ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.5

Description: Craft and Structure Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 5C

Exemplars

5C: Examining Genre

5C: Examining Genre

Description: Examining Genre

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: J-44

J-44

Grade level: 10
Word count: 2387 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: Not all ballerinas had conventional beginnings or moved smoothly into the world of ballet with its centuries of ingrained traditions.
Excerpt: One of her uncles placed her in an orphanage, hoping she'd be adopted and transferred to a safer location. But life in the orphanage was daunting for the three-year-old girl, who recalled being labeled "the devil's child" and being ill-treated by the orphanage's caretakers because she had vitiligo -- a skin condition that causes blotches of lightened skin. Incredibly, children in the orphanage were assigned numbers classifying them from most favored to least favored; DePrince was ranked 27th out of 27 children.

Question: If this excerpt on DePrince became part of an autobiography, how would it be different?
  1. It would delve more into DePrince's feelings and struggles as an orphan.
  2. It would focus more on her uncle's motivations for placing her in an orphanage.
  3. It would criticize the administration and social practices of the orphanage.
  4. It would reflect the writer's opinions and biases about adoption.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Choose an expository piece, such as a speech or an essay. Describe how the author uses language to relay information, or make (or respond) to an argument.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions