Grades 9-10

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Determine the theme of a text and closely analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details.

Determine the central idea of a text and closely analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details.

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.

Analyze the vocabulary and language of literary and informational texts.

Analyze the structure of literary and informational texts.

Analyze the point of view of literary and informational texts.

Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.

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).

Evaluate and/or reflect on a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.

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.

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences.

Use narrative techniques to develop real or imagined experiences.

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. 

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.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more closely related independent clauses. Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation. Spell correctly. Produces legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct use of the conventions of punctuation and capitalization.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. Use parallel structure. 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. 

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).

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).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases by using context, identifying patterns of word changes, and use general materials for its etymology. 

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings by interpreting figures of speech (e.g., euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyzing their role in the text, and by analyzing nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums (e.g. Auden’s poem “Musée de Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus), including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.

Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.