School Improvement in Maryland

Sample Item
Selected Response Item for Grade 8

Standard 3.0 Comprehension of Literary Text

Topic A. Comprehension of Literary Text

Indicator 7. Analyze and evaluate the author's purposeful use of language

Objective a. Analyze and evaluate how specific language choices contribute to meaning

Assessment limits:

  • Significant words (e.g., idioms, colloquialisms, etc.) with a specific effect on meaning
  • Denotations of above-grade-level words used in context
  • Connotations of grade-appropriate words and phrases in context
Read this passage from 'Dear Mr. President Thomas Jefferson Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm', a novel that takes place when President Jefferson was in office. Amelia Hornsby has grown up in Philadelphia but has recently followed her father, a doctor, to Pittsburgh. Then answer the following.


Read this sentence from paragraph 2 of the letter.

Yet, if they do come to Pittsburgh, we shall not fail to celebrate these titans of exploration.

The word in paragraph 2 that most helps a reader understand the meaning of titans is

  1. entourage
  2. progress
  3. heroes
  4. banquets

Correct Answer
C. heroes
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