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6/1
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Select a score band
Reasoning and Inferencing
Skills needed to score in this band
SKILL 1: Make layered inferences and apply those inferences to different but related situations
SKILL 2: Make a connection between one part of a text and a later part of that same text to enhance comprehension
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1
Make layered inferences and apply those inferences to different but related situations
ExampleThe following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
View Passage
A reading passage Line Number Text An understanding of any national literature depends
very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context.
Without some knowledge of language, of history, of
inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the
Line 5 group, without a hint of the social roles played by males
and females in the culture, without a sense of the society’s
humor or priorities—without such knowledge, how can
we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning
in an expression of art?
Line 10 The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a
different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folk-
tale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture
of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a
general audience within the society, including the full range
Line 15 of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be
recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a perfor-
mance specialist. It would be expected to have different
meanings to the various categories of listeners—instructive,
entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version
Line 20 of the story:
“Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who
decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She
went to the bank, where she met a beaver.
‘Hello,’ she said to him. ‘I need to do some hunting over
Line 25 there. Will you ride me across on your back?’
‘I’d be glad to,’ replied the beaver. ‘Hop on.’
So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he
started swimming for the other side. When he had almost
made it, the porcupine woman said, ‘Oh my! I’ve forgotten
Line 30 to bring my sack. I’ll need to go back to the other bank and
get it.’
‘All right,’ said the beaver, and swam back. He was
panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s go.’ So they started across
Line 35 again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When
they had practically reached the other side, she said, ‘Oh
my! I’ve forgotten to bring my needle. We’ll have to go
back and get it.’
This time the beaver didn’t say anything—he didn’t
Line 40 have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them
back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her
needle.
‘Hurry up, now,’ the porcupine woman said as she
climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose
Line 45 above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank
again when she said, ‘Oh my! I’ve forgotten my staff.
We’ll have to . . . .’
Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had
flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the
Line 50 bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman
managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear
path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the
beaver and quilled him to death.”
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphe-
Line 55 mistically be described as “difficult.” Survival, especially
in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the
precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communica-
tion was therefore the method of cultural transmission,
legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is
Line 60 also necessary to know that a “staff,” as mentioned in the
story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and
that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were
supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and
beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but
Line 65 overly spontaneous and erratic.
For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes
more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several
additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener
would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman
Line 70 proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any
stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a
basically open-ended agreement—made a contract—and
hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights
both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling
Line 75 him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the por-
cupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go
hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of
that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a
Line 80 needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most
important, an implement with which to hunt and defend
herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where
does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting,
exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the
Line 85 wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path!
The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because
of her own improvidence.
In the context of the passage, which “expression of art” (line 9) would be the most difficult to interpret?
-
2
Make a connection between one part of a text and a later part of that same text to enhance comprehension
ExampleThe following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
View Passage
A reading passage Line Number Text An understanding of any national literature depends
very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context.
Without some knowledge of language, of history, of
inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the
Line 5 group, without a hint of the social roles played by males
and females in the culture, without a sense of the society’s
humor or priorities—without such knowledge, how can
we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning
in an expression of art?
Line 10 The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a
different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folk-
tale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture
of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a
general audience within the society, including the full range
Line 15 of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be
recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a perfor-
mance specialist. It would be expected to have different
meanings to the various categories of listeners—instructive,
entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version
Line 20 of the story:
“Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who
decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She
went to the bank, where she met a beaver.
‘Hello,’ she said to him. ‘I need to do some hunting over
Line 25 there. Will you ride me across on your back?’
‘I’d be glad to,’ replied the beaver. ‘Hop on.’
So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he
started swimming for the other side. When he had almost
made it, the porcupine woman said, ‘Oh my! I’ve forgotten
Line 30 to bring my sack. I’ll need to go back to the other bank and
get it.’
‘All right,’ said the beaver, and swam back. He was
panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s go.’ So they started across
Line 35 again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When
they had practically reached the other side, she said, ‘Oh
my! I’ve forgotten to bring my needle. We’ll have to go
back and get it.’
This time the beaver didn’t say anything—he didn’t
Line 40 have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them
back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her
needle.
‘Hurry up, now,’ the porcupine woman said as she
climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose
Line 45 above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank
again when she said, ‘Oh my! I’ve forgotten my staff.
We’ll have to . . . .’
Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had
flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the
Line 50 bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman
managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear
path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the
beaver and quilled him to death.”
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphe-
Line 55 mistically be described as “difficult.” Survival, especially
in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the
precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communica-
tion was therefore the method of cultural transmission,
legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is
Line 60 also necessary to know that a “staff,” as mentioned in the
story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and
that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were
supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and
beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but
Line 65 overly spontaneous and erratic.
For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes
more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several
additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener
would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman
Line 70 proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any
stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a
basically open-ended agreement—made a contract—and
hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights
both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling
Line 75 him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the por-
cupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go
hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of
that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a
Line 80 needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most
important, an implement with which to hunt and defend
herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where
does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting,
exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the
Line 85 wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path!
The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because
of her own improvidence.
In lines 83–87, the description of the porcupine woman emphasizes the discrepancy between her
Skills needed to score in the next band
As you read a text (such as an essay or newspaper article), think about what the author is trying to say, either directly or indirectly. What does the author tell you? What can you guess about what he or she thinks or feels? What evidence from the text supports your assumptions?
Find two challenging texts by different authors on the same topic. Synthesize the main ideas and supporting details from each text. Think about what conclusions you can draw from both texts.
