MASTERINGTHE TAKS GRADE 11

EXIT LEVEL ELA

JAMES KILLORAN

STUART ZIMMER

MARK JARRETT

JARRETT PUBLISHING COMPANY

EAST COAST OFFICE WEST COAST OFFICE

P.O. Box 1460 10 Folin Lane19 Cross Street Lafayette, CA94549Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 925-906-9742631-981-4248

1-800-859-7679 Fax: 631-588-4722www.jarrettpub.com

Other books by Killoran, Zimmer, and Jarrett

Mastering the TAKS Grade 3 in ReadingMastering the Grade 7 Writing TEKS

Mastering the Georgia Middle Grades Writing AssessmentMastering the Grade 6 PSSA Writing Assessment

Mastering the Grade 5 PSSA Reading TestMastering the Grade 3 ISAT Reading and Writing TestsMastering the Grade 5 ISAT Reading and Writing Tests

Mastering the Grade 3 MCAS Reading TestMastering the Grade 4 MCAS Tests in English Language Arts

Mastering New York’s Grade 4 English Language Arts TestMastering New York s Grade 8 English Language Arts Test

Mastering Ohio’s Fourth Grade Proficiency Tests in Reading and WritingMastering the Grade 4 FCAT Reading and Writing Test

Introducing the Elementary English Language ArtsMastering the Elementary English Language Arts

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

UNIT 1: PREPARING FOR THE TEST

y The TAKS Grade 11 Exit Level ELA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1• The Reading Part of the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1• The Writing Part of the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

y How this Book is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2y The Pretest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

• The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3• Adolescence and Youth by John Janeway Conger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

UNIT 2: READING

CHAPTER 1: ATTACKING THE READINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26y Reading Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26y Applying the Strategies to Attack a Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS ON THE BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF A TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

y Vocabulary Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32• Context Clues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33• Word Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34• Using the Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

y “Mostly About” Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36• Literary Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36• Expository Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

y Summary Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39• Summarizing a Literary Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39• Summarizing an Expository Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

CHAPTER 3: QUESTIONS ON LITERARY ELEMENTS AND TECHNIQUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

y A Sample Literary Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42• “The Destructors” by Graham Greene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

y Questions on Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48y Questions on Plot Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49y Compare-and-Contrast Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51y Questions on Literary Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53y Questions on Literary Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

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CHAPTER 4: QUESTIONS ON TEXTUAL ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58y A Sample Expository Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

• Hiroshima by John Hersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59y Compare-and-Contrast Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62y Sequence Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64y Cause-and-Effect Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65y Conclusion/Generalization Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67y Prediction Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

CHAPTER 5: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INTERPRETATIONAND CRITICAL EVALUATION OF TEXTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

y Supporting Interpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71y The Characteristics of a Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

• Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73• Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74• Word Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

y Modes of Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76y Credibility of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78y Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80y Crossover Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

CHAPTER 6: RESPONDING TOSHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

y Approaching Different Question Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85• “How” Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85• “Why” Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86• Evaluation Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86• Crossover Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

y Writing Your Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

CHAPTER 7: QUESTIONS ON VIEWING AND REPRESENTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89y What is Media Literacy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

• Purpose of the Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90• Forms of Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

y Deconstructing Media Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91• Persuasive Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

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CHAPTER 8: ATTACKING THE TEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95y Steps for Attacking the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

• Step 1: “Opening Impressions” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95• Step 2: Using the Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96• Step 3: Reading for Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97• Step 4: Answering the Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

y A Practice Reading Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97• Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98• “The Wardrobe, the Old Man and Death” by Julio Ribeyro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101• The Viewing and Representing Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

UNIT 3: WRITING

CHAPTER 9: THE ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113y Focus and Coherence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114y The Development of Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

• Taking Risks in your Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117y Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

• The Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118• The Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118• The Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119• Meaningful Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

y Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120• Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120• Word Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120• Imagery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121• Sentence Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121• Parallelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121• Using Dialect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

y Writing Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

CHAPTER 10: THE WRITING PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123y Step 1: Plan and Prewrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123y Step 2: Draft your Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125y Step 3: Revise your Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126y Step 4: Edit your Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127y Step 5: Your Final Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127y A Sample Grade 11 Exit Level Writing Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

UNIT 4: PEER EDITING

CHAPTER 11: PARAGRAPH ORGANIZATIONAND SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

y Paragraph Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131y Sentence Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

• Sentence Fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132• Run-On Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

CHAPTER 12: USAGE AND MECHANICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135y Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

• Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132• Verbs and Verbals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137• Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140• Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140• Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140• Subject-Verb Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

y Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143• Capitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143• Punctuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143• Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

y Practice Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

UNIT 5: A FINAL PRACTICE TEST

y The TAKS Grade 11 Exit Level ELA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149• The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154• The Viewing and Representing Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158• The Grade 11 Exit Level Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166• Peer Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

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The aim of this book is to prepare you to recognize and answer every type of question you mightface on the TAKS Grade 11 Exit Level ELA. Its main divisions, or units, are based on the threeparts of the test: reading, writing, and peer editing. Within each unit, you will learn about the dif-ferent types of test questions, review essential content, and be given opportunities for practicingyour skills.

y Unit 1 contains a p r e t e s t that will familiarize you with the kinds of readings and questionsfound on the TAKS. The pretest will help you pinpoint any weaknesses you may have inorder to guide your preparation for the test.

y Unit 2 focuses on the reading part of the test. The unit begins by reviewing the practicesof good readers, which you can use in tackling the reading selections on the test. It thenexamines each type of multiple-choice question, including those on your basic under-standing of each selection, on the use of literary elements and techniques, and on the inter-pretation and critical evaluation of texts. Later chapters look at short-answer questionson the two reading selections, examine the “viewing and representing” piece, and showyou how to apply your reading skills and knowledge of the question types to take eff e c t i v enotes during the test itself.

y Unit 3 focuses on the written composition. It begins by looking at the criteria that willbe used to evaluate your composition. Then it shows you, step-by-step, how to generateideas and formulate an effective response to the writing prompt.

y Unit 4 looks at the revising and editing section of the test. This unit reviews the main con-ventions of standard written English that you should apply in “peer editing.”

y Unit 5 concludes the book with a second practice test, which will permit you to gaugehow much you have improved.

By using this book, reading widely, practicing your writing, paying careful attention to yourteachers, and completing your homework assignments, you should perform your very best whenthe day of the actual TAKS arrives. You can begin on the next page with the pretest. Take this in aquiet place under “test conditions” so that you will have a genuine feeling for what the test willbe like. Then go over your answers with your teacher before going on to Unit 2.

HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED

2 MASTERING THE TAKS GRADE 11 EXIT LEVEL ELA

A summary provides the main ideas and most important details of a reading selection while leav-ing out other information. Summary questions therefore test your ability to separate importantinformation from less important information. You will have to select the summary that includesthose ideas and details that are most important to understanding what the passage is all about.

SUMMARIZING A LITERARY SELECTION

A literary selection generally tells how its characters try to overcome some problem. A good sum-mary of a literary work therefore identifies the central problem faced by the characters and tellshow they solved the central problem. When the reading is an excerpt, however, it may not dealwith the main problem of the larger work. You first have to decide what the focus of the excerptis. The passage may be about the central problem of the story, or it may focus on just one literaryelement — such as a character, setting, or event in the plot.

When you see a summary question about a literary selection, here are some steps to help youto unlock the answer:

Now let’s practice a summarizing question about a story. Answer the question on the nextpage based on the selection, The Prince of Tides.

First, identify if this is an excerpt or an entire story.

� If it is an excerpt, determine its focus — what it is mostly about.

� If it is an entire story, think about the central problem faced by the characters in the story.

Next, think of a sentence that expresses the focus of the excerpt or the main problem of the story. Decide what the reading mainly says about the problem or other focus. Then, choose the most important events and details needed to understand the focus or problem.

Finally, pick the choice that best identifies important details and events, especially those explaining how the characters solved the central problem in the story. Choices that give information about specific details without stating the story’s central problem or the excerpt’s main focus are probably wrong.

UNLOCKING THE ANSWER

SUMMARY QUESTIONS

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CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS ON THE BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF A TEXT 39

Some questions will ask about the influence of historical context on a text.

An author may choose to set a story in a particular historical setting. When an author writesabout a different time period, he or she usually provides details reflecting the beliefs and cultureof that period to make the text more realistic. The author often poses problems or issues that peo-ple faced in that time period but that also touch on universal characteristics of the human condition.

The test will examine your ability to draw connections between a literary selection and its his-torical context. The question might ask:

y how a historical event in the story influences what happens to its characters.

y how the historical context influenced the attitude and approach of the author.

For example, a question based on the selection from The Prince of Tides in the pretest mightbe phrased as follows:

Objective 2 — 11E. The student is expected to connect literature to historical contexts, orcurrent events.

Objective 3 — 8D. The student is expected to interpret the possible influences of the his-torical context on a literary work.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

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80 MASTERING THE TAKS GRADE 11 EXIT LEVEL ELA

Notice how this question tests your ability to identify the historical context of the story. ChoicesB and C do not tell us anything about the historical context. Although the text mentions thatHenry felt handsome in his lieutenant’s uniform, this information does not specifically relate to the time period of World War II. On the other hand, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President of theUnited States during World War II. The fact that Henry is a soldier about to go to war who pretendsto have a letter from President Roosevelt indicates that Henry met Tom’s mother during World WarII. A reader can also infer that Henry held many of the attitudes, beliefs, and concerns typical ofpeople of that period.

8 The author makes it clear that HenryWingo met Tom’s mother during WorldWar II, because Henry —

A pretends to have a letter fromPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt

B asks a barber in Atlanta where tofind pretty girls

C introduces himself to her while sheis waiting for a city bus

D feels handsome in his lieutenant’suniform

Now you try to answer a historical context question based on the selection earlier in this chapter,Hiroshima by John Hersey.

UN

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CHAPTER 5: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INTERPRETATION AND CRITICAL EVALUATION OF TEXTS 81

Some questions on the test will ask you to compare or contrast themes, ideas, and issues found inboth the literary and expository selections, These types of questions are called crossover questions.

Objective 2 — 11A. The student is expected to compare and contrast varying aspects oftexts such as themes, conflicts, and allusions both within and across texts.

CROSSOVER QUESTIONS

9 The author of Hiroshima chose to writeabout Mr. Tanimoto, who had beeneducated in the United States andcorresponded with American friends, topoint out that —

A the United States was killingAmericans by dropping an atomicbomb

B the atomic bomb killed or woundedits victims indiscriminately

C few people in Japan supported thewar against the United States

D people educated in the United Statesknew how to survive an atomic blast

To answer a historical context question, use the following approach:

First, pay attention to the names of people, places, and events as well as any dates provided by the author.

Then, see if any of the people, places, events, or dates mentioned in the selection correspond to any time and place you already know about. In this case, the name Franklin D. Roosevelt refers to the man who was President of the United States during World War II. See how what you know about the time and place of the story affects what happens to its characters. Also, think about how the historical context may have affected the author’s views about the theme or topic of the selection.

Finally, focus on what the question asks for. Select the answer that best identifies the impact of the historical context.

UNLOCKING THE ANSWER

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The TAKS will ask you to respond to three short-answer questions:

You will have five lines to respond to each of the first two questions and eight lines to respondto the crossover question. It is expected that you should confine your answer to the lines pro-vided.

Some short-answer questions will ask you why the characters in a story act the way they do.Other questions will ask about the author’s point of view or why the author has made certainchoices in writing the selection. Still other questions will ask you to compare or evaluate aspects ofthe text. You could, for example, be asked about a theme, character trait, conflict in the plot, orthe use of a particular literary technique or figurative expression.

In all cases, these questions will require you to support your answer with evidence from theselection. This means you should review the text to find specific information to include in sup-port of your answer. Your answer could include:

y a direct quotation from the text

y a brief summary of a part of the story

y a paraphrasing of information from the text

y a reference to a specific sentence or paragraph in the text

One short-answerquestion about theliterary selection

One short-answercrossover question about

both selections

One short-answerquestion about theexpository selection

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CHAPTER 6

RESPONDING TOSHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS

Each short-answer response will receive a score of 0 to 3 points:

This chapter will show you how to approach these short-answer questions to achieve your high-est possible score.

Let’s first look more closely at the main types of short-answer questions on the TAKS.

“HOW” QUESTIONS

How means “in what way.” You can see what a how question looks like by examining a questionbased on the excerpt from the book Hiroshima (pgs. 59–62).

1 In Hiroshima, how does Mr. Tanimoto feel towards the United States? Support your answerwith evidence from the selection.

“How” questions may ask: How is a character affected by an event or other aspect of thetext? How does the historical context or the author’s experiences shape what the author writes?How does the narrator’s point of view affect the selection? How are two characters are alike or dif-ferent? Notice that some how questions may ask you to make a comparison; others may ask youto describe a process.

y If you are asked how a character feels, as in question 1 above, describe the character’sfeelings using evidence from the text.

y If you are asked how two characters compare, identify the similarities and differencesbetween them.

y If you are asked about the influence of an event on a character, think about what thecharacter was like before the event occurred. Compare this to what the character becomesafter the event. The differences show how the character has been influenced by the event.

y If you are asked to explain how something works or how different parts of a process areconnected, describe each part and then show how the parts fit or work together to explainthe whole process or event.

APPROACHING DIFFERENTQUESTION TYPES

Score of 0 = insufficientScore of 1 = partially sufficientScore of 2 = sufficientScore of 3 = exemplary

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CHAPTER 6: RESPONDING TO SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS 85

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We now live in an age in which werely not only on printed texts but onmany forms of “media” — visuals,radio, and video — for information.Every triplet on the TAKS Grade 11Exit Level ELA will include one“viewing and representing” piece.This piece will consist of a one-pagevisual representation with minimaltext, such as an advertisement, car-toon, web page, photograph, flier, orchart.

The “viewing and representing”piece will focus on the same theme asthe two reading selections. You may,for example, recall the visual repre-sentation shown on the right from thepretest. Two multiple-choice ques-tions on the TAKS will use the“viewing and representing” piece totest your “media literacy.” Thesequestions may ask you to:

y to consider the purpose ofthe visual representation;

y to determine its message;

y to decide how effectively its message is conveyed; and

y to evaluate any persuasive techniques it employs — such as glittering generalities, theuse of symbolism, or logical fallacies.

CHAPTER 7

QUESTIONS ON VIEWING AND REPRESENTING

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UNIT 3: WRITING

The second part of the TAKS Grade 11 Exit Level ELA will ask you to write a com-position in response to a prompt. The prompt will be based on the same theme as thetriplet for the reading part of the test. Your composition will be scored on the basis of fivecriteria:

To attain a satisfactory score you must:

y remain focused throughout your composition on the specific topic you chooseto write about in response to the prompt;

y organize your ideas in a logical progression of thought;

y develop your ideas thoroughly and specifically;

y express an individual voice that reveals your own personality or viewpoint;and

y follow the conventions of standard written English.

The two chapters in this unit will help you to write an effective composition on theTAKS. The first chapter explores the five criteria used to score your “essay,” the secondchapter examines the writing process.

Focus/Coherence

Developmentof IdeasOrganization

WritingConventionsVoice

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Although the writing prompt on the TAKS Grade 11 Exit Level ELA will relate to the theme ofthe “triplet,” it will also be very open-ended. It will not dictate that you write any particular kindof composition. Instead, the choice of what type of composition to produce will be your own; how-ever, you will be expected to write a focused and well-developed essay or other form of composi-tion connected to the prompt. You will also be permitted to use material from the earlier readingselections, but you are not required to do so. For example, you may recall that the writing prompton the pretest was the following:

The information in the box below will help you remember what you should think about whenyou write your composition.

You will notice that these hints, which will appear on the actual TAKS, serve to remind you ofthe five criteria used in scoring your composition. Although the prompt calls for an “essay”, thisis meant in a very general sense as a written composition.

Write an essay explaining the importance to a familyof the relationship between the father and mother.

CHAPTER 9

THE ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING

write about the assigned topic

make your writing thoughtful and interesting

make sure that each sentence you write contributes to your composition as whole

make sure that your ideas are clear and easy for the reader to follow

write about your ideas in depth so that the reader is able to develop a good understandingof what you are saying

proofread your writing to correct errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammarand sentence structure.

REMEMBER — YOU SHOULD