R.2

Description: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 2A, 2A

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

2A: Determining Main Idea

2A: Determining Main Idea

Description: Determining Main Idea and Themes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: L-2

L-2

Grade level: 12
Word count: 2262 words
Author: Beth Renaud
Synopsis: The Harlem Renaissance brought talented African American writers and artists into the mainstream of American culture.
Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.
Question: What is the main idea of this selection?
  1. The Harlem Renaissance gave voice to African American's discontent in America.
  2. During the Harlem Renaissance, African American musicians expressed their ideas through jazz.
  3. The Harlem Renaissance showed that African Americans were not content to accept racial discrimination.
  4. During the Harlem Renaissance, a middle class of educated black Americans emerged.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Using the Internet or other research tools, find three additional pieces of information that support the main idea stated in the selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions