RL.11-12.5
Description:
Craft and Structure
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
5A, 5B, 5C
Exemplars
5A: Examining Text Structure
5A: Examining Text Structure
Description:
Examining Text Structure
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
L-22
L-22
Grade level: 12
Word count: 3260 words
Author: Stephen Crane
Synopsis: Four men struggle to survive in a small lifeboat after a shipwreck. Many hours have passed, and the men grow increasingly worried that help may never arrive.
Excerpt:
As the boat swam over the great rollers, the men sat listening to this roar. "We'll swamp sure," said everybody.
If we stay out here too long, we'll none of us have strength left to swim after the boat swamps."
"If we don't all get ashore?" said the captain. "If we don't all get ashore, I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my finish?"
But no, she cannot mean to drown me. She dare not drown me. She cannot drown me. Not after all this work." Afterward the man might have had an impulse to shake his fist at the clouds: "Just you drown me, now, and then hear what I call you!"
"If I am going to be drowned...if I am going to be drowned...if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?"
If we stay out here too long, we'll none of us have strength left to swim after the boat swamps."
"If we don't all get ashore?" said the captain. "If we don't all get ashore, I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my finish?"
But no, she cannot mean to drown me. She dare not drown me. She cannot drown me. Not after all this work." Afterward the man might have had an impulse to shake his fist at the clouds: "Just you drown me, now, and then hear what I call you!"
"If I am going to be drowned...if I am going to be drowned...if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?"
Question:
A motif is a recurring story element that has symbolic importance. A repeated motif is often used to set a story's mood or tone. What is one motif in this selection?
- drowning
- sleeping
- music
- rebellion
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Explain why an author chose to organize a selection's plot in an unconventional way. What benefits or disadvantages resulted from the action being presented in this way?
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5B: Examining Sequence
5B: Examining Sequence
Description:
Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
L-27
L-27
Grade level: 12
Word count: 2369 words
Author: Miguel de Cervantes
Synopsis: This selection is the first chapter of a classic work by Miguel de Cervantes.
Excerpt:
He debuted his first published works when he moved to Rome in 1569. Soon after, the young writer joined a Spanish military unit in Italy and served as a soldier for several years.
After laboring as a soldier, de Cervantes began working as a commissary tasked with collecting grain supplies from rural communities for the Spanish Armada. Unfortunately, he was charged with job mismanagement and was forced to spend time in prison. It was during his time in prison that de Cervantes began to work on what was to be later deemed some of literature's greatest works, and what is now considered the world's first modern novel.
After laboring as a soldier, de Cervantes began working as a commissary tasked with collecting grain supplies from rural communities for the Spanish Armada. Unfortunately, he was charged with job mismanagement and was forced to spend time in prison. It was during his time in prison that de Cervantes began to work on what was to be later deemed some of literature's greatest works, and what is now considered the world's first modern novel.
Question:
Put these events in the adult life of author Miguel de Cervantes in order, from first to last.
- He moved to Rome and debuted his first published works.
- He joined a Spanish military unit in Italy and served as a soldier for several years.
- He worked as a commissary and collected grain supplies for the Spanish Armada.
- He was imprisoned and began to write what would become the world's first modern novel.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe a selection in which the sequence of events is not obvious. Explain how this structure aided or impeded your understanding of the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5C: Examining Genre
5C: Examining Genre
Description:
Examining Genre
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
L-21
L-21
Grade level: 12
Word count: 3146 words
Author: Stephen Crane
Synopsis: Four men, trapped in a small boat after their ship sinks, face an uncertain future.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
Which best describes the genre of this selection?
- realistic fiction
- propaganda
- fantasy
- supernatural fiction
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
What literary elements must a selection have to be classified as a mystery or an adventure? Use details from a selection you have read to illustrate and explain your answer.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions