Sample Responses to Comprehension Questions
Set 1, Level W: Excerpt from Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, pp. 32-37
On the section of the assessment entitled “Comprehension Questions Section” the reader
may respond to the questions in numerous ways. There are many acceptable responses to
each question. The reader’s response is acceptable as long as the response to this section
of the assessment demonstrates that he or she understood the meaning of the text. As the
reader answers each question, be sure to record the response carefully, using extra paper
if needed.
Here are some examples among the wide variety of acceptable responses to each question
on this part of the assessment.
1. Literal Question: What does Nightjohn want to trade with the narrator, Sarny?
 “Nightjohn wants to trade letters for tobacco.”
 “He wants some of the narrator’s (Sarny’s) tobacco, but he doesn’t have anything
to give her back. He offers to teach her some letters as trade for the tobacco.”
2. Inferential Question: Why doesn’t Mammy want the narrator to read?
 “Mammy says that if you learn to read you could be whipped or have your thumb
cut off.”
 “She’s afraid that reading could get the narrator (Sarny) in trouble.”
 “She’s afraid they’ll cut her thumbs off.”
3. Inferential Question: The characters in this story talk and act a certain way that
matches the time and place the story is set in. How do you think the setting fits with
what the characters are saying and doing?
 “The setting fits with how they talk because at that time slaves weren’t taught to
read. They didn’t get to go to school at all. The way they talk shows that they
weren’t allowed to be educated.”
 “The setting fits with what they are doing because the narrator (Sarny) is having
to sneak around to learn to read and that’s because at that time slaves were
beaten or killed if they learned to read.”
4. Inferential Question: How do you think the narrator’s impression of Nightjohn
changes from the beginning to the end of this passage?
 “The narrator (Sarny) thought Nightjohn was ragged and worn down, but now
she sees him as somebody who can help her learn to read.”
 “She thinks he has nothing. But in the end she realizes that he can read and
that’s worth a lot.”
 “In the beginning she thought he was a fool for offering to trade – he didn’t have
anything. But in the end, she looked up to him because he can read.”
August, 2013
TCRWP