Teacher Guide for FAST-R Passage: Preface to Monster
FAST-R: Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading
At a Glance
Approximate
Grade Range:
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Genre: Narrative, autobiographical non-fiction
Topic: First-person account of life in an L.A. gang, written in
prison by a man now committed to ending gang violence.
Author: Sanyika Shakur
Source: Monster (1993)
Narrative, autobiographical non-fiction
Difficulty Index: Considerate . . . . . . . . . . . . Challenging
Structure:
Purpose:
Richness:
Relationships:
Vocabulary:
Style:
Lexile Measure: 1030L
Monster:
The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
by Sanyika Shakur
1 Helicopters hover heavily above, often no higher than the
treetops that dot the battlefield. Staccato vibrations of automatic gunfire crack throughout the night, drowned out only by
explosions and sirens. People hustle quickly past, in a dangerous
attempt to get anywhere the fighting happens to be heaviest.
There is troop movement throughout the city, and in some areas
the fighting is intense. The soldiers are engaged in a “civil war.”
A war without terms. A war fought by any means necessary,
with anything at their disposal. This conflict has lasted nine
years longer than Vietnam. Though the setting is not jungle per
se, its atmosphere is as dangerous and mysterious as any jungle
in the world.
2 Neither side receives funding from any government, nor
does either side claim any allegiance to any particular religion or
socioeconomic system of government. There are no representatives from either faction in the United Nations, nor does either
side recognize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Recruitment, or conscription, begins at eleven years of age.
3 Squads of five usually make raids into neighboring territories
for preemptive strikes or retaliatory hits on enemies and targets
useful to the opposition. Although both armies are predominantly made up of males, there are many females involved in the
fighting. These infrastructures were built initially on robberies and extortions. Today, however, they are maintained by
proceeds from major narcotics deals and distribution throughout
America. Each army has a distinct territory––the boundaries of
some very large areas are broken by enemy cluster camps. Each
army has a flag, to which total allegiance is pledged. Each army
has its own language, customs, and philosophy, and each has its
own GNP.
Richness: Shakur opens the prologue to Monster with
an extended metaphor equating gang life in Los Angeles
with a war. This autobiographical narrative of Shakur’s
life as “Monster” Kody Scott in the Crips gang (see
author spotlight) reads much like a war story.
See especially: Questions 1, 3, 4
Style: The opening line to the extended war metaphor
contains alliteration that evokes the beating of the
helicopter blades it describes.
Vocabulary: The text contains challenging vocabulary
and concepts, some of which are footnoted to support
students’ background knowledge.
See especially: Questions 1, 4, 7
Structure: The text begins to shift from the broad
context of the “war” he’s describing to the narrower
focus of his intent in writing.
See especially: Questions 3, 9
Continued on next page
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
4 The war has been raging on for twenty-two years. The
death toll is in the thousands––wounded, uncountable, missingin-action unthinkable. No one is keeping a tally. No one has
noticed, except for those recently involved in the fighting and
those indirectly drawn in by geographical location, economic
status, or family association.
5 Other than this, the war has been kept from the world,
hidden like an ugly scar across the belly of an otherwise beautiful woman. Under the guise of being a showpiece for the world
where prosperity is as easily found as water in a stream, America,
for all her ostensible beauty, has an ugly scar across her belly
that she has tried repeatedly to suppress and keep hidden from
curious onlookers. More than a few times she has almost been
exposed, and this ugliness brought to light, but always another
garment would quickly be thrown over the rough spot and all
the turmoil and ugliness again blanketed. But not this time.
Style: A second extended metaphor compares the gang
warfare in America’s inner cities to a scar on the belly
of a beautiful woman, highlighting the irony of America
“being a showpiece for the world.”
See especially: Question 8
6 On April 29, 1992, the world witnessed the eruption of
South Central Los Angeles, the concrete jungle-battlefield of the
Crips and Bloods. The scar of over twenty years that had been
tucked out of sight and passed off as “just another ghetto problem” burst its suture and spewed blood all across the stomach
of America. People watched in amazement as “gang members,”
soldiers of the Crip army, pelted cars with rocks, sticks, and
bottles, eventually pulling civilians from their vehicles and beating them. This was hours after they had routed a contingent of
LAPD officers. Troop movement escalated, and Los Angeles was
set ablaze. All this began on Florence and Normandie in South
Central, the latest Third World battlefield.
Relationships: Shakur begins to introduce themes that
will be developed throughout the book: the relationship
of a black man to America, of gang members to Los
Angeles, and of man to society.
See especially: Questions 5, 6
7 I have lived in South Central Los Angeles all my life. I grew
up on Florence and Normandie. This is part of my territory. I
was recruited into the Crips at the ripe old age of eleven. Today
I am twenty-nine years old. I am a gang expert––period. There
are no other gang experts except participants. Our lives, mores,
customs, and philosophies remain as mysterious and untouched
as those of any “uncivilized” tribe in Afrika. I have come full
circle in my twenty-nine years on this planet, sixteen of those
with the Crips. I have pushed people violently out of this existence and have fathered three children. I have felt completely
free and have sat in total solitary confinement in San Quentin
state prison. I have shot numerous people and have been shot
seven times myself. I have been in gunfights in South Central
and knife fights in Folsom state prison. Today, I languish at the
bottom of one of the strictest maximum-security state prisons in
this country.
8 I propose to take my reader through the life and times of
my own chilling involvement as a gang member with the Crips.
I propose to open my mind as wide as possible to allow my
readers the first ever glimpse at South Central from my side of
the gun, street, fence, and wall. From my initial attraction and
recruitment to my first shooting and my rise to Ghetto Star
(ghetto celebrity) status, right up to the South Central rebellion and the truce between the warring factions––the Crips and
the Bloods. Although no longer aligned with gang or criminal
activity, I still draw a great deal of support from this quarter.
Richness: Shakur refers to sophisticated context:
violence, gangs, war, drugs, prison, and the Los Angeles
“uprising” of 1992.
See especially: Question 5
Style: This paragraph shifts to first-person
autobiographical narrative and establishes Shakur’s
credibility as a “gang expert” writing from experience
and now reflecting on his path to prison.
See especially: Questions 2, 7
Relationships: This transition to first-person narrative
brings up new relationships: adult man to younger men
in gangs, man to man, man to environment, man to his
hometown, and man to his own life actions.
See especially: Questions 5
Structure: Shakur previews the structure of the rest of
the book: it will be chronological and in the context of
the conflict he has described.
See especially: Question 10
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
9 Come with me then, if you will, down a side street lined
with stolen cars and youngsters armed with shotguns and .38
revolvers, lying in wait for the enemy, all members of a small
gang. Then return with me five years later as the street is lined
with luxury cars, dope dealers, and troops with AK-47 assault
weapons, the gang now an army.
10 Let me tell you of funerals that have been overrun by enemy
forces and the body stolen and “killed again” for reasons of
psychological warfare. Think not that this war is some passing
phase to be ironed out with a truce in five days––impossible!
Sophistication has not, by any means, passed the gangs of Los
Angeles. Surveillance, communication, and technology have
now found their way into the military buildup of these two
army factions.
11 It is not for glory that I write this. It is out of desperation
for the survival of the youths and civilians who are directly and
indirectly involved in the fighting. I will attempt to draw serious analytical conclusions designed to bring about a better, more
in-depth overstanding of this malady, so as to help reach workable solutions for all concerned. As with my life, I propose to
bring the reader full circle to show the reality of a city gone mad
in an attempt to rank as the nation’s murder capital longer than
the District of Columbia and more consistently than Detroit.
12 Look then, if you dare, at South Central through the eyes
of one of its most notorious Ghetto Stars and the architect of its
most ghastly gang army––the Crips.
1 per se: (Latin)
in itself
2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
A declaration adopted by the United Nations in 1948, governed by Eleanor
Roosevelt, outlining the basic rights of all human beings. It
was a direct response to the atrocities committed in Europe
in World War II. Among the rights protected are: The right
to life, liberty, and security; the right to an education; the
right to participate in cultural life; freedom from torture or
cruel, inhumane treatment or punishment; and freedom of
thought, conscience, and religion.
3 conscription:
compulsory, mandatory enrollment; being
signed up against one’s will
4 GNP:
Gross National Product: the total value of all goods
produced in a territory during a period of time
5 Third World:
a phrase coined in Europe in the 1950s to
describe nations or regions that are considered economically
poor, politically powerless, and socially marginalized. Many
would argue that if these “Third World” countries are “underdeveloped” it is largely because they have been exploited
by “First World” powers.
6 mores: traditional customs or manners
Purpose: Shakur makes his purpose explicit in this
paragraph: he is writing to save lives.
See especially: Question 9
Ideas for Connected Writing Activities
• Write a response explaining why the author uses the
metaphor of war to describe his experience with the
Crips
Humanities Connection:
• Research the Los Angeles uprising in 1992, the beating
of Rodney King, the acquittal of the police officers,
etc. and write an essay describing the “causes” of the
uprising. Connect your research to the ideas Sanyika
Shakur presents in this excerpt from Monster.
Spotlight On: “Monster” Kody Scott
“Monster” Kody Scott went through two major transformations in
his life. At the age of eleven, he joined the Crips, an infamous
gang in South Central L.A. After going through a series of tragic
but not uncommon experiences in the life of a gang member,
Kody Scott was sent to prison. It was during his time in prison
that he learned to appreciate reading and writing, and transformed himself from “Monster” Kody Scott into Sanyika Shakur,
follower of the Muslim faith, black nationalist, and member of the
New Afrikan Independence Movement. Today he is solely dedicated to “eradicating the causes of gangsterism.” The following
is the preface from his autobiography, which was written during
his second prison term.
Spotlight On: The Los Angeles Uprising
In 1992 many people in South Central L.A. took to the streets in
anger after a mostly white jury acquitted three out of four white
L.A.P.D. police officers of police brutality against Rodney King, an
African-American man.
The uprising was the culmination of years of racial tensions
between members of the black, white, Latino, and Korean communities in the Los Angeles area. The acquittal of the police officers was
“the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
The uprising lasted six days, during which stores were looted and
burned and approximately 55 people were killed. After the riots,
the city had an estimated $1 billion in damages. Even today, the
L.A.P.D. continues to work at rebuilding trust within the greater L.A.
community.
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
Teacher Guide for FAST-R Passage: Preface to Monster
FAST-R: Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading
Narrative, autobiographical non-fiction
The annotated answer key below highlights common reasons students might choose each answer, and the sidebar gives more
insight into the question types, to help you understand patterns of student responses. Always make time to follow up with students
in conferences or small groups to probe their thinking, teach in response to patterns, and help them apply effective reading and
thinking strategies to their everyday reading.
Note: You may find it helpful to refer to the “Types and Levels of Questions on FAST-R” sheet from your teacher resource
folder as you examine your students’ responses. The icon in the right-hand column, below, corresponds to that sheet’s more
detailed explanations of the kinds of thinking each type of question asks of readers.
1. At what age are “soldiers” expected to start fighting in this “civil war”?
A. 9 years of age (OOP2, ¶1)
 B. 11 years of age (¶2)
C. 14 years of age (OOB)
D. 22 years of age ( OOP2, ¶4)
FE2: Recognize the
explicit meaning from
varied wording in the text
2. Where is the author when he is writing this passage?
 A. prison (¶7, author spotlight)
B. at his home in Los Angeles (OOP2, ¶7)
C. the District of Columbia (OOP2, ¶11)
D. at work in Detroit (OOP2, ¶11)
FE1: Identify evidence
explicitly stated in the
text
3. The author uses paragraphs 1-6 to
A. tell the story of one boy’s membership in a gang. (OOP1, ¶7)
 B. introduce the setting and explain the context for the story that is about to
be told.
C. talk about the author’s time in Vietnam. (OOP2, ¶1)
D. promote the city of Los Angeles. (OOP2, ¶6)
MI3: Determine
implicit meaning
by understanding
the organization of
information in the text
4. Which of the following is NOT given as a reason for why people get “drawn in” to
this “civil war”?
A. geographical location (OOP2, ¶4)
B. economic status (OOP2, ¶4)
C. family association (OOP2, ¶4)
 D. voluntary participation (¶2)
FE2: Recognize the
explicit meaning from
varied wording in the text
5. In paragraph 6, the author’s main point is that
A. on April 29, 1992, the Crips and the Bloods fought a battle with police for the
first time. (OOP1, ¶6)
B. on April 29, 1992, “Monster” Kody Scott committed the crime that landed him
in jail. (OOP2, ¶6)
 C. on April 29, 1992, violence in LA escalated, attracting international attention for the first time. (¶6)
D. on April 29, 1992, the troops landed on the beach at Normandie. (OOP2, ¶7)
MI2: Determine a single
implicit meaning from
the total of a particular
paragraph
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
Grades 9-11• Narrative, autobiographical nonfiction • “Monster”
6. In paragraph 6, the author uses quotation marks to indicate
A. words and phrases with which the author agrees. (OOP2, ¶6)
B. words and phrases to show the author’s exact words. (OOP2, ¶6)
C. words and phrases said used to describe the Third World. (OOP2, ¶6)
 D. words and phrases used to dismiss violent events in South Central Los
Angeles. (¶6)
MI5: Determine meaning by incorporating an
understanding of literary
concepts
7. In paragraph 7, what does the author mean when he says, “Our lives, mores, customs, and philosophies remain as mysterious and untouched as those of any
‘uncivilized’ tribe in Afrika.”?
A. Gangs are tribes from Afrika. (OOP2, ¶7)
B. Gangs are uncivilized. (OOP2, ¶7)
 C. Gangs have unique cultures that are understood only by their members.
(sentence before it in ¶7)
D. No one ever leaves a gang. (OOB)
MI1: Determine implicit
meaning from phrases
and ideas in context
8. Which of the following is an example of irony in the passage?
 A. “Under the guise of being a showpiece for the world ... America ... has an
ugly scar across her belly” (¶5)
B. “The war has been raging on for over twenty-two years” (OOP1, ¶4)
C. “This conflict has lasted nine years longer than Vietnam” (OOP1, ¶1)
D. “Think not that this war is some passing phase to be ironed out with a truce in
five days––impossible!” (OOP2, ¶10)
MI5: Determine meaning by incorporating an
understanding of literary
concepts
9. Which of the following is NOT part of the author’s stated purpose in writing his
story?
A. To save the lives of young people and innocent civilians (OOP2, ¶11)
B. To educate people about gang life in South Central Los Angeles (OOP2, ¶11)
 C. To become famous and establish a celebrity reputation as a gang member
(¶11)
D. To explain the seriousness of “gang army” tactics (OOP2, ¶9-10)
FE2: Recognize the
explicit meaning from
varied wording in the text
10. Which topic do you think the author will most likely write about in the chapter
immediately following this passage?
A. His time in prison. (OOP2, ¶7)
 B. His recruitment into gang life. (¶8)
C. How he finally left the gang army. (OOP2, ¶12)
D. The first time he shot someone. (OOP1, ¶8)
MI3: Determine
implicit meaning
by understanding
the organization of
information in the text
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
FAST-R
+
Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading
Name
Preface to Monster
Narrative, autobiographical nonfiction
Date
Teacher/Class
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
by Sanyika Shakur
1
Helicopters hover heavily above, often no higher
than the treetops that dot the battlefield. Staccato
vibrations of automatic gunfire crack throughout the
night, drowned out only by explosions and sirens.
People hustle quickly past, in a dangerous attempt
to get anywhere the fighting happens to be heaviest.
There is troop movement throughout the city, and in
some areas the fighting is intense. The soldiers are
engaged in a “civil war.” A war without terms. A
war fought by any means necessary, with anything
at their disposal. This conflict has lasted nine years
longer than Vietnam. Though the setting is not
jungle per se1, its atmosphere is as dangerous and
mysterious as any jungle in the world.
Spotlight On: “Monster” Kody Scott
“Monster” Kody Scott went through two major transformations in his life. At the age of eleven, he joined the
Crips, an infamous gang in South Central L.A. After going
through a series of tragic but not uncommon experiences
in the life of a gang member, Kody Scott was sent to
prison. It was during his incarceration that he learned to
appreciate reading and writing, and transformed himself
from “Monster” Kody Scott into Sanyika Shakur, follower
of the Muslim faith, black nationalist, and member of the
New Afrikan Independence Movement. Today he is solely
dedicated to “eradicating the causes of gangsterism.”
The following is the preface from his autobiography,
which was written during his second prison term.
2
Neither side receives funding from any government, nor does either side claim any allegiance to
any particular religion or socioeconomic system of government. There are no representatives from
either faction in the United Nations, nor does either side recognize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights2. Recruitment, or conscription3, begins at eleven years of age.
3
Squads of five usually make raids into neighboring territories for preemptive strikes or retaliatory hits on enemies and targets useful to the opposition. Although both armies are predominantly
made up of males, there are many females involved in the fighting. These infrastructures were built
initially on robberies and extortions. Today, however, they are maintained by proceeds from major
narcotics deals and distribution throughout America. Each army has a distinct territory––the boundaries of some very large areas are broken by enemy cluster camps. Each army has a flag, to which
total allegiance is pledged. Each army has its own language, customs, and philosophy, and each has
its own GNP4.
4
The war has been raging on for twenty-two years. The death toll is in the thousands––wounded,
uncountable, missing-in-action unthinkable. No one is keeping a tally. No one has noticed, except
for those recently involved in the fighting and those indirectly drawn in by geographical location,
economic status, or family association.
Continued on next page
per se: (Latin) in itself
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A declaration adopted by the United Nations in 1948, governed by Eleanor Roosevelt, outlining the basic rights of all human beings. It was a direct response to the atrocities committed in Europe during
World War II. Among the rights protected are: the right to life, liberty, and security; the right to an education; the right to
participate in cultural life; freedom from torture or cruel, inhumane treatment, or punishment; and freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion.
3
conscription: compulsory, mandatory enrollment; being signed up against one’s will
4
GNP: Gross National Product: the total value of all goods produced in a territory during a period of time
1
2
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
5
Other than this, the war has been kept from the world, hidden like an ugly
scar across the belly of an otherwise beautiful woman. Under the guise of
being a showpiece for the world where prosperity is as easily found as water
in a stream, America, for all her ostensible beauty, has an ugly scar across her
belly that she has tried repeatedly to suppress and keep hidden from curious
onlookers. More than a few times she has almost been exposed, and this ugliness brought to light, but always another garment would quickly be thrown
over the rough spot and all the turmoil and ugliness again blanketed. But not
this time.
6
On April 29, 1992, the world witnessed the eruption of South Central Los
Angeles, the concrete jungle-battlefield
of the Crips and Bloods [see Spotlight
On: The Los Angeles Uprising at right].
The scar of over twenty years that had
been tucked out of sight and passed off
as “just another ghetto problem” burst its
suture and spewed blood all across the
stomach of America. People watched in
amazement as “gang members,” soldiers
of the Crip army, pelted cars with rocks,
sticks, and bottles, eventually pulling
civilians from their vehicles and beating them. This was hours after they had
routed a contingent of LAPD officers.
Troop movement escalated, and Los
Angeles was set ablaze. All this began
on Florence and Normandie in South
Central, the latest Third World5 battlefield.
7
Spotlight On:
The Los Angeles Uprising
In 1992 many people in South Central L.A.
took to the streets in anger after a mostly
white jury acquitted three out of four white
Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.)
police officers of police brutality against
Rodney King, an African-American man.
The uprising was the culmination of years
of racial tensions between members of the
black, white, Latino, and Korean communities in the Los Angeles area. The acquittal
of the police officers was “the straw that
broke the camel’s back.”
The uprising lasted six days, during which
stores were looted and burned and approximately 55 people were killed. After
the riots, the city had an estimated $1
billion in damages. Even today, the L.A.P.D.
continues to work at rebuilding trust within
the greater L.A. community.
I have lived in South Central Los Angeles all my life. I grew up on Florence and Normandie. This is part of my territory. I was recruited into the
Crips at the ripe old age of eleven. Today I am twenty-nine years old. I
am a gang expert––period. There are no other gang experts except participants. Our lives, mores6, customs, and philosophies remain as mysterious
and untouched as those of any “uncivilized” tribe in Afrika. I have come full
circle in my twenty-nine years on this planet, sixteen of those with the Crips.
I have pushed people violently out of this existence and have fathered three
children. I have felt completely free and have sat in total solitary confinement in San Quentin state prison. I have shot numerous people and have
been shot seven times myself. I have been in gunfights in South Central and
knife fights in Folsom state prison. Today, I languish at the bottom of one of
the strictest maximum-security state prisons in this country. Continued on next page
5 Third
World: a phrase coined in Europe in the 1950s to describe nations or regions that are considered economically poor,
politically powerless, and socially marginalized. Many would argue that if these “Third World” countries are “underdeveloped” it is largely because they have been exploited by “First World” powers.
6 mores: traditional customs or manners
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
8
I propose to take my reader through the life and times of my own chilling
involvement as a gang member with the Crips. I propose to open my mind as
wide as possible to allow my readers the first ever glimpse at South Central
from my side of the gun, street, fence, and wall. From my initial attraction and
recruitment to my first shooting and my rise to Ghetto Star (ghetto celebrity)
status, right up to the South Central rebellion and the truce between the warring
factions––the Crips and the Bloods. Although no longer aligned with gang or
criminal activity, I still draw a great deal of support from this quarter.
9
Come with me then, if you will, down a side street lined with stolen cars and
youngsters armed with shotguns and .38 revolvers, lying in wait for the enemy,
all members of a small gang. Then return with me five years later as the street
is lined with luxury cars, dope dealers, and troops with AK-47 assault weapons,
the gang now an army.
10 Let me tell you of funerals that have been overrun by enemy forces and the
body stolen and “killed again” for reasons of psychological warfare. Think
not that this war is some passing phase to be ironed out with a truce in five
days––impossible! Sophistication has not, by any means, passed the gangs of
Los Angeles. Surveillance, communication, and technology have now found
their way into the military buildup of these two army factions.
11 It is not for glory that I write this. It is out of desperation for the survival of
the youths and civilians who are directly and indirectly involved in the fighting.
I will attempt to draw serious analytical conclusions designed to bring about
a better, more in-depth overstanding of this malady, so as to help reach workable solutions for all concerned. As with my life, I propose to bring the reader
full circle to show the reality of a city gone mad in an attempt to rank as the
nation’s murder capital longer than the District of Columbia and more consistently than Detroit.
12 Look then, if you dare, at South Central through the eyes of one of its most
notorious Ghetto Stars and the architect of its most ghastly gang army––the
Crips.
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
FAST-R
+
Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading
Name
Preface to Monster
Narrative, autobiographical nonfiction
Date
Teacher/Class
Directions: Answer the following multiple-choice questions by filling in the circle for the best answer
on your answer sheet.
1. At what age are “soldiers” expected to start fighting in this “civil war”?
A. 9 years of age
B. 11 years of age
C. 14 years of age
D. 22 years of age
2. Where is the author when he is writing this passage?
A. prison
B. at his home in Los Angeles
C. the District of Columbia
D. at work in Detroit
3. The author uses paragraphs 1-6 to
A. tell the story of one boy’s membership in a gang.
B. introduce the setting and explain the context for the story that is about to be told.
C. talk about the author’s time in Vietnam.
D. promote the city of Los Angeles.
4. Which of the following is NOT given as a reason for why people get “drawn in” to this “civil
war”?
A. geographical location
B. economic status
C. family association
D. voluntary participation
5. In paragraph 6, the author’s main point is that
A. on April 29, 1992, the Crips and the Bloods fought a battle with police for the first time.
B. on April 29, 1992, “Monster” Kody Scott committed the crime that landed him in jail.
C. on April 29, 1992, violence in LA escalated, attracting international attention for the first time.
D. on April 29, 1992, the troops landed on the beach at Normandie.
Continue on the next page
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
Name
School
Date
Teacher/Class
6. In paragraph 6, the author uses quotation marks to indicate
A. words and phrases with which the author agrees
B. words and phrases to show the author’s exact words
C. words and phrases used to describe the Third World
D. words and phrases used to dismiss violent events in South Central Los Angeles
7. In paragraph 7, what does the author mean when he says, “Our lives, mores, customs, and philosophies remain as mysterious and untouched as those of any ‘uncivilized’ tribe in Afrika.”?
A. Gangs are tribes from Afrika.
B. Gangs are uncivilized.
C. Gangs have unique cultures that are understood only by their members.
D. No one ever leaves a gang.
8. Which of the following is an example of irony in the passage?
A. “Under the guise of being a showpiece for the world ... America ... has an ugly scar across her
belly”
B. “The war has been raging on for over twenty-two years”
C. “This conflict has lasted nine years longer than Vietnam”
D. “Think not that this war is some passing phase to be ironed out with a truce in five days––
impossible!”
9. Which of the following is NOT part of the author’s stated purpose in writing his story?
A. To save the lives of young people and innocent civilians
B. To educate people about gang life in South Central Los Angeles
C. To become famous and establish a celebrity reptuation as a gang member
D. To explain the seriousness of “gang army” tactics
10. Which topic do you think the author will most likely write about in the chapter immediately
following this passage?
A. His time in prison.
B. His recruitment into gang life.
C. How he finally left the gang army.
D. The first time he shot someone.
FAST-R: Formative Assessment in Student Thinking in Reading. The passage text by Sanyika Shakur is from Monster (1993). Copyright © 1993 by Sanyika Shakur.
All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence.
Teachers: Please duplicate and use this answer sheet only for students for whom you did not receive a pre-printed answer sheet!
FAST-R Answer Sheet
Name
School
Date
Grade
Passage Title
Teacher Name
Completely fill the circle
for the correct answer.
1.
A
B
C
D
2.
A
B
C
D
3.
A
B
C
D
4.
A
B
C
D
5.
A
B
C
D
6. A
B
C
D
7.
A
B
C
D
8.
A
B
C
D
9.
A
B
C
D
10.
A
B
C
D
Class
Write your answer to the open response prompt in the lined space below.
if your teacher directs you to do so.
OFFICE USE ONLY
RESEARCH:
Y
N
OPEN RESPONSE: 1 2 3
4