9-10.L.VAU.5
Description:
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings in grades 9-10 reading and content; interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in a text; analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
4B, 5A, 5C
Exemplars
4B: Interpreting Analogies
4B: Interpreting Analogies
Description:
Interpreting Analogies
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
I-6
I-6
Grade level: 9
Word count: 1546 words
Author: Henry David Thoreau
Synopsis: Have you ever felt that life is just work, work, work? That's just what Thoreau felt too, over 150 years ago.
Excerpt:
This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! Almost every night I am awakened by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no Sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work.
Question:
Reread this excerpt. What does the image of "the panting of the locomotive" symbolize?
- the constant motion of work and business
- the increased speed of modern transportation
- the ongoing support of technological advances
- the steady progression of scientific knowledge
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe how metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or personification is used in a selection and explain how it enhances or distracts from the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5A: Examining Text Structure
5A: Examining Text Structure
Description:
Examining Text Structure
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
I-11
I-11
Grade level: 9
Word count: 1755 words
Author: Joan Novelli
Synopsis: Got a wave, a spiral, or a snowflake? There's a mathematical equation for that!
Excerpt:
Our planet Earth is not a perfect sphere but rather an "oblate spheroid." This is because the Earth's rotation causes it to stretch out around the equator, flattening slightly at the poles like a short, fat tomato. A similar effect of rotation happens when a baker spins a ball of pizza dough into the air so it widens around the edges, eventually flattening into a disc.
Question:
Choose the sentence in this excerpt that contains the figure of speech called a simile.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Choose an informational text that presents information in a cause-and-effect or problem-and-solution manner. Describe why the organization of information did (or did not) help you understand the main idea of the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5C: Examining Genre
5C: Examining Genre
Description:
Examining Genre
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
I-42
I-42
Grade level: 9
Word count: 2284 words
Author: James Herbert Walker
Synopsis: The Johnstown Flood was one of the worst calamities in American history. More than 2,000 people were killed in this tragic event.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
This selection is best described as
- narrative nonfiction.
- an autobiography.
- a speech.
- science fiction.
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