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Item Type(s):
This benchmark may be assessed using:
MC
item(s)
- Clarification :
The student will identify, analyze, interpret, and evaluate the author’s use of descriptive and/or figurative language and will determine how the author’s use of language impacts meaning in a variety of grade-level appropriate texts. - Content Limits :
Grade-level appropriate texts should contain clear examples of descriptive language (e.g., tone, irony, mood, imagery, alliteration, onomatopoeia) and figurative language (e.g., symbolism, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole).Idioms and allusions should not be assessed.
- Content Focus :
Descriptive Language (e.g., tone, mood, irony, imagery, alliteration, onomatopoeia)
Figurative Language (e.g., hyperbole, symbolism, simile, metaphor, personification) - Text Attributes :
Texts may be literary or informational and may include, but are not limited to, fiction, nonfiction (e.g., biographies, autobiographies, personal and historical essays, diary entries, speeches, editorials, memoirs), poetry, and drama.Other stimuli may include, but are not limited to, illustrations with captions, graphics, and charts.
- Distractor Attributes :
Distractors may include, but are not limited to• examples of descriptive language or figurative language drawn from the text but unrelated to the test item;
• inaccurate interpretations of descriptive language or figurative language; and
• plausible but incorrect distractors based on the text.Note: If two descriptive language distractors are used, they must be balanced with two figurative language distractors. The correct answer determines the content focus for the item.
Note: Distractors may also include all descriptive language examples or all figurative language examples.
Note: When assessing author’s tone (e.g., melancholic, nostalgic, forlorn) and mood (e.g., sorrowful, gloomy, optimistic) in a text, distractors should not be a list of words but should include specific examples related to the text.
- Test Item #: Sample Item 1
- Question: The sample item below is based on “Poppa and the Spruce Tree” on page H–9.
Read this sentence from the essay.
We came home from the store that night to find the spruce pulled almost totally from the ground and flung forward, its mighty nose bent in the asphalt of the street.
Which literary device does the author use in the sentence above?
- Difficulty: N/A
- Type: MC: Multiple Choice
