Grade 10 Literature Mini-Assessment Excerpt from Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii by William Shakespeare This grade 10 mini-assessment is based on an excerpt from Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii by William Shakespeare and a video of the scene. This text is considered to be worthy of students’ time to read and also meets the expectations for text complexity at grade 10. Assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will employ quality, complex texts such as this one. Questions aligned to the CCSS should be worthy of students’ time to answer and therefore do not focus on minor points of the text. Questions also may address several standards within the same question because complex texts tend to yield rich assessment questions that call for deep analysis. In this mini- assessment there are seven selected-response questions and one paper/pencil equivalent of technology enhanced items that address the Reading Standards listed below. Additionally, there is an optional writing prompt, which is aligned to both the Reading Standards for Literature and the Writing Standards. We encourage educators to give students the time that they need to read closely and write to the source. While we know that it is helpful to have students complete the mini-assessment in one class period, we encourage educators to allow additional time as necessary. Note for teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs): This assessment is designed to measure students’ ability to read and write in English. Therefore, educators will not see the level of scaffolding typically used in instructional materials to support ELLs—these would interfere with the ability to understand their mastery of these skills. If ELL students are receiving instruction in grade-level ELA content, they should be given access to unaltered practice assessment items to gauge their progress. Passages and items should not be modified; however, additional information about accommodations you may consider when administering this assessment to ELLs is available in the teacher section of this resource. The questions align to the following standards: RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. RL.9-10.3 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. RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choice on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). 1 RL.9-10.5 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. RL.9-10.6 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. RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts" and Breughel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus). W.9-10.2 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. W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. L.9-10.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. L.9-10.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. L.0-10.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. 2 Contents Grade 10 - Mini-Assessment – Excerpt from Julius Caesar Print for students ......................................... 4 Information for Teachers: Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses of the Text ..................................... 17 Question Annotations: Correct Answers and Distractor Rationales .................................................... 19 Using the Mini-Assessments with English Language Learners………………………..………………………………... 25 Additional Resources for Assessment and CCSS Implementation ....................................................... 28 The assessment questions in this document align with the CCSS and reflect the instructional shifts implied by the standards. To learn more about these topics, please go to the following link: www.achievethecore.org 3 Grade 10 Mini-Assessment – Excerpt from Julius Caesar Act III, Scene ii Today you will read an excerpt from Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii by William Shakespeare, and watch a short video of part of the scene. You will then answer several questions based on the text and video. I will be happy to answer questions about the directions, but I will not help you with the answers to any questions. You will notice as you answer the questions that some of the questions have two parts. You should answer Part A of the question before you answer Part B, but you may go back and change your answer to Part A if you want to. Take as long as you need to read and answer the questions. If you do not finish when class ends, come see me to discuss when you may have additional time. Now read the passage, watch the video, and answer the questions. I encourage you to write notes in the margin as you read the passage. Excerpt from Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii by William Shakespeare (shortened for assessment purposes) Antony: Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; 5 So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest-- 10 For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men-- Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; 15 And Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? 4 When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: 20 Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal1 I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 25 Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know. 30 You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him? O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, 35 And I must pause till it come back to me. First Citizen: Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. Second Citizen: If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong. Antony: But yesterday the word of Caesar might 40 Have stood against the world; now lies he there. And none so poor to do him reverence. O masters, if I were disposed to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, 45 Who, you all know, are honourable men: I will not do them wrong; I rather choose To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men. But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar; 50 I found it in his closet, 'tis his will: 1 A yearly Roman festival that celebrated the god of fertility 5 Let but the commons hear this testament-- Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-- And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, 55 Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy Unto their issue. Fourth Citizen We'll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony. Antony: 60 Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet2 you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad: 65 'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; For, if you should, O, what would come of it! Fourth Citizen: Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony; You shall read us the will, Caesar's will. Antony: Will you be patient? will you stay awhile? 70 I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it: I fear I wrong the honourable men Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar; I do fear it.