Standard 2—Language for Literary Response and Expression

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.

Key ideas are identified by numbers (1).
Performance indicators are identified by bullets.
Sample tasks are identified by triangles (s).

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Elementary Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading for literary response involves comprehending, interpreting, and critiquing imaginative texts in every medium, drawing on personal experiences and knowledge to understand the text, and recognizing the social, historical and cultural features of the text.

Students:

• read a variety of literature of different genres: picture books; poems; articles and stories from children’s magazines; fables, myths and legends; songs, plays and media productions; and works of fiction and nonfiction intended for young readers
• recognize some features that distinguish the genres and use those features to aid comprehension
• understand the literary elements of setting, character, plot, theme, and point of view and compare those features to other works and to their own lives
• use inference and deduction to understand the text
• read aloud accurately and fluently, using phonics and context cues to determine pronunciation and meaning
• evaluate literary merit.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s read a picture book to the class and point out how the pictures add meaning to the story
s recite a favorite poem from a class anthology and tell why they chose that poem
s keep a reading inventory to show all the types of literature they are reading
s retell a familiar fairy tale or fable to the class
s choose books to read individually or with others.

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Elementary Speaking and Writing

2. Speaking and writing for literary response involves presenting interpretations, analyses, and reactions to the content and language of a text. Speaking and writing for literary expression involves producing imaginative texts that use language and text structures that are inventive and often multilayered.

Students:

• present personal responses to literature that make reference to the plot, characters, ideas, vocabulary, and text structure
• explain the meaning of literary works with some attention to meanings beyond the literal level
• create their own stories, poems, and songs using the elements of the literature they have read and appropriate vocabulary
• observe the conventions of grammar and usage, spelling, and punctuation.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s perform dramatic readings or recitations of stories, poems, or plays
s write a review of a book to recommend it to their classmates
s create their own picture books or fables to keep in the classroom library
s write new endings or sequels to familiar stories
s pretend to be a character in a historical story and write letters to their classmates about the character’s life.

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Intermediate Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading for literary response involves comprehending, interpreting, and critiquing imaginative texts in every medium, drawing on personal experiences and knowledge to understand the text, and recognizing the social, historical and cultural features of the text.

Students:

• read and view texts and performances from a wide range of authors, subjects, and genres
• understand and identify the distinguishing features of the major genres and use them to aid their interpretation and discussion of literature
• identify significant literary elements (including metaphor, symbolism, foreshadowing, dialect, rhyme, meter, irony, climax) and use those elements to interpret the work
• recognize different levels of meaning
• read aloud with expression, conveying the meaning and mood of a work
• evaluate literary merit based on an understanding of the genre and the literary elements.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s read or recite poems of their own selection to the class, clearly conveying the meaning of the poem and the effect of the rhythm and rhyme patterns
s produce lists of recommended readings for their peers, grouping the works according to some common elements (e.g., theme, setting, type of characters)
s use references to literature they have read to support their position in class discussion.

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Intermediate Speaking and Writing

2. Speaking and writing for literary response involves presenting interpretations, analyses, and reactions to the content and language of a text. Speaking and writing for literary expression involves producing imaginative texts that use language and text structures that are inventive and often multilayered.

Students:

• present responses to and interpretations of literature, making reference to the literary elements found in the text and connections with their personal knowledge and experience
• produce interpretations of literary works that identify different levels of meaning and comment on their significance and effect
• write stories, poems, literary essays, and plays that observe the conventions of the genre and contain interesting and effective language and voice
• use standard English effectively.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s take part in class productions of short plays
s write a sequel to a story continuing the development of the characters, plot, and themes
s write reviews of literature from different cultural settings and point out similarities and differences in that literature
s write stories or poems for their peers or younger children.

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Commencement Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading for literary response involves comprehending, interpreting, and critiquing imaginative texts in every medium, drawing on personal experiences and knowledge to understand the text, and recognizing the social, historical and cultural features of the text.

Students:

• read and view independently and fluently across many genres of literature from many cultures and historical periods
• identify the distinguishing features of different literary genres, periods and traditions and use those features to interpret the work
• recognize and understand the significance of a wide range of literary elements and techniques, (including figurative language, imagery, allegory, irony, blank verse, symbolism, stream-of-consciousness) and use those elements to interpret the work
• understand how multiple levels of meaning are conveyed in a text
• read aloud expressively to convey a clear interpretation of the work
• evaluate literary merit based on an understanding of the genre, the literary elements, and the literary period and tradition.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s read a selection of poems of different forms, including sonnets, lyrics, elegies, narrative poems, and odes, and recognize the effect of the structure and form on the meaning
s act out scenes from a full length play in class
s read literary pieces on a common theme from several literary periods (such as Renaissance, Neo-Classical, Romantic, Realistic, Naturalistic, and Contemporary) and compare the treatments of the theme in those periods
s read and interpret works of recognized literary merit from several world cultures and recognize the distinguishing features of those cultural traditions
s view stage or film productions of a major play or novel and discuss the interpretation of the work that is evident in the production.

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Commencement Speaking and Writing

2. Speaking and writing for literary response involves presenting interpretations, analyses, and reactions to the content and language of a text. Speaking and writing for literary expression involves producing imaginative texts that use language and text structures that are inventive and often multilayered.

Students:

• present responses to and interpretations of works of recognized literary merit with references to the principal features of the genre, the period, and literary tradition, and drawing on their personal experiences and knowledge
• produce literary interpretations that explicate the multiple layers of meaning
• write original pieces in a variety of literary forms, correctly using the conventions of the genre and using structure and vocabulary to achieve an effect
• use standard English skillfully and with an individual style.

This is evident, for example, when students:
s write stories or poems using such literary structures and devices as stanzas and chapters, metaphors, foreshadowing, symbolism, and different forms of dialogue and narration
s take part in productions of full length plays
s put together a collection of literature from different cultures around a common theme and write the introduction to the collection explaining the similarities and differences
s write an interpretation of a major nineteenth-century novel discussing the features of the novel that reflect the conventions of the genre in that time period.
s write interpretations of works of recognized literary merit including a discussion of the principal features of the genre, the period, and the tradition.

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