ELA.10.R.1.1
Description:
Literary Elements
Analyze how key elements enhance or add layers of meaning and/or style in a literary text.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
1A, 6A
Exemplars
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
Description:
Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker
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:
"Okay, ladies and gents," Mr. Crawford began, "in our last class we discussed some of Henry David Thoreau's ideas about nature as expressed in his book, 'Walden,' particularly the notion Thoreau had of Walden pond as an eye -- 'intermediate in its nature between land and sky.' As you might recall, Thoreau's self-built one-room cabin was on his good friend Ralph Waldo Emerson's land, where he experimented in living independently as he sought self-fulfillment and closure over his brother's death."
Question:
According to Mr. Crawford, for which two reasons did Thoreau conduct his "experiment" at Walden Pond?
- to seek self-fulfillment
- to find closure over his brother's death
- to spend time with his friend Emerson
- to understand more about nature
- to learn how to build a cabin
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
The setting of a selection includes not only place but also time. Describe a selection you have read in which the historical time period was critical to the plot. For example, Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities.'
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
6A: Recognizing Author's Intent
6A: Recognizing Author's Intent
Description:
Recognizing Author's Purpose
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:
In the studio that day, James rapped out the uttermost parts of his heart and soul, the background music giving him the impetus to express his songs fully and without restraint. For that period of time, James was so swept up in his music and the meaning of his words that the rest of the world faded away, and I saw a young man transformed by passion, beauty, meaning, and hope. In James, I saw the faces of thousands of kids who also could be transformed by that same euphoric rush of passion, that same door opening up to a bright future.
Question:
What is the author's purpose in writing this selection?
- to inspire others to become mentors for troubled kids
- to demonstrate how tough it is for kids in the inner city
- to highlight the beauty and the magic of the arts
- to persuade educators to teach in a more creative way
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Assess the value or importance of an author's choice of prose, setting, or characterization in a selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions