LAFS.910.RL.2.5
Description:
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
5A, 5B, 5C
Exemplars
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:
Curriculum Design Institute
5B: Examining Sequence
5B: Examining Sequence
Description:
Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-31
J-31
Grade level: 10
Word count: 2321 words
Author: Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Synopsis: Harald, son of Viking explorer Erik the Red, led a life full of great adventure, excitement, and danger. This tale mixes fact and fantasy.
Excerpt:
So Harald left his home with his father, Erik the Red, in a gigantic galley called the "Sea-serpent." They sailed through the Mediterranean Sea. When they arrived in Constantinople, Harald was made a member of the emperor's Varangian Guard.
When the youth returned to his father, he found Erik the Red directing the construction of one of the great Viking galleys, nearly 80 feet long and 17 feet wide and only six feet deep. The boat had 20 ribs, and the frame was fastened together by ropes made of roots.
Harald was going to the new western world called the Wonderstrands, which his brothers had discovered but left without sufficient exploration.
A rich man named Karlsefne was to send a colony to Wonderstrands from Greenland and the young Harald was to go and take command of the colony.
The 60 men and five women who composed the expedition were ready to look on him with admiration, especially as one of the women was his own sister, Freydis.
The party of colonists sailed, and Freydis, with the four older women, came in Harald's boat. Freydis took easily the lead among them.
When the youth returned to his father, he found Erik the Red directing the construction of one of the great Viking galleys, nearly 80 feet long and 17 feet wide and only six feet deep. The boat had 20 ribs, and the frame was fastened together by ropes made of roots.
Harald was going to the new western world called the Wonderstrands, which his brothers had discovered but left without sufficient exploration.
A rich man named Karlsefne was to send a colony to Wonderstrands from Greenland and the young Harald was to go and take command of the colony.
The 60 men and five women who composed the expedition were ready to look on him with admiration, especially as one of the women was his own sister, Freydis.
The party of colonists sailed, and Freydis, with the four older women, came in Harald's boat. Freydis took easily the lead among them.
Question:
Put these events in the order in which they occurred, starting with the earliest.
- Harald became a member of the emperor's Varangian Guard.
- Erik the Red built the ship called "Dragon."
- Harald was chosen to take command of a colony at Wonderstrands.
- Freydis sailed with her brother to Wonderstrands.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Write a new sequence of events for a selection, but keep the ending or conclusion the same.
Evaluator
Organization:
Curriculum Design Institute
5A: Examining Text Structure
5A: Examining Text Structure
Description:
Examining Text Structure
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-37
J-37
Grade level: 10
Word count: 2283 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: A mentee turns his life around and eventually becomes a mentor to help others find their passion in life.
Excerpt:
"Well, Mister, I've got a challenge for you." When I rolled my eyes, he hurriedly continued, "There's a new after-school arts program and I've been invited to teach a pottery class there -- yeah, I know, government teacher and all that, but working in clay is my real passion.
"So, you think this artsy-tartsy place will help a bunch of poor kids to become overnight aficionados because they see pretty pictures?
"You're right, the Center won't necessarily turn you into a Picasso or Mozart, but art is a bridge that connects you to a wider world.
"So, what's the catch?"
"You need to be a strong warrior, Eduardo, like Alexander the Great."
"So, you think this artsy-tartsy place will help a bunch of poor kids to become overnight aficionados because they see pretty pictures?
"You're right, the Center won't necessarily turn you into a Picasso or Mozart, but art is a bridge that connects you to a wider world.
"So, what's the catch?"
"You need to be a strong warrior, Eduardo, like Alexander the Great."
Question:
Who is the narrator of this selection?
- Eduardo
- Mr. Rainey
- James
- Henry Blind Lemon Hodgegrass
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe how the author of a selection uses details to advance the plot.
Evaluator
Organization:
Curriculum Design Institute