LAFS.1112.RL.3.9
Description:
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
9A, 9B
Exemplars
9B: Classifying
9B: Classifying
Description:
Classify
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-23
K-23
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2412 words
Author: Anton Chekhov
Synopsis: A wager between a banker and a lawyer yields an unexpected result.
Excerpt:
During the first year of solitary imprisonment, the lawyer, judging from his frantic short notes, suffered terribly from loneliness and boredom; from his cell day and night came the sound of the piano. He was sent books of whimsical character: novels with complicated yet preposterous love interests, stories of crime and fantasy, comedies, and so on.
In the second half of the sixth year, the prisoner began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history; in the space of four years about six hundred volumes were purchased at his request.
Later, after the tenth year, the lawyer sat immovable before his table and read only the New Testament; the banker found it peculiar that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred erudite volumes should have spent nearly a year examining one book, easy to understand and by no means thick. The New Testament was then replaced by the history of religions and theology.
During the final two years of his solitary confinement the prisoner read an extraordinary amount, quite haphazardly: he would apply himself to the natural sciences, then he would devote himself wholeheartedly to Byron or Shakespeare. Notes came from him requesting, simultaneously, books on chemistry, a textbook of medicine, a novel, and some treatise on philosophy or theology -- he read as though he were swimming in the sea among broken fragments of shattered wreckage, and in his desperate desire to survive was eagerly grasping one piece after another.
In the second half of the sixth year, the prisoner began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history; in the space of four years about six hundred volumes were purchased at his request.
Later, after the tenth year, the lawyer sat immovable before his table and read only the New Testament; the banker found it peculiar that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred erudite volumes should have spent nearly a year examining one book, easy to understand and by no means thick. The New Testament was then replaced by the history of religions and theology.
During the final two years of his solitary confinement the prisoner read an extraordinary amount, quite haphazardly: he would apply himself to the natural sciences, then he would devote himself wholeheartedly to Byron or Shakespeare. Notes came from him requesting, simultaneously, books on chemistry, a textbook of medicine, a novel, and some treatise on philosophy or theology -- he read as though he were swimming in the sea among broken fragments of shattered wreckage, and in his desperate desire to survive was eagerly grasping one piece after another.
Question:
Based on these excerpts, which two statements best describe the significance of books in this selection?
- At the beginning they represent entertainment and study.
- At the end they symbolize a descent into madness.
- At first they represent man's superior knowledge.
- At the end they represent man's foolishness.
- From start to finish they represent the knowledge of human history.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Classify the kinds of characters in a fictional narrative selection (narrator, protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero, foil, symbolic, etc.) and describe their functions. Use details from a selection you have read to illustrate and explain your classifications.
Evaluator
Organization:
Curriculum Design Institute
9A: Comparing/Contrasting
9A: Comparing/Contrasting
Description:
Compare, Contrast, and/or Integrate
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-33
K-33
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2751 words
Author: Ambrose Bierce
Synopsis: When a man thinks he sees a snake under his bed, his fear and anxiety grow with each passing moment.
Excerpt:
The man groaned; the snake made neither sound nor motion, but its eyes were two dazzling suns and the reptile itself was wholly concealed by them.
It was a stuffed snake; its eyes were two shoe buttons.
It was a stuffed snake; its eyes were two shoe buttons.
Question:
Read these excerpts from the selection. In which two ways do they work together?
- The first uses a metaphor to describe the snake's eyes.
- The second shows how the human imagination can easily augment reality.
- The first uses foreshadowing to describe the snake's eyes.
- The second shows how realistic toys can frighten children.
- Both excerpts show how people often have a fear of snakes.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Compare and contrast the views expressed by a fictional character to your own views.
Evaluator
Organization:
Curriculum Design Institute