E4.6.D

Description: Evaluate how the historical, social, and economic context of setting(s) influences the plot, characterization, and theme.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 2A, 2B, 4C

Exemplars

2A: Determining Main Idea

2A: Determining Main Idea

Description: Determining Main Idea and Themes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: L-10

L-10

Grade level: 12
Word count: 2596 words
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Synopsis: Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story gives a whole new meaning to the term "solitary confinement."
Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.
Question: The events in this tale could best be described by the expression
  1. "Stuck between a rock and a hard place."
  2. "Actions speak louder than words."
  3. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."
  4. "The pen is mightier than the sword."

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: (Theme: environment) Describe a selection in which a nature or the environment was represented in either a positive or negative way, and how this positive or negative view affected the characters and events in the selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

Description: Determining Relative Importance

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: L-12

L-12

Grade level: 12
Word count: 2364 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: After Dustyn enrolls in Graffiti Studio, his creative juices start to flow.
Excerpt: "Do you mean Jorge, the famous DP, director of photography, who has shot major movies; you ever hear of Disney or Sony pictures, where he is their main man? The Graffiti Studio's modus operandi is to snag famous or semi-famous artists to impart not necessarily their trade but their passion; do you have something you're passionate about?"

Question: The Graffiti Studio could best be described as
  1. a stimulating and professional environment.
  2. an exact replica of a Disney or Sony studio.
  3. an alternative high school program.
  4. a place to improve your academic knowledge.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Develop a survey that asks readers to rate different elements (characters, actions, events, motivations, etc.) in a selection according to their importance to the plot.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

4C: Visualizing

4C: Visualizing

Description: Visualizing

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: L-23

L-23

Grade level: 12
Word count: 3221 words
Author: Stephen Crane
Synopsis: What will happen to the four men who have been shipwrecked for more than 30 hours?
Excerpt: When he achieved safe ground he fell, striking the sand with each particular part of his body. It was as if he had dropped from a roof, but the thud was grateful to him. It seems that instantly the beach was populated with men with blankets, clothes, and flasks, and women with coffeepots and all the remedies sacred to their minds. The welcome of the land to the men from the sea was warm and generous, but a still and dripping shape was carried slowly up the beach, and the land's welcome for it could only be the different and sinister hospitality of the grave.

Question: Based on this excerpt, which expression would you expect to see on the correspondent's face when he reaches the shore?
  1. pained but relieved
  2. calm and confident
  3. anguished and angry
  4. nervous but satisfied

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: How has visualizing helped you understand a selection when an author changes a point of view? Describe your visualization of the same scene through the eyes of different characters.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions