DDIandAssessmentsinELA
DesigningAssessmentsthatProvide
MeaningfulData
Grades 9‐12 February 4, 2013 Network Team Institute Presenter: David Abel, Fellow for ELA Curriculum and Assessment 1
D
irections
306024P
Read this passage. Then answer questions XX through XX.
Sweet Science Comes Baked In
by Dan Risch
5
Some students dream that one day their picture will appear on boxes of breakfast
cereal, because they are a star athlete or a celebrity. As a middle school student, Morgan
Goodall dreamed of inventing the food filling those boxes. This spring, Morgan will take a
giant step toward making her dream real. In May, Purdue University will award a Master’s
of Science degree to Morgan, in food science.
10
Morgan grew up surrounded by delicious food, like warm oatmeal cookies tucked full
of raisins. Her great-grandfather was a baker. Her grandfather, David, ran a storefront
bakery for 40 years. He then invented frozen bagel dough and built a production plant to
make it. Even Morgan’s father is a foodie. He sells specialized food ingredients to food
makers around the country.
“When I was 10,” recalls Morgan, “I’d go into the back of my grandfather’s bakery and
play with the dough. My favorite thing was the maraschino cherries. I’d stick my hand into
a tub and take home as many cherries as I wanted.”
15
Over time, much more than cherry juice stained Morgan’s fingers. A zest to learn
about food colored her ambitions.
20
“Learning about and working with food is absolutely fun,” Morgan says with
enthusiasm. “Every food acts different, looks different, and tastes different. People have
differing opinions about food, and you make food choices based on more than just basic
need. For me, who always wants to work on and learn about different things, food [as a
career] is perfect.”
Morgan saw a career in food science as a way to link everything she had learned from
her family. It would also allow her to make her own unique contribution to the family’s
history. As a food scientist, she says, “I could shine as an individual.”
25
30
Purdue University put the polish on Morgan’s dream. But as she started the four-year
food science program, she had to confront a fear faced by many students. “When I first
went into the program,” Morgan admits, “I was apprehensive about the science I had to
take. It’s definitely science heavy—chemistry, biology, and microbiology. In those three
areas, you take basic-level courses and then food-specific classes.”
“You study food from a biological standpoint: food microbiology and food chemistry.
You take sensory science. You learn how consumers react to how food tastes and feels, and
you learn how to create a food product from an idea.”
9
2
35
“BUT,” Morgan stresses, “the fact that you’re majoring in food science gives you an
edge because you learn everything in the context of FOOD. I’m the type of person that
needs to see it and feel it to understand it. So, to put chemistry in terms of food, I go into
my kitchen and try something to understand the basic chemistry. That helps me.”
40
It also helped that Purdue’s program encouraged Morgan to participate in summer
internships provided by General Mills. For two summers, Morgan was up to her elbows
applying—in a real job—the science she was learning at school. In the cereal maker’s food
labs, Morgan whipped up new kinds of cakes and cookies. You have to wonder if she
knew that she was also stirring up a recipe for reaching her childhood dream.
First, though, she needed to add a final ingredient. For that, Morgan traveled to West
Africa.
45
According to Morgan, West Africans eat bread every day. It’s a big part of their diet.
Yet the daily staple sops up much of their money. Wheat doesn’t grow well in parts of
Africa. It must be bought from other countries. Importing, or transporting wheat into
Africa, is expensive.
As part of her graduate school research, Morgan looked for other grains that could
replace wheat in West African bread. But it’s no cinch to throw out wheat, mix in rice or
corn, and expect to bake golden loaves of bread. The problem is proteins.
50
55
Bread making is a science and an art, says Morgan, in part, because of the proteins in
wheat. “Mixing wheat flour and water,” she says, “gets you something so extraordinary
compared to any other flour. Wheat flour and water together create a viscoelastic dough.
That’s a term we use to describe the unique properties of wheat-flour dough. If you try to
make bread out of corn, out of rice, out of any other grain, you’re not going to get the
same thing as you would with wheat.”
60
But that didn’t mean Morgan wasn’t going to try to help West Africa’s people. With
creative flare just like her grandfather’s, she experimented with sorghum. “There’s a certain
variety of sorghum developed at Purdue that caught my interest,” says Morgan. “We found
that the proteins in that sorghum were different than any other sorghum proteins. I
thought maybe it would act different when tried in bread.”
Morgan mixed batches of bread dough using the special variety of sorghum. By
tinkering with different amounts of water and salt and mixing the dough at different
temperatures, she found that “we could make the sorghum dough act a little bit more like
wheat dough.”
65
The discovery may someday lead to big savings for West Africans. For right now,
Morgan’s inventiveness has boosted her to the brink of realizing her childhood dream.
After graduation, she’ll go to work for General Mills. From there it won’t be long before
Morgan’s food creations find their way to grocery store shelves. And that will be the
sweetest cherry of all.
10
3
133060024
Why does the author choose to end the passage with “And that will be the sweetest cherry of
all”? Use two details from the passage to support your response.
MEASURES CCSS RI.6.5:
Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and
contributes to the development of the ideas.
HOW THIS QUESTION MEASURES RI.6.5:
This question measures RI.6.5 because it asks students to analyze how a particular sentence fits into the overall
structure and meaning of the text. More than one response may be correct, but a correct response will focus
on Morgan’s background and family experience with baking science, as well as her aspirations.
CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONSES RECEIVING FULL CREDIT:
The question asks the student to analyze how the sentence fits in to the overall text. It is important to remember
that there can be more than one response that satisfies the question. Lines 11 through 13 mention that
Morgan’s favorite thing to do as a child was play with the maraschino cherries. Lines 14 and 15 state, “more
than cherry juice stained Morgan’s fingers. A zest to learn about food colored her ambitions.” The remainder
of the article details Morgan’s progress through Purdue University, an internship with General Mills, and a trip
to West Africa to analyze their dire wheat problem. The article also talks about her ambitions: to be the creative
influence behind the product, not the face on the box. In speaking of her experiences, the article states that
when products she has created reach store shelves she will be achieving her goals. The sentence in question
is a play on words because her favorite fruit was the cherry, and achieving her goals “will be the sweetest
cherry of all.”
11
4
New English Language Arts Rubrics
The 2013 Grade 8 Common Core English Language Arts Test will be scored using new rubrics.
Both the English Language Arts 2-Point and 4-Point Rubrics have changed to reflect the new
demands called for by the CCLS.
Short-Response (2-Point) Holistic Rubric
Short-response questions will ask students to make a claim, take a position, or draw a conclusion,
and then support it with details. This structure forms the foundation of the CCLS. As such, the 2point Rubric focuses on both the inference and evidence a student provides. This structure allows
students to have wide latitude in responding to each prompt so long as their response is
supported by the text.
Additionally, the expectation for all short responses will be complete, coherent sentences. By
weaving these elements together, the questions, responses, and scores remain firmly focused on
student reading ability.
2-Point Rubric—Short-Response
Score
2 Point
1 Point
0 Point
Response Features
The features of a 2-point response are
 Valid inferences and/or claims from the text where required by the
prompt
 Evidence of analysis of the text where required by the prompt
 Relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other information
from the text to develop response according to the requirements of
the prompt
 Sufficient number of facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other
information from the text as required by the prompt
 Complete sentences where errors do not impact readability
The features of a 1-point response are
 A mostly literal recounting of events or details from the text as required
by the prompt
 Some relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other
information from the text to develop response according to the
requirements of the prompt
 Incomplete sentences or bullets
The features of a 0-point response are
 A response that does not address any of the requirements of the prompt
or is totally inaccurate
 No response (blank answer)
 A response that is not written in English
 A response that is unintelligible or indecipherable
 If the prompt requires two texts and the student only references one text, the response can be scored
no higher than a 1.
Grade 8 Common CoreEnglish Language Arts Test Guide
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5
There is no single “correct” response, but rather responses that are defensible based on the Short-Response
(2-Point) Holistic Rubric, and responses that are not. Student responses are evaluated on the relevance,
accuracy, and sufficiency of details selected from the text and the organization of details in a logical manner.
Student responses should include relevant inferences and conclusions. Responses should be in complete
sentences where errors, if present, do not impact readability.
SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSES AND SCORES APPEAR ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES:
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6
Whydoestheauthorchoosetoendthepassagewith“Andthatwillbethesweetestcherryof
all”?Usetwodetailsfromthepassagetosupportyourresponse.
STUDENT RESPONSE #1
Score Point 0 (out of 2 points)
Thisresponsedoesnotaddressanyoftherequirementsoftheprompt(wanted it too sound good).
17
7
Whydoestheauthorchoosetoendthepassagewith“Andthatwillbethesweetestcherryof
all”?Usetwodetailsfromthepassagetosupportyourresponse.
STUDENT RESPONSE #2
Score Point 2 (out of 2 points)
Thisresponsemakesavalidclaimfromthetexttoexplainwhytheauthorchosetoendthepassagewith
“Andthatwillbethesweetestcherryofall”(she had a dream of making foods).Theresponseprovidesa
sufficientnumberofconcretedetailsfromthetextforsupportasrequiredbytheprompt(when she was
younger she’d always take special delicious cherries and making and selling foods runs through her family
history and to keep that going made her feel happy).Thisresponseincludescompletesentenceswhere
errorsdonotimpactreadability.
13
8
Whydoestheauthorchoosetoendthepassagewith“Andthatwillbethesweetestcherryof
all”?Usetwodetailsfromthepassagetosupportyourresponse.
STUDENT RESPONSE #3
Score Point 1 (out of 2 points)
Thisresponseisamostlyliteralrecountingofdetailsfromthetexttoexplainwhytheauthorchosetoend
thepassagewith“Andthatwillbethesweetestcherryofall”(When Morgan was little she used to go to her
grandfathers factory. She would stick her hand in the big tub and pull out as many maraschino cherries as
she could).Novalidinferenceand/orclaimispresent.Thisresponseincludescompletesentenceswhere
errorsdonotimpactreadability.
16
9
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234
New York State Regents Examination in English Language Arts (Common Core)
Text Complexity Form: Quantitative and Qualitative Review
The appropriateness of texts for use on the Regents Exam in ELA(CC) is evaluated through the use of both quantitative and qualitative analysis
in accordance with the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Appendix A requirements.
The Quantitative Analysis of each text is conducted using the Lexile Framework and at least two other measures such as ATOS, DRP, FleschKincaid, etc. These measures are based on computer analysis of text characteristics, such as word length or frequency, sentence length, and text
coherence. While these measures provide an indication of text complexity, they are inappropriate for poetry and may underestimate or overstate the
complexity of some texts. Texts that score outside of the 11th-CCR Band must be justified for use on the exam by the Qualitative Analysis.
The Qualitative Analysis of all texts is conducted by experienced English teachers who evaluate the appropriateness of the text for the exam
based on its content, knowledge demands, richness and complexity, structure and organization, and language use and vocabulary.
Text Title:
Author:
Text is/is not appropriate:
Quantitative Analysis
(Justification must be completed if the text does not fall within the 11 th-CCR Band on the Lexile Framework index)
CCLS Grade Band
Lexile
ATOS
DRP
Flesch-Kincaid
Other
Text Index and Grade
Band
Justification Based on Qualitative Analysis (If the quantitative analysis index is not within the 11th-CCR Band, present evidence
based on the Qualitative Text Complexity Analysis that justifies its placement in the 11th-CCR Band.)
Reviewer and Date:
REGELA-D-3
1
10
10/01/2013
Guide for CCLS Grade Band Text Difficulty Indices
Directions: Enter the text difficulty index for the Lexile Framework and two other indices in the appropriate boxes below. If the Lexile
is not within the 11th-CCR Grade Band, the Qualitative Analysis must be performed and a justification written for the text.
CCLS Grade
Band
Lexile
Framework
ATOS
2nd-3rd
420-820
4th-5th
DRP
FK
SR
RM
Degrees of
Reading Power
Flesch-Kincaid
Source Rater
Pearson Reading
Maturity Metric
2.75-5.14
42-54
1.98-5.34
.05-2.48
3.53-6.13
740-1010
4.97-7.03
52-60
4.51-7.73
.84-5.75
5.42-7.92
6th-8th
925-1185
7.00-9.98
57-67
6.51-10.34
4.11-10.66
7.04-9.57
9th-10th
1050-1335
9.67-12.01
62-72
8.32-12.12
9.02-13.93
8.41-10.81
11th-CCR
1185-1385
11.20-14.10
67-74
10.34-14.20
12.30-14.50
9.57-12.00
REGELA-D-3
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Other
10/01/2013
Qualitative Analysis
Criteria
Use text-based evidence to support the text’s appropriateness for the
11th-CCR Band and use on the Regents Exam in ELA
Yes or No
1 Is the text content 11th-CCR Band
appropriate?
2 Are the prerequisite knowledge
demands required to understand the
text 11th-CCR Band appropriate?
3 Is the text richness and complexity—
levels of meaning or purpose,
informational content 11th-CCR Band
appropriate?
4 Is the text structure and organization—
reasoning, argumentation 11th -CCR
Band appropriate?
5 Is the text language use—sentence
variety, syntax, figurative language, etc.,
11th -CCR Band appropriate?
6 Is the text vocabulary—academic
language, technical words, etc., 11th-CCR
Band appropriate?
7 Overall is this text appropriate for the
CCLS 11th-CCR Band?
REGELA-D-3
3
12
10/01/2013
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY,
NY 12234
Office of State Assessment
New York State Regents Examination in English Language Arts (Common Core)
Text Review Form
Title _______________________________________________ Genre_______ Test Part ______
Author/Source__________________________________________________________________
Reviewer ____________________________________________ Date _____________________
Criteria for Text Selection
1. The text is aligned to CCLS literature or informational text guidelines.
2. The text is worth reading and appropriate for use on the Regents Exam in
ELA(CC).
3. The text content, writing style, or language adheres to the AERA Standards for
Educational and Psychological Testing, 7.4—it does not contain “language,
symbols, words, phrases, and content that are generally regarded as offensive by
members of racial, ethnic, gender, or other groups, except when judged to be
necessary for adequate representation of the domain.”
4. The text content, writing style, and language are unlikely to provide an
unacceptable advantage or disadvantage for any student group.
5. The text is authentic and published in a reputable print or web source.
6. The text demonstrates the CCLS 11th-CCR Band level rigor and complexity—
based on the Quantitative and Qualitative Text Review. (see “Text Complexity:
Quantitative and Qualitative Review”)
7. The text provides sufficient evidence for students to understand unfamiliar
contexts and/or information.
8. The text is sufficiently accessible and interesting to engage students in close
reading.
9. The informational text content is accurate (exceptions may be made for historical
texts).
REGELA-D-2
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Agree/
Disagree
10/01/2013
Additional comments regarding text appropriateness for the Regents Exam in
ELA (CC):
Recommendation: Accept/Reject/Save/Other
Suggested action—need content area specialist for review, need source verification,
need another text on the same topic, need another text by the same author,
recommend holding the text for another year, need another translation, etc.
REGELA-D-2
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4/26/2013
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK /
ALBANY, NY 12234
Office of State Assessment
Regents Examination in English Language Arts (Common Core)
Guidelines for Text Selection
Texts selected for use on the Regents Exam in ELA (CC) must be worth reading and exemplify the
CCLS writing standards. They must be sufficiently complex and merit the close reading and level of
analysis required at the 11th-CCR Band level. All texts selected must be aligned to the requirements
of the particular exam part and must adhere to the following general specifications.
General Specifications for Text Selection
1. Text Type
a. CCLS aligned literature texts include stories (the subgenres of adventure stories,
historical fiction, mysteries, myths, science fiction, realistic fiction, allegories, parodies,
satire, and graphic novels); drama (one-act and multi-act plays); and poetry (the
subgenres of narrative poems, lyrical poems, free verse poems, sonnets, odes, ballads,
and epics).
b. CCLS aligned informational texts consist of literary nonfiction (the subgenres of
exposition, argument, and functional text in the form of personal essays, speeches,
opinion pieces, essays about art or literature, biographies, memoirs, journalism, and
historical, scientific, technical, or economic accounts written for a broad audience).
2. Text Authorship and Source
a. Literature text authors should represent the best of American and world literature and
a balance of historical periods, ethnicities, perspectives, and genders.
b. Informational text authors should be experts in their respective fields.
c. Text authors should not be currently holding or running for any prominent political
office.
d. Texts should be selected from a variety of authors.
e. Texts should be selected from a variety of sources including books, newspapers,
magazines and websites.
f. Texts must be authentic and published in reputable print or web sources.
i. Reputable print sources include major newspapers, refereed academic
publications, major presses, government publications, etc.
ii. Reputable web sources include the Library of Congress, Smithsonian, New York
Public Library, Project Gutenberg, universities, newspapers, etc.
g. Primary sources are preferred.
h. Texts that are great classic and contemporary works of literature and topics that may
be covered in academic subject areas may be selected.
REGELA-D-1
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10/01/2013
3. Text Content
a. Text content must be appropriate for 11th grade students.
b. Text content, writing style, or language must adhere to the AERA Standards for
Educational and Psychological Testing, 7.4; it does not contain “language” symbols,
words, phrases, and content that are generally regarded as offensive by members of
racial, ethnic, gender or other groups, except when judged to be necessary for
adequate representation of the domain.
c. Text content should not require extensive outside knowledge for comprehension.
d. Text content must be engaging such that even students who do not find the particular
topic, information, situation, or plot of interest could persist in close reading.
e. Informational texts must be accurate and not outdated, unless historical.
f. Texts must be information rich and complex enough to support the specified number
of multiple-choice questions required by Part 1 of the exam or the writing required by
Part 2 or Part 3.
4. Text Quality
a. Texts should be worth reading because of their artistry, style, point of view, content,
historical significance, authorship, or place in the canon of American or world
literature.
b. Texts must present sufficient content and complexity to merit close reading. Levels of
meaning or quality of writing should enable a focused examination of content,
structure, or style.
c. Texts must present sufficient evidence and detail to support analysis of information,
perspective, nuances, implications, or plot development, setting, characterization, etc.
d. Texts must provide sufficient background information for students to understand
unfamiliar contexts and/or information.
5. Text Craftsmanship
a. Texts should exemplify mature, disciplined writing that could be used to instruct
students in the development of their writing skills.
b. Texts should display fine craftsmanship including features such as an effective
organizational structure, clear and precise writing, sufficiently elaborated ideas,
detailed descriptions or characterizations, coherent paragraphs, transitions, literary
devices, sentence variety, effective word choice, correct language usage, and
appropriate grammar.
6. Text Difficulty and Complexity
a. Texts must be in the Grade 11th -CCR Band. Text evaluation will include a quantitative
and qualitative review (see “Text Complexity: Quantitative and Qualitative Review.”)
REGELA-D-1
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10/01/2013
(excerpt) Text #1
1150L
Bret, Unbroken
His brain and body shattered in a horrible accident as a young boy, Bret Dunlap thought just
being able to hold down a job, keep an apartment, and survive on his own added up to a good
enough life. Then he discovered running.
By
Steve Friedman;
Published May 03, 2013 (source http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/bretdunlap-discovered-running-and-it-changed-his-life?page=single)
Photo: Bret Dunlap makes his way to work in Rhinelander. See more photos.
+++
You know what people think. They see jeans too short and winter coat too shiny, too grimy,
and think, homeless. They watch a credit card emerge from those jeans and think, grifter.
They behold a frozen grin, hear a string of strangled, tortured pauses, and think, slow. Stupid.
You learned too young about cruelty and pity. You learned too young that explaining
yourself didn't help, that it made things worse. People laughed. Made remarks. Backed
away. So you stopped explaining. You got a job, got a cat, got an apartment, and people can
think what they want to think. You built a life without explanation and it was enough.
What people see now, this moment, is a solitary man leaning into the wind, trudging down
snow-dusted streets toward a faint, watery dawn.
It's December 20, 2012, almost the shortest day of the year. You have been up since 4:30
17
a.m. You have eaten your oatmeal and cranberries, and you have fed Taffy the cat and
packed your lunch of canned chicken and coleslaw, and you are alone on the streets of
Rhinelander, Wisconsin, an industrial town of 7,800 that squats at the confluence of the
Wisconsin and Pelican rivers, deep in the woods of the Northern Highlands. It's 2.5 miles, at
least part of which you usually run, to Drs. Foster and Smith, the mail-order and online petsupply colossus where you have worked for almost 18 years. (Warehouse dummy, people
think, and they don't know about your college credits or your study of military history or
that you speak German, understand a little Russian, and can say "How are you?" and
"Thank you, goodbye," in Romanian.)
When you crest a hill half a mile from the warehouse, you pause, turn, and notice the quality
of the light, how even in the hard, cold days before Christmas, the weak morning sun turns
the smokestacks and factories of downtown Rhinelander into friendly things, peaceful and
benign. You think about the most beautiful light in the world, the sunrise behind the barn
due east of your mother's house, 65 miles away. No one knows what you think about the
quality of light. Few know that you love horses, or that you have plans to breed chickens, or
that you long for love, or that you have hardened yourself to never receiving it.
That's fine by you. It used to be fine, in any case. It was fine before the day two years ago,
when your brother Eric asked you to run a 5-K race. He was running a 10-K, and he thought
it would be nice to have company. You refused—you didn't want to make anyone
uncomfortable. You didn't want to deal with people looking at you, with them thinking
things.
But he was insistent. That was the day you started running. Since then, you haven't been so
sure about things. You're 45 now, and you're not so sure you know what people think. You're
not so sure about the life you have spent so much energy constructing.
You're not so sure it's enough.
18
Text #2
930L
'What we did was right from society's point of
view, but wrong from the law's point of view'
Luke Harding visits the scene of India's Romeo and Juliet murders
Tuesday 14 August 2001
The Guardian (from http://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,536456,00.html )
The village of Alinagar in the fertile north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is an
unremarkable place. On either side of the small main square, a handful of brick houses
face each other. Beyond them, fields of tall green sugar cane unfold into a rural
landscape of water buffaloes and sluggish jade rivers.
In the sultry afternoons, villagers doze in the shade on string charpoys to the desultory
barking of pye-dogs. Alinagar is, in short, the kind of place that would scarcely feature
on any map, or in any chronicle, were it not for the gruesome events of last week.
Everybody in the tiny community knew about the romance between Vishal, a 15-yearold boy, and Sonu, a 16-year-old girl. Their families, after all, lived less than 20ft apart.
Late on Monday night a neighbour caught the pair together as they chatted on the
roadside next to a bush. She accused them of having "suspicious intentions" and
dragged them into her shed. And then she summoned their families. It was not that the
teenagers had been caught in flagrante - they were not even holding hands. Their crime
was far more primal and ancient: they were from different castes. Under India's
enduring system of social stratification, a relationship between the pair was unthinkable.
Vishal was an upper-caste Brahmin. Sonu was a lower-caste Jat. Though it was not
generally known, Sonu had recently been expelled from school for skipping lessons
and, it seems, being galat - the Hindi word for immoral.
The girl's parents, Surender and Munesh, decided there was only one way to escape
the terrible social humiliation their daughter had heaped upon them. They would kill her.
And so aided by three neighbours, they proceeded to strangle her in the dark shed, with
its abandoned bicycle and mattresses, in front of her terrified boyfriend. "The boy's
mother told them: 'Don't do this.' The girl's parents then scolded her so the boy's mother
went and stood outside," says the local police officer Raispal Singh. "After that they got
a rope. They made a noose out of it and hanged the girl. They then told the boy's
mother and brother and sister-in-law: 'Now you kill the boy.' They replied: 'We can't kill
him. You only kill him.' At this the girl's parents hanged the boy."
By this stage the entire village knew what was going on inside the shed. The villagers
dragged the teenagers' bodies out and dumped them on the back of a buffalo cart,
hidden under sacking. At 3am a procession merged into the darkness. The villagers
walked silently to the local cremation ground, 10 minutes away. There, they burned
Vishal and Sonu on a joint pyre made from cow dung. Sonu's parents tossed on paraffin
for good measure - against all the traditions of Hinduism - so the corpses would burn
more quickly. They then surreptitiously threw the ashes into the Katha river.
19
The next day, the village got up as usual and pretended that nothing had happened.
What is remarkable about Sonu and Vishal's story, which owes more to the bloody
revenge tragedies of Webster than to Shakespeare, is not that the murders took place but that the police ever found out. That, and the fact that none of the family members
who carried out the murders have so far shown any remorse. "What we did was right
from society's point of view but wrong from the point of law," Sonu's father, Surender,
said last week, speaking from police custody. "It seems strange to me too," her mother
added, when asked how she could kill her own daughter. "But there was such anger at
the time."
Alinagar is now almost deserted. Most of the villagers have fled for fear of arrest. The
buffaloes are unfed; Vishal's house is ransacked and empty. We find only Sonu's sister,
Babita, and elderly aunt, Dagiyayi, sitting outside the family home. Neither sees much
wrong in Sonu's brutal demise. "I'm not happy. But Sonu was on the wrong path,"
Babita tells me, as she soaps a bucket full of clothes. "My parents did what they had to
do. We were under compulsion." Did Sonu love her parents? "Sonu used to love her
parents very much," she says.
"Sonu's mother had told her to break off the affair. She had been counselling her
daughter lots and lots, and told her that after two months she would get her married [to
someone else]," Dagiyayi says. "But she would not listen. After that Sonu's mother
thought: 'OK, fine. Both of you die.'" Was there a suitable groom lined up? "They had
not found any boy for her. But they were going to start looking for one," the aunt says.
"But in the end she just brought shame upon our family."
In Alinagar, as in most villages in northern India's rich rural heartland, children have little
say in whom they marry. Instead, the parents of a prospective bride and groom agree
everything between themselves. There has to be compatibility - not of temperament or
personality, but of caste and horoscope. Inter-caste marriages or "love marriages" where the boy and girl pick each other - are regarded with horror. As are girls who
refuse to do what their parents tell them to. "Some parents have heart attacks, others
are forced to take sleeping tablets if their daughters disobey them," Sonu's aunt says.
"In our case the village considered that Sonu had been disrespectful. Her parents had
no choice [other than to kill her]."
To understand why, you have to go back a long way - back to the cattle-rustling Aryans
who arrived on the subcontinent more than 3,000 years ago. The Aryans subdued the
indigenous Dravidian peoples (although some historians now describe the process as
more akin to assimilation). And they introduced their own model of society: with a
priestly elite, a strict code of social classification, and the Sanskrit language. The Vedas
- the collection of sacred Hindu hymns composed in the second millennium BC sanctified this code. According to the Vedas, the gods chopped up a sacrificial figure
representing mankind into four bits. Out of his mouth they made the Brahmins, the
highest priestly caste. The arms were turned into the Kshatriya, or warrior caste. The
figure's thighs became the Vaisya, whose job it was to create wealth and who include
the Jats to which Sonu belonged. Finally, the Sudra were produced, from the feet. The
Sudra were - and still are - at the bottom of the pile.
Remarkably, a system devised by a group of ancient colonists was to survive 300
generations. Indeed, recently it has been enjoying something of a revival. The Indian
20
government is so touchy about caste that it has refused to include it in a UN world
conference on racism to be held shortly in Durban. Indian politicians have realised the
importance of the caste vote, and have begun cultivating vote banks along caste lines.
Nowhere is this truer than in Uttar Pradesh, a state characterised by its murky politics
and communal volatility. UP - as it is known - also boasts a population as big as Brazil's.
"This district is one of the most agriculturally prosperous in Uttar Pradesh," says Manoj
Singh, the magistrate for the Muzaffarnagar area, which includes Ali nagar. "We have
eight sugar mills. The farmers are having almost day-by-day increases in their farming
income. They are becoming socially mobile. India has a strong pattern of social
stratification based on caste. In this district you find caste and class converging."
Sonu's father, a sugar cane farmer, owned a Maruti jeep, now discreetly hidden, Singh
points out. "We have one of the top rates for murder. There are two per day. There is a
growing sense of lawlessness, which increased after agrarian movements launched
from this district. The farmers are traditional in outlook and still adhere to old social
practices. They are feudal."
Sonu and Vishal's murder, then, took place not against a background of poverty but of
increased prosperity and unprecedented social change. Delhi, with its movie halls
showing romantic Bollywood blockbusters, is only four hours' drive away. (In urban
India, inter-caste marriage is broadly accepted, and a clandestine sexual revolution is
afoot.) The Alinagar murders, it emerges, are not an isolated case. In 1993, a Muslim
couple who were eloping against the wishes of their parents were pulled off a rickshaw
and had their heads cut off. At least three other similar cases have been reported in
recent years; and many more have been hushed up.
"This happens in all the villages round here. But we don't want to talk about it," Sonu's
aunt says. Most dismally, nobody ever seems to get punished. The conviction rate for
murder in India is only 2-3%. It is almost impossible to get witnesses to testify for the
prosecution - fear, bribery and the threat of ostracism see to that. India's criminal justice
system moves with tortoise-like speed: by the time a verdict is delivered, the local
administration has changed and everyone has forgotten the original crime.
So far the police have arrested 11 people - including the girl's parents - in connection
with the killings. But nobody from Alinagar has made a formal complaint; nor are they
likely to. The crime is therefore denoted as "victimless", since there is no victim in a
position to complain. Detectives only found out about the murders following an
anonymous phone call the next day. Most observers expect all of the accused to be
quietly let out on bail in 18 months' time. They will return to their lush sugar cane fields
and to their buffaloes, and carry on much as before.
Sonu and Vishal's murders carry a blunt cautionary message: obey your parents or face
the consequences. Many people in this conservative district would agree with it.
Yesterday there was only a gruesome reminder of what might have been. Several of the
lovers' bones were still visible on the pyre, bleaching in the fierce afternoon sun. The
bones were jumbled up together.
21
Text #3
930L
THE TELL-TALE HEART
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by Edgar Allan Poe
1843
TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say
that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above
all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many
things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can
tell you the whole story.
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted
me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had
never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his
eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever
it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to
take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.
Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have
seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what
foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than
during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch
of his door and opened it --oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for
my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in
my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly -very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my
whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a
madman have been so wise as this, And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the
lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously --cautiously (for the hinges creaked) --I undid it just so
much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights --every
night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the
work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the
day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name
in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a
very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him
while he slept.
Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's
minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of
my own powers --of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that
there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or
thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed
suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back --but no. His room was as black as
pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and
so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily,
steadily.
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I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin
fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?"
I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the
meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I
have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.
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Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a
groan of pain or of grief --oh, no! --it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of
the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight,
when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful
echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied
him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight
noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had
been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself --"It is
nothing but the wind in the chimney --it is only a mouse crossing the floor," or "It is merely a
cricket which has made a single chirp." Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these
suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had
stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful
influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel --although he neither saw nor heard
--to feel the presence of my head within the room.
When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to
open a little --a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it --you cannot imagine how
stealthily, stealthily --until, at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from
out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.
It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect
distinctness --all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my
bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as
if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.
And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the
sense? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes
when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart.
It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
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But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I
tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart
increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror
must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! --do you mark me well I
have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the
dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror.
Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I
thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a
neighbour! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped
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into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled
the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes,
the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard
through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined
the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there
many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eve would trouble me no more.
If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions
I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence.
First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the
scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even
his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind
--no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!
When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock --still dark as midnight. As the
bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a
light heart, --for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves,
with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during
the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police
office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.
I smiled, --for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was
my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all
over the house. I bade them search --search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed
them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs
into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild
audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed
the corpse of the victim.
The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They
sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself
getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still
they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: --It continued and became more
distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness -until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.
No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice.
Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a
sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath --and yet the officers
heard it not. I talked more quickly --more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose
and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily
increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if
excited to fury by the observations of the men --but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what
could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and
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grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder -louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard
not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a
mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony!
Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no
longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!
"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here,
here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"
-THE END-
25
Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Reading Standards for Literature 6–12
RL
The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing
broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
Grades 9–10 students:
Grades 11–12 students:
Key Ideas and Details
1.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
1.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining
where the text leaves matters uncertain.
2.
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is
shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the
text.
2.
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their
development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build
on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of
the text.
3.
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters,
and advance the plot or develop the theme.
3.
Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and
relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is
ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
38
|
6-12 | English Language Arts | Reading: literature
Craft and Structure
4.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes
a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
4.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific
word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or
language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare
as well as other authors.)
5.
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order
events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing,
flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
5.
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of
a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a
comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as
well as its aesthetic impact.
6.
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of
literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world
literature.
6.
Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is
directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or
understatement).
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7.
Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic
mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g.,
Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of
Icarus).
7.
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live
production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version
interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one
play by an American dramatist.)
8.
(Not applicable to literature)
8.
(Not applicable to literature)
9.
Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific
work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or
how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).
9.
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century
foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from
the same period treat similar themes or topics.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, and poems, in the grades 9–10 text complexity band proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9–10 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
10. By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, and poems, in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
26
Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Reading Standards for Informational Text 6–12
RI
The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing
broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
Grades 9–10 students:
Grades 11–12 students:
Key Ideas and Details
1.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
1.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining
where the text leaves matters uncertain.
2.
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course
of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific
details; provide an objective summary of the text.
2.
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development
over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another
to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
3.
Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events,
including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and
developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
3.
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific
individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
40
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6-12 | English Language Arts | Reading: informational text
Craft and Structure
4.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the
language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
4.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author
uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text
(e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
5.
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).
5.
Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or
her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear,
convincing, and engaging.
6.
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an
author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
6.
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is
particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power,
persuasiveness, or beauty of the text. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7.
Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a
person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are
emphasized in each account.
7.
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different
media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to
address a question or solve a problem.
8.
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing
whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient;
identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
8.
Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the
application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S.
Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes,
and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential
addresses).
9.
Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g.,
Washington’s Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four
Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”), including how they
address related themes and concepts.
9.
Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S.
documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of
Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s
Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades
9–10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high
end of the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
10. By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades
11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end
of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
27
Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Speaking and Listening Standards 6–12
SL
The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing
broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
Grades 11–12 students:
Grades 9–10 students:
1.
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10
topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under
study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from
texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful,
well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
b. Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making
(e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of
alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed.
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the
current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate
others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and
conclusions.
d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of
agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their
own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the
evidence and reasoning presented.
1.
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (oneon-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under
study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts
and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, wellreasoned exchange of ideas.
b. Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decisionmaking, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as
needed.
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe
reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a
topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote
divergent and creative perspectives.
d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims,
and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when
possible; and determine what additional information or research is required
to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
2.
Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats
(e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of
each source.
2.
Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and
media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions
and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and
noting any discrepancies among the data.
3.
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric,
identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
3.
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric,
assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of
emphasis, and tone used.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
4.
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely,
and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the
organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose,
audience, and task.
4.
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning,
alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization,
development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a
range of formal and informal tasks.
5.
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and
interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings,
reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
5.
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and
interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings,
reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
6.
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command
of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 9–10 Language
standards 1 and 3 on page 54 for specific expectations.)
6.
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command
of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 11–12 Language
standards 1 and 3 on page 54 for specific expectations.)
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6-12 | English Language Arts | speaking and listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
28
Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Language Standards 6–12
L
The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing
broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
Grades 9–10 students:
Grades 11–12 students:
Conventions of Standard English
1.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
a. Use parallel structure.*
b. Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial,
prepositional, absolute) and clauses (independent, dependent; noun,
relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest
to writing or presentations.
1.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
a. Apply the understanding that usage is a matter of convention, can change
over time, and is sometimes contested.
b. Resolve issues of complex or contested usage, consulting references (e.g.,
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Garner’s Modern American
Usage) as needed.
2.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more
closely related independent clauses.
b. Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation.
c. Spell correctly.
2.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Observe hyphenation conventions.
b. Spell correctly.
3.
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in
different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
a. Vary syntax for effect, consulting references (e.g., Tufte’s Artful Sentences)
for guidance as needed; apply an understanding of syntax to the study of
complex texts when reading.
Knowledge of Language
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in
different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
a. Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual
(e.g., MLA Handbook, Turabian’s Manual for Writers) appropriate for the
discipline and writing type.
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6-12 | English Language Arts | language
3.
29
Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Language Standards 6–12
L
Grades 9–10 students:
Grades 11–12 students:
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grades 9–10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a
word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word
or phrase.
b. Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different
meanings or parts of speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate,
advocacy).
c. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries,
glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of
a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, or its
etymology.
d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase
(e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
4.
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grades 11–12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a
word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word
or phrase.
b. Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different
meanings or parts of speech (e.g., conceive, conception, conceivable).
c. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries,
glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation
of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, its
etymology, or its standard usage.
d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase
(e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
5.
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and
nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., euphemism, oxymoron) in context and
analyze their role in the text.
b. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
5.
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and
nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole, paradox) in context and analyze
their role in the text.
b. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
6.
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college
and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary
knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or
expression.
6.
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college
and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary
knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or
expression.
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6-12 | English Language Arts | language
4.
30
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234
New York State Regents Examination in English Language Arts (Common Core)
Part 3 Rubric - Text Analysis
Criteria
4
Responses at this Level:
3
Responses at this Level:
-introduce a central idea and/or a
writing strategy
1
Responses at this Level:
Content and Analysis: the
extent to which the response
conveys complex ideas and
information clearly and
accurately in order to
respond to the task and
support an analysis of the
text
-introduce a well-reasoned central idea
and a writing strategy that clearly
establish the criteria for analysis
-demonstrate a thoughtful analysis of
the author’s use of the writing strategy
to develop the central idea
-demonstrate an appropriate analysis of
the author’s use of the writing strategy
to develop the central idea
-demonstrate a superficial analysis of
the author’s use of the writing strategy
to develop the central idea
-demonstrate a minimal analysis of the
author’s use of the writing strategy to
develop the central idea
Command of Evidence: the
extent to which the response
presents evidence from the
provided text to support
analysis
-present ideas clearly and consistently,
making effective use of specific and
relevant evidence to support analysis
-present ideas sufficiently, making
adequate use of relevant evidence to
support analysis
-present ideas inconsistently,
inadequately, and/or inaccurately in an
attempt to support analysis, making use
of some evidence that may be
irrelevant
-present little or no evidence from the
text
Coherence, Organization,
and Style: the extent to
which the response logically
organizes complex ideas,
concepts, and information
using formal style and precise
language
-exhibit logical organization of ideas and
information to create a cohesive and
coherent response
-exhibit acceptable organization of ideas
and information to create a coherent
response
-exhibit inconsistent organization of
ideas and information, failing to create a
coherent response
-exhibit little organization of ideas and
information
-establish and maintain a formal style,
using precise language and sound
structure
-establish and maintain a formal style,
using appropriate language and
structure
-lack a formal style, using language that
is basic, inappropriate, or imprecise
-use language that is predominantly
incoherent, inappropriate, or copied
directly from the task or text
Control of Conventions:
the extent to which the
response demonstrates
command of conventions of
standard English grammar,
usage, capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling
-introduce a clear central idea and a
writing strategy that establish the
criteria for analysis
2
Responses at this Level:
-introduce a confused or incomplete
central idea or writing strategy
and/or
-demonstrate control of the conventions
with infrequent errors
-demonstrate partial control of
conventions with occasional errors that
do not hinder comprehension
-demonstrate emerging control of
conventions with some errors that
hinder comprehension
-are minimal, making assessment
unreliable
-demonstrate a lack of control of
conventions with frequent errors that
make comprehension difficult
-are minimal, making assessment of
conventions unreliable
A response that is a personal response and makes little or no reference to the task or text can be scored no higher than a 1.
A response that is totally copied from the text with no original writing must be given a 0.
A response that is totally unrelated to the task, illegible, incoherent, blank, or unrecognizable as English must be scored as a 0.
31
10/01/2013
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234
New York State Regents Examination in English Language Arts (Common Core)
Part 2 Rubric: Writing to Sources - Argument
Criteria
Content and Analysis: the
extent to which the essay
conveys complex ideas and
information clearly and
accurately in order to
support claims in an
analysis of the texts
Command of Evidence: the
extent to which the essay
presents evidence from the
provided texts to support
analysis
Coherence, Organization,
and Style: the extent to
which the essay logically
organizes complex ideas,
concepts, and information
using formal style and
precise language
Control of Conventions:
the extent to which the
essay demonstrates
command of conventions
of standard English
grammar, usage,
capitalization, punctuation,
and spelling
6
Essays at this Level:
5
Essays at this Level:
4
Essays at this Level:
-introduce a precise and
insightful claim, as directed
by the task
-introduce a precise and
thoughtful claim, as directed by
the task
-introduce a precise claim, as
directed by the task
-introduce a reasonable
claim, as directed by the task
-introduce a claim
-do not introduce a claim
-demonstrate in-depth and
insightful analysis of the
texts, as necessary to support
the claim and to distinguish
the claim from alternate or
opposing claims
-present ideas fully and
thoughtfully, making highly
effective use of a wide range
of specific and relevant
evidence to support analysis
-demonstrate thorough analysis
of the texts, as necessary to
support the claim and to
distinguish the claim from
alternate or opposing claims
-demonstrate appropriate and
accurate analysis of the texts,
as necessary to support the
claim and to distinguish the
claim from alternate or
opposing claims
-present ideas sufficiently,
making adequate use of
specific and relevant evidence
to support analysis
-demonstrate some analysis of
the texts, but insufficiently
distinguish the claim from
alternate or opposing claims
-demonstrate confused or
unclear analysis of the texts,
failing to distinguish the claim
from alternate or opposing
claims
-do not demonstrate
analysis of the texts
-present ideas briefly, making
use of some specific and
relevant evidence to support
analysis
-present ideas inconsistently
and/or inaccurately, in an
attempt to support analysis,
making use of some evidence
that may be irrelevant
-present little or no
evidence from the texts
-demonstrate proper citation
of sources to avoid
plagiarism when dealing
with direct quotes and
paraphrased material
-demonstrate proper citation of
sources to avoid plagiarism
when dealing with direct quotes
and paraphrased material
-demonstrate proper citation
of sources to avoid plagiarism
when dealing with direct
quotes and paraphrased
material
-demonstrate inconsistent
citation of sources to avoid
plagiarism when dealing with
direct quotes and paraphrased
material
-demonstrate little use of
citations to avoid plagiarism
when dealing with direct quotes
and paraphrased material
-do not make use of
citations
-exhibit skillful organization
of ideas and information to
create a cohesive and
coherent essay
-exhibit logical organization of
ideas and information to create a
cohesive and coherent essay
-exhibit acceptable
organization of ideas and
information to create a
coherent essay
-exhibit some organization of
ideas and information to
create a mostly coherent essay
-exhibit inconsistent
organization of ideas and
information, failing to create a
coherent essay
-exhibit little
organization of ideas and
information
-present ideas clearly and
accurately, making effective use
of specific and relevant
evidence to support analysis
3
Essays at this Level:
2
Essays at this Level:
1
Essays at this Level:
-are minimal, making
assessment unreliable
-establish and maintain a
formal style, using
sophisticated language and
structure
-establish and maintain a formal
style, using fluent and precise
language and sound structure
-establish and maintain a
formal style, using precise
and appropriate language and
structure
-establish but fail to maintain
a formal style, using primarily
basic language and structure
-lack a formal style, using some
language that is inappropriate or
imprecise
-use language that is
predominantly
incoherent, inappropriate,
or copied directly from
the task or texts
-demonstrate control of
conventions with essentially
no errors, even with
sophisticated language
-demonstrate control of the
conventions, exhibiting
occasional errors only when
using sophisticated language
-demonstrate partial control,
exhibiting occasional errors
that do not hinder
comprehension
-demonstrate emerging
control, exhibiting occasional
errors that hinder
comprehension
-demonstrate a lack of control,
exhibiting frequent errors that
make comprehension difficult
-are minimal, making
assessment of
conventions unreliable
An essay that addresses fewer texts than required by the task can be scored no higher than a 3.
An essay that is a personal response and makes little or no reference to the task or texts can be scored no higher than a 1.
An essay that is totally copied from the task and/or texts with no original student writing must be scored a 0.
An essay that is totally unrelated to the task, illegible, incoherent, blank, or unrecognizable as English must be scored as a 0.
32
10/01/2013
New English Language Arts Rubrics
The 2014 Grade 8 Common Core English Language Arts Test will be scored using new rubrics.
Both the English Language Arts 2-Point and 4-Point Rubrics have changed to reflect the new
demands called for by the CCLS.
Short-Response (2-Point) Holistic Rubric
Short-response questions will ask students to make a claim, take a position, or draw a conclusion,
and then support it with details. This structure forms the foundation of the CCLS. As such, the 2point Rubric focuses on both the inference and evidence a student provides. This structure allows
students to have wide latitude in responding to each prompt so long as their response is
supported by the text.
Additionally, the expectation for all short responses will be complete, coherent sentences. By
weaving these elements together, the questions, responses, and scores remain firmly focused on
student reading ability.
2-Point Rubric—Short Response
Score

Response Features
2 Point
The features of a 2-point response are
 Valid inferences and/or claims from the text where required by the
prompt
 Evidence of analysis of the text where required by the prompt
 Relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other information
from the text to develop response according to the requirements of
the prompt
 Sufficient number of facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other
information from the text as required by the prompt
 Complete sentences where errors do not impact readability
1 Point
The features of a 1-point response are
 A mostly literal recounting of events or details from the text as required
by the prompt
 Some relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other
information from the text to develop response according to the
requirements of the prompt
 Incomplete sentences or bullets
0 Point*
The features of a 0-point response are
 A response that does not address any of the requirements of the prompt
or is totally inaccurate
 A response that is not written in English
 A response that is unintelligible or indecipherable
If the prompt requires two texts and the student only references one text, the response can be scored no higher
than a 1.
* Condition Code A is applied whenever a student who is present for a test session leaves an entire constructedresponse question in that session completely blank (no response attempted).
Grade 8 Common Core English Language Arts Test Guide
12
33
Short Response Rubric
Conventions
Evidence
Analysis
Inferences/Claims
Assessed Standard(s):
2-Point Response
1-Point response
0-Point Response
Includes valid inferences or
claims from the text.
Includes inferences or claims
that are loosely based on the
text.
Does not address any of
the requirements of the
prompt or is totally
inaccurate.
Fully and directly responds to
the prompt.
Responds partially to the
prompt or does not address all
elements of the prompt.
Includes evidence of reflection
and analysis of the text.
A mostly literal recounting of
events or details from the
text(s).
The response is blank.
Includes relevant and sufficient
textual evidence to develop
response according to the
requirements of the Quick
Write.
Includes some relevant facts,
definitions, concrete details, or
other information from the
text(s) to develop an analysis of
the text according to the
requirements of the Quick
Write.
The response includes no
evidence from the text.
Uses complete sentences
where errors do not impact
readability.
Includes incomplete sentences
or bullets.
The response is
unintelligible or
indecipherable.
34
Short Response Checklist
Assessed Standard(s):
✔
Does my writing…
Did I…
Include valid inferences
and/or claims from the
text(s)?
Closely read the prompt and address the whole prompt in
my response?
Clearly state a text-based claim I want the reader to
consider?
Confirm that my claim is directly supported by what I read in
the text?
Develop an analysis of the
text(s)?
Did I consider the author’s choices, impact of word choices,
the text’s central ideas, etc.?
Include evidence from the Directly quote or paraphrase evidence from the text?
text(s)?
Arrange my evidence in an order that makes sense and
supports my claim?
Reflect on the text to ensure the evidence I used is the best
evidence to support my claim?
Use complete sentences,
correct punctuation, and
spelling?
Reread my writing to ensure it means exactly what I want it
to mean?
Review my writing for correct grammar, spelling, and
punctuation?
35