The Literacy Cookbook blog | by Sarah Tantillo, Ed.D., LLC



PARCC Literary Analysis Writing Tasks, updated 12-4-16

Following are the directions from the practice tests and the released items for grades 3-11 (found on the PARCC Website at ):

GRADE 3:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today, you will read two stories titled “Johnny Chuck Finds the Best Thing in the World” and “Me First.” As you read, think about |

|the actions of the characters and the events of the stories. Answer the questions to help you write an essay….THEN: Old Mother West|

|Wind and the Sandwitch both try to teach important lessons to characters in the stories. Write an essay that explains how Old |

|Mother West Wind’s and the Sandwitch’s words and actions are important to the plots of the stories. Use what you learned about the |

|characters to support your essay. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will read and think about the folktales “Coyote and Fire” and “How Big Bear Stuck to the Sky.” As you read these texts, |

|you will gather information and answer questions about how the illustrations help you understand the folktales so you can write an |

|essay. |

|THEN: Look at the illustrations from the folktales. Write an essay describing how each illustration helps the reader understand |

|the characters’ actions in each folktale. Be sure to use evidence from EACH folktale to support your response. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 4:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today you will read a story about a girl whose family is from India and a poem that expresses how the speaker faces frightening |

|experiences. After you finish the task, you will write an essay about a theme in the story and the poem…. |

|THEN: Identify a theme in “Just Like Home” and a theme in “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me.” Write an essay that explains how the theme of|

|the story is shown through the characters and how the theme of the poem is shown through the speaker. Include specific details from|

|the story and the poem to support your essay. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will read and think about the passages “The Rescue of the Tin Woodman” and “Arriving at Emerald City” from The Wonderful |

|Wizard of Oz. As you read these texts, you will gather information and answer questions about Dorothy and her actions so you can |

|write an essay. |

|THEN: In both “The Rescue of the Tin Woodman” and “Arriving at Emerald City,” Dorothy has interesting adventures that reveal her |

|character. Based on her words and actions in both passages, describe TWO of Dorothy’s qualities. Think about the person that |

|Dorothy is. How do those qualities affect her adventures? Support your response with details from BOTH passages. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will read a passage from “Emergency on the Mountain” and the poem “Mountains.” As you read these texts, you will gather |

|information and answer questions so you can write a response. |

|THEN: Think about how the structural elements in “Emergency on the Mountain” differ from the structural elements in the poem |

|“Mountains.” Write an essay that explains the differences in the structural elements between the passage and the poem. Be sure to|

|include specific examples from both texts to support your response. |

GRADE 5:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from the novel Ida B and a passage from the novel Moon Over Manifest. As you read these texts, you|

|will gather information and answer questions about the influence of the narrator’s point of view so you can write an essay…. |

|THEN: The stories titled Ida B and Moon Over Manifest both include events that did not happen exactly how the narrators expected |

|them to happen. Write an essay describing how each narrator's point of view influenced how these events are described. Be sure to |

|use details from both stories. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from Where the Red Fern Grows and the poem “The Lighthouse Lamp.” As you read these texts, you |

|will gather information and answer questions about the narrator’s point of view so you can write an essay. |

|THEN: Where the Red Fern Grows and “The Lighthouse Lamp” are written from different points of view. Write an essay analyzing the |

|impact of point of view on events in the passage from Where the Red Fern Grows and the impact of point of view on events in the |

|poem, “The Lighthouse Lamp.” Use specific examples from BOTH texts to support your answer. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 6:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today, you will read and think about the passage from the novel titled Boy’s Life and the fable “Emancipation: A Life Fable.” As |

|you read these texts, you will gather information and answer questions about comparing themes and topics so you can write an |

|essay…. |

|THEN: You have read the passage from Boy’s Life and “Emancipation: A Life Fable.” Both texts develop the theme of freedom. Write an|

|essay that compares and contrasts the approaches each text uses to develop the theme of freedom. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from the book A Single Shard and the poem “Turn, Turn, My Wheel.” As you read these texts, you |

|will gather information and answer questions about their themes and topics so you can write an essay. |

|THEN: You have read TWO texts about people who make pottery. Think about how the narrator in the passage from A Single Shard and |

|the speaker in “Turn, Turn, My Wheel” respond to the potters in each text. Write an essay that compares and contrasts how the |

|narrator and the speaker view the potters in the passage and in the poem. Be sure to cite specific details and examples from BOTH |

|texts to support your essay. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 7:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today you will read a passage from The Count of Monte Cristo as well as a scene from the play Blessings. After you have read the |

|selections and answered some questions, you will write an essay analyzing the themes presented in the two texts…. |

|THEN: You have read a passage from The Count of Monte Cristo and a scene from Blessings. Think about the similarities and |

|differences in how the two authors develop the themes in each text. Write an essay in which you identify a theme from each text and|

|analyze how each theme is developed. Be sure to include specific details from both selections. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from The Georges and the Jewels and a passage from Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse. As|

|you read these passages, you will gather information and answer questions about how the authors develop each narrator’s point of |

|view so you can write an essay. |

|THEN: You have read passages from the novels The Georges and the Jewels and Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse. Both were |

|written in the first person point of view. Write an essay in which you compare the way the authors use first person point of view |

|to develop the characters. Be sure to cite specific from BOTH passages. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 8:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today you will analyze passages from two novels. As you read these texts, you will gather information and answer questions about |

|the characters and points of view so you can write an analytical essay…. |

|THEN: In Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, the narrators have points of view different from those of their parents. Write an essay |

|analyzing how these differences in points of view create tension in both stories. Remember to use details from both texts to |

|support your ideas. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from Oliver Twist and a passage from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. As you read these |

|texts, you will gather information and answer questions about the effect of dialogue or events so you can write an essay. |

|THEN: Both Charles Dickens and James Joyce incorporate dialogue into their passages. Use evidence you have gathered from BOTH |

|passages to write an essay analyzing how the dialogue in EACH passage functions to reveal aspects of the characters. You should |

|discuss MORE THAN ONE character from EACH passage. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 9:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|N/A (pending permission) |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from the poem The Odyssey and a passage from Odysseus. As you read these texts, you will gather |

|information and answer questions about how each author transforms the material so you can write an essay. |

|THEN: Write an essay that analyzes how McCaughrean draws on and transforms a particular passage from Pope’s translation of The |

|Odyssey in her narrative retelling titled Odysseus. Include how the two selections are alike and different. Be sure to provide |

|details from the selections to support your ideas and claims. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 10:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today you will read and analyze passages from two short stories. As you read these texts, you will gather information and answer |

|questions about each text individually and about the relationship between the texts so you can write an analytical essay…. |

|THEN: You have read two passages, one from Jacey Choy’s “Red Cranes” and one from Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s “The Firefly Hunt.” Though |

|Mie and Sachiko, the main characters in the passages, have certain similarities, the authors develop their characters in very |

|different ways.
Write an essay in which you analyze the different approaches the authors take to develop these characters. In your |

|essay, be sure to discuss how each author makes use of such elements as:
 |

|the main characters’ interactions with other characters,
 |

|the presentation of the main characters’ thoughts, and
 |

|the strong feelings each character experiences at the end of each passage. |

|Use specific evidence from both passages to support your analysis. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will analyze a passage from Frankenstein and a passage from The Tempest. As you read these texts, you gather information|

|and answer questions about the characters so you can write an essay. |

|THEN: Use what you have learned from Frankenstein and The Tempest to write an analysis that compares and contrasts the relationship|

|between Dr. Frankenstein and his creature and the relationship between Prospero and Caliban. You may want to include in your |

|analysis how Dr. Frankenstein is similar to Prospero, as well as how the creature is similar to Caliban. To get started, you might|

|want to consider these questions: |

|How is Dr. Frankenstein similar to Prospero? |

|How is the man created by Dr. Frankenstein similar to Caliban? |

|Support your essay with specific evidence from both passages. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|N/A |

GRADE 11:

|PRACTICE TEST: |

|Today you will read and analyze passages from two novels. As you read these texts, you will gather information and answer questions|

|about each text individually and about the relationship between the texts, so you can write an analytical essay…. |

|THEN: Now that you have read and answered questions about the passages from Quicksand and The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, |

|write an essay in which you identify and explain a theme that is similar in both passages. In your essay, discuss how each author |

|uses the characters, events, and settings in the passages to develop the theme. |

|2015 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will read and analyze a passage from the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser and a passage from the story “The |

|Grasshopper” by Anton Chekhov. As you read, you will gather information and answer questions about story elements and structure so|

|you can write an analytical essay. |

|THEN: Use what you have learned from reading the passages from Sister Carrie and “The Grasshopper” to write an essay analyzing how|

|the author in each passage uses small events in a day to develop the main character. Develop your essay by providing textual |

|evidence from the passages. |

|2016 RELEASED ITEM: |

|Today you will read a passage from Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener: a Story of Wall-Street” and watch |

|Bartleby, a video adaptation of the story. As you read the text and watch the video, you will gather information and answer |

|questions that analyze the importance of setting in the story and the video adaptation so that you can write an analytical essay. |

|THEN: You have read a passage from Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener: a Story of Wall-Street” and watched |

|Bartleby, a video adaptation of the story. In both the story and the video, the settings play an important role in the development|

|of the central themes. Write an essay in which you examine the significance of the setting in both the story and the video. How |

|is the office in which Bartleby works depicted in each piece? What do these depictions suggest about the nature of the world in |

|which the characters live and work? Remember to use relevant and sufficient evidence from both sources, citing specific evidence |

|to support your argument. |

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