "because there's not anything in the way of a haircut or shave or shampoo that could make me love my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package, you may see why you had me going a while at first."
They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply longed for them without the least hope of ever owning them. And yet now, they were hers, but the silky, long hair that should have held the beautiful combs was gone.
"Jim will think I look like a chorus girl!" she said to herself. "But what could I possibly have done with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?"
"Don't make any mistake about me, Della," he said, "because there's not anything in the way of a haircut or shave or shampoo that could make me love my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package, you may see why you had me going a while at first."
They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply longed for them without the least hope of ever owning them. And yet now, they were hers, but the silky, long hair that should have held the beautiful combs was gone.
Question:
The author breaks some formal grammar rules, using incomplete sentences and starting other sentences with "but," "and," and "or." How does this affect the selection?
- It sounds more like speech, making the story feel as if it is being spoken by a person.
- It suggests the author may not know what the formal grammar rules are.
- It causes the selection to sound snobbish, making it more confusing to understand.
- It makes the narrator sound unfriendly, and indicates he does not like the characters.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Choose a fictional selection you read and rewrite it from the antagonist's point of view.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions