Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression

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

Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances, relate texts and performances to their own lives, and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language for self-expression and artistic creation.

Key Idea 1

Listening and Reading:

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.

Performance Indicators (Benchmarks)

Elementary Level Students:

• read a variety of literature of different genres: picture books; poems; articles and stories from children’s magazines; fables, myths and legends; song., 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.

Middle Level 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.

Commencement Level Students:

• read and view independently and fluently across many genres of literature frees 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 irons 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.

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Key Idea 2

Speaking and Writing:

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 multi-layered.

Performance Indicators (Benchmarks)

Elementary Level 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 song. using the elements of the literature they have read and appropriate vocabulary
• observe the conventions of grammar and usage, spelling, and punctuation.

Middle Level 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.

Commencement Level 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 ins 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.