Narrative Reading Section Complete

7/29/2019 Narrative Reading Section Complete

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HSPA Language Arts Literacy: Reading Narrative Texts

Summary of Content to be Tested

Students will be given 50 minutes for the Reading Narrative text portion of theHSPA.

Students will read a narrative passage and then respond to multiple-choice andopen-ended questions to assess literal and inferential thinking. Questions will bebased on those skills that critical readers use to understand, analyze, and assesstexts.

For the purposes of this assessment, "narrative text" is defined as literaturewritten primarily to tell a story. Good narrative literature, which establishes ordevelops a conflict, addresses common aspects of human existence. Because

appropriate literature may contain unsettling or disturbing issues or events, textselected for the assessment will provide a positive resolution and affirm thedignity of the human spirit.

Students will be assessed on their ability to interpret and critique/analyze thecontent, meaning, and organization of texts. In the final section of the test,Extending Understanding of the Text, students will complete an open-endedwriting project in which they apply and extend what they have read as they makedecisions, solve problems, and create original works.

Students will:

Recognize a theme or central idea. Recognize details that develop or support the main idea. Extrapolate information and/or follow directions. Paraphrase, retell, or interpret words, phrases, or sentencesfrom the text. Recognize the original structure of the text. Recognize a purpose for reading. Make tentative predictions of meaning. Make judgments, form opinions, and draw conclusions fromthe text.

Interpret textual conventions and literary elements.

General Tips for Reading Narrative Text


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Since a narrative text tells a story, active readers will get more out of the story if they begin with aseries of questions to guide their reading.

Who is telling the story? Who is the narrator?

This is important because it sets the stage for the rest of the story. The narrative can be in one of

three voices: 1st person, 3rd person omniscient, and 3rd person limited.

1st person narratives are told by a character within the story. Thisnarrator can be identified by the use of the pronoun, "I" when relating to objectsor events within the story. If the story is told in 1st person, be sure to identify whatthe narrator's role is within the story. Is s/he a main character? Just an observer?How is s/he involved with the issues? These questions will help identify anymotive in telling a story a certain way, or giving or omitting certain details.

3rd person limited narratives are told by an observer of the story.Limited narratives are identified by the inability of the narrator to know what isgoing on in the thoughts of all of the characters, all of the time.

3rd person omniscient narratives are told by an outside observer whois everywhere and knows every character's thoughts, background, and

sometimes future.

What is the setting and who are the characters? Where and when does the story take place?Who is involved? What are the basics of the plot- that is, what is the story basically about? Whois the main character? Who are the secondary characters?

What is the conflict? Conflict can take many forms, but most often the conflict can be generalizedas internal or external.

An internal conflict occurs when a character wrestles with him orherself over an issue or a decision. An example of this might be story about anhonest student who sees a close friend cheat on a test and then wrestles with

whether or not to turn in his friend. An external conflict may be with another person (man versus man),with nature, or with some other event or force outside of the character's control. Askier trapped in an avalanche, a chess Grand Master playing another GrandMaster, and a frontiersman battling a cold winter and wild animals are allexamples of external conflicts.

What is the climax?At what point in the story does the conflict reach a high point?

What is the resolution?

After the conflict is over, is there a lesson learned? Do any of the characters come away from theevent wiser, sadder, stronger? Is there a moral to the story? What is the general theme of the

story? Many of these questions are identifiable in the resolution of the story.

Tips for Answering Narrative Reading Multiple-choice Questions


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1. Read the question and all answers thoroughly before selecting ananswer. Note that many of the answers will seem plausible, and insome cases several answers will be correct, but one will be the bestanswer.

2. If you aren't sure, try to eliminate answers that you are sure are

incorrect, or are unlikely to be the correct answer.3. Some questions refer you to specific sections of the text, or to specificvocabulary words used in the story. For questions that refer to thetext, go back and read the whole section of text from which the samplecomes- identify thepurpose of the section- is it informative? does itattempt to appeal to emotion or logic?

4. Beware of questions that change directions. For example, questionsthat use words such as except, not, or never usually require you tothink in terms of finding the answer selection that contradicts the storyitself.

5. Make every attempt to familiarize yourself with important literary terms

and figurative language devices. These terms (i.e. symbolism,personification, irony, etc.) often show up on multiple choice sections.It will be easier to eliminate one or two of them if you know what theyare.

6. Authors make extensive use of mood and tone in their writing. Thechoice of specific images (a cloudy sky, a field of flowers) make usreaders feel different moods (in this case sad or happy); authors alsouse specific words or phrases to makes us hear a certain tone. Anauthors tone might be described as serious, sarcastic, informative,passionate or ominous, depending on their choice of words andphrases. Make every attempt to identify an authors tone in the piece.

7. Answer the question! This may seem obvious, but it really is a trick thatmany students fall for. If a question asks you to identify the authorstone in paragraph 6, make sure you limit yourself to paragraph 6! Anauthor may shift gears momentarily to make a point. The story may behumorous and sarcastic, but in paragraph 6 the author might wish tomake a serious observation. You are being tested on how well youfollow direction, so pay attention to where you are being told to look forthe answer.

8. Leave harder questions for last. Always guess! Any answer left blankis a wrong answer, so improve your chances by making educatedguesses.

Working With Multiple Choice Questions on the Narrative Reading Section

For this narrative excerpt from Upton Sinclairs novel The Jungle, you are required to

answer five (5) multiple choice questions. They are very similar to ones you might


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encounter on the HSPA test. Before reading the story excerpt, read through the questions

and identify what is being asked of you in each:

1. Do you see a question that asks you to identify a vocabulary word in context? What is

the word?

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2. Do you see any questions that ask you to identify literary devices? What is it in this

case?

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3. Are you being asked to identify an authors tone or the mood of a work? What areyour options?

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4. Have you identified questions that direct you to specific paragraphs in the story? Have

you marked off those paragraphs for easy reference?

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After you read the excerpt, fill in your answer choices below (40

minutes):

1. _______ 2. ______ 3. ________ 4. __________ 5. __________


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Narrative Reading Passage Excerpt from Sinclair's "The Jungle"

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best answer for the questions below.

1. What is the tone set by the author in paragraph 5of the passage?

A. optimistic

B. defeated

C. humorous

D. defiant

2. Which of the following social conditions is

reflected in the passage?

A. Industries exploited children by paying

them one third the rate they paid to adults.

B. The owners of factories valued theirworkers and provided decent housing for them.

C. Orphans were well-cared for by the stateand the church.

D. access to medical treatment was readily

available to the poor.

3. Which statement in the passage can be

considered ironic?

A. "The lard was finished on the

floor above, and it came in little

jets, like beautiful, wriggling,

snow-white snakes of

unpleasant odor."

B. "It was sickening like a nightmare, in

which suddenly something gives way

beneath you, and you feel yourself sinking,

sinking, down into bottomless abysses."

C. "It would upset their plans for a time; and

it would perhaps be necessary for Ona to

get work after all."

D. "Once or twice every year a state inspector

would come wandering through the

packing plants, asking a child here and

there how old he was; and so the packerswere very careful to comply with

the law..."

4. Which of the following statements expresses one of thethemes of the passage?

A. A job was available for any person willing to

work.

B. Immigrants could improve their circumstances

in life through hard work and luck.

C. Unions were instrumental in gaining decent

working conditions for immigrants.

D. Business owners exploited cheap labor

provided by immigrants.

5. Based on the context in which it is used in the passage,

what does the underlined word lamentation mean?

A. peacefulness and comfort

B. great happiness

C. sadness and complaining

D. fear and worrying

Enter your choices

onto the answer sheet

provided on the previous page.

LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY Narrative Reading Passage


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DIRECTIONS FOR QUESTIONS 1-5: Read the passge and record your answers to the multiple-choice questions in

the area labeled "LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY- Narrative Reading, MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION" on theanswer sheet following the excerpt.

Introduction: The following excerpt describes the lives of Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus and his fiancee Ona

in the United States. Other members of Ona's family include her cousin Maria, her stepmother Aunt Elzbieta, and

Aunt Elzbieta's son Stanislovas. Ona and Jurgis have learned the history of their house from Grandmother Majaus, aneighbor. The house is located in Packingtown, a section of Chicago where workers in the meatpacking industry live

at the turn of the twentieth century. Grandmother Majaus has just informed the family that they will have to pay

interest on the loan for their housea fact they were unaware of until now.

from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

"But we don't have to pay any interest!" they

exclaimed, three or four at once. "We only have

to pay twelve dollars each month." And for this

she laughed at them. "You are like all the rest,"

she said; "they trick you and eat you alive. They

never sell the houses without interest. Get your

deed, and see."Then, with a horrible sinking of the heart,

Aunt Elzbieta unlocked her bureau and brought

out the paper that had already caused them so

many agonies. Now they sat round, scarcely

breathing, while the old lady, who could read

English, ran over it. "Yes," she said, finally, "here

it is, of course: 'With interest thereon monthly,

at the rate of seven per cent per annum.'"

And there followed a dead silence. "What

does that mean?" asked Jurgis finally, almost in a

whisper.

"That means," replied the other, "that you

have to pay them seven dollars next month, aswell as the twelve dollars."

Then again there was not a sound. It was

sickening, like a nightmare, in which suddenly

something gives way beneath you, and you feel

yourself sinking, sinking, down into bottomless

abysses. As if in a flash of lightning they saw

themselvesvictims of a relentless fate,

cornered, trapped, in the grip of destruction. All

the fair structure of their hopes came crashing

about their ears.And all the time the old

woman was going on talking. They wished that

she would be still; her voice sounded like the

croaking of some dismal raven. Jurgis sat with

his hands clenched and beads of perspiration

on his forehead, and there was a great lump

in Ona's throat, choking her. Then suddenly

Aunt Elzbieta broke the silence with a wail, and

Maria began to wring her hands and sob, "Ai!

Ai! Poor man!"

All their outcry did them no good, of

course. There sat Grandmother Majaus,

unrelenting, typifying fate. No, of course it was

not fair, but then fairness had nothing to do with

it. And of course they had not known it. They

had not been intended to know it. But it was in

the deed, and that was all that was necessary, asthey would find when the time came.

Somehow or other they got rid of their guest,

and then they passed a night of lamentation. The

children woke up and found out that something

was wrong, and they wailed and would not be

comforted. In the morning, of course, most of

them had to go to work, the packing houses

would not stop for their sorrows; but by seven

o'clock Ona and her stepmother were standing

at the door of the office of the agent. Yes, he

told them, when he came, it was quite true

that they would have to pay interest. And then

Aunt Elzbieta broke forth into protestations andreproaches, so that the people outside stopped

and peered in at the window. The agent was as

bland as ever. He was deeply pained, he said. He

had not told them, simply because he had

supposed they would understand that they had

to pay interest upon their debt, as a matter of

course.

So they came away, and Ona went down to

the yards, and at noontime saw Jurgis and told

him. Jurgis took it stolidlyhe had made up his

mind to it by this time. It was part of fate; they

would manage it somehowhe made his usual

answer, "I will work harder." It would upset

their plans for a time; and it would perhaps be

necessary for Ona to get work after all. Then

Ona added that Aunt Elzbieta had decided that

little Stanislovas would have to work too. It

was not fair to let Jurgis and her support the

familythe family would have to help as it

could. Previously Jurgis had

Narrative

Reading Passage continued:


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scouted this idea, but now knit his brows andnodded his head slowlyyes, perhaps it wouldbe best; they would all have to make somesacrifices now.

So Ona set out that day to hunt for work;and at night Maria came home saying that shehad met a girl named Jasa who had a friend thatworked in one of the wrapping rooms inBrown's, and might get a place for Ona there;only the forelady was the kind that takespresentsit was no use for any one to ask her fora place unless at the same time they slipped a ten-dollar bill into her hand. Jurgis was not in theleast surprised at this nowhe merely askedwhat the wages of the place would be. Sonegotiations were opened, and after an interviewOna came home and reported that the foreladyseemed to like her, and had said that, while shewas not sure, she thought she might be able toput her to work sewing covers on hams, a job at

which she would earn as much as eight or tendollars a week. That was a bid, so Mariareported, after consulting her friend; and thenthere was an anxious conference at home. Thework was done in one of the cellars, and Jurgisdid not want Ona to work in such a place; butthen it was easy work, and one could not haveeverything. So in the end Ona, with a ten-dollarbill burning a hole in her palm, had anotherinterview with the forelady.

Meantime Aunt Elzbieta had takenStanislovas to the priest and gotten acertificate to the effect that he was two years

older than he was; and with it the little boynow sallied forth to make his fortune in theworld. It chanced that Durham had just put ina wonderful new lard machine, and when thespecial policeman in front of the time stationsaw Stanislovas and his document, he smiled tohimself and told him to go "Czia! Czia!"pointing. And so Stanislovas went down a longstone corridor, and up a flight of stairs, whichtook him into a room lighted by electricity,with the new machines for filling lard cans atwork in it. The lard was finished on the floorabove, and it came in little jets, like beautiful,

wriggling, snow-white snakes of unpleasantodor. There were several kinds and sizes of jets,and after a certain precise quantity had comeout, each stopped automatically, and thewonderful machine made a turn, and took thecan under another jet, and so on, until itwas filled neatly to the brim, and pressedtightly, and smoothed off. To attend to all thisand fill several hundred cans of lard per hour,there were necessary two human creatures, one

ofwhomknewhow toplaceanemptylardcan onacertainspoteveryfewseconds,

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and the other of whom knew how to takea full lard can off a certain spot everyfew seconds and set it upon a tray.

And so, after little Stanislovas hadstood gazing timidly about him for afew minutes, a man approached him, andasked what he wanted, to whichStanislovas said, "Job." Then the mansaid "How old?" and Stanislovasanswered, "Sixtin." Once or twice everyyear a state inspector would comewandering through the packing plants,asking a child here and there how old hewas; and so the packers were very carefulto comply with the law, which cost themas much trouble as was now involved inthe boss's taking the document from thelittle boy, and glancing at it, and then

sending it to the office to be filed away.Then he set some one else at a different

job, and showed the lad how to place alard can every time the empty arm of theremorseless machine came to him; and sowas decided the place in the universe oflittle Stanislovas, and his destiny till theend of his days. Hour after hour, day afterday, year after year, it was fated that heshould stand upon a certain square footof floor from seven in the morning untilnoon, and again from half-past twelve tillhalf-past five, making never a motion and

thinking never a thought, save for thesetting of lard cans. In summer the stenchof the warm lard would be nauseating,and in winter the cans would all but freezeto his naked little fingers in the unheatedcellar. Half the year it would be dark asnight when he went in to work, and darkas night again when he came out, and sohe would never know what the sun lookedlike on weekdays. And for this, at the endof the week, he would carry home threedollars to his family, being his pay at therate of five cents per hourjust about his

proper share of the total earnings of themillion and three-quarters of childrenwho are now engaged in earning theirlivings in the United States.

And meantime, because they wereyoung, and hope is not to be stifled beforeits time, Jurgis and Ona were againcalculating; for they had discovered thatthe wages of Stanislovas would a littlemore than pay the interest, which left


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them just about as they had been before! Itwould be but fair to them to say that the littleboy was delighted with his work, and at the

idea ofearninga lot of

money; and also that the two were verymuch in love with each other.

Answers for Multiple Choice Questions for the Narrative Passage

Below you will review the answers you chose for the excerpt from Upton Sinclairs The

Jungle. Write the correct answer in the space for each number. If you got the answer

wrong, write the clarification given by the teacher of why the correct answer was a betterchoice. If you got the answer right, just write correct under the explanation:

1. Correct Answer: ________________

Explanation for correct answer: ______________________________________________

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2. Correct Answer: ________________


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3. Correct Answer: ________________

Explanation for correct answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. Correct Answer: ________________


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5. Correct Answer: ________________


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Open Ended Questions for the Narrative Reading Section

Open-ended questions require you to make sense of what you read. They differ from

other forms of writing on the HSPA test (like the Picture Prompt and the PersuasiveEssay) in that you must process what you read in the story and write a logic response

based on your understanding of the story. Some tips you might wish to consider when

approaching an open-ended question are as follows:

Be sure to structure your answer to fit the question. Usually each bulleted section

in the question deals with something unique. A good rule of thumb is to write oneparagraph for each bullet UNLESS that bullet asks for several examples.

Dont forget to rephrase youre the introduction to your question in your answer.Use the language of the prompt to get yourself started and to keep focused.

Be sure to back your answer up with text examples. It is preferable not to quotestraight from the story, but rather to put the information into your own words.

Open-ended questions need not be lengthy; two to three strong paragraphs willsuffice depending on the question. But accuracy and comprehension are weighedheavily on these questions, so be sure to take your time and plan your answer.

The following is an example of an open-ended question for the story you just read. We

will do this example together. Be sure to write down the classs answers in the space

provided:

Grandmother Majaus tells Ona, Jurgis and the other family members that they

trick you and eat you alive.

How are the immigrants tricked?

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Who tricks the immigrants?

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Use information from the story to support your response.

Now its your turn. Write a complete and well-developed response to the followingopen-ended question based on Sinclairs The Jungle. Dont forget to reference the

Writers Checklist and the 0-4 Rubric to assist you in your writing:

1. The narrator describes the immigrant family coming to terms with the circumstancesof their lives and says, as if in a flash of lightening they saw themselvesvictims of a

relentless fate, cornered, trapped, in the grip of destruction.

Use details from the selection to illustrate THREE ways that fate seems to be

conspiring against the immigrants.

Use information from the story to support your response.

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End of Narrative Reading Section

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Narrative Reading Section Complete