School Improvement in Maryland

Public Release Item: Public Release items have appeared on HSA forms and then are released for public viewing and use. Releasing items is one step to ensuring that schools, districts, and other stakeholders understand how the core learning goals are assessed on the HSA.

Goal 1 Reading, Reviewing and Responding to Texts

Expectation 1.2 The student will construct, examine, and extend meaning of traditional and contemporary works recognized as having significant literary merit.

Indicator 1.2.2 The student will determine how the speaker, organization, sentence structure, word choice, tone, rhythm, and imagery reveal an author’s purpose.

Assessment Limits:

  • Identifying and/or explaining the significance of the following as each contributes to the author's purpose
    • a particular speaker in a text
    • the arrangement of ideas in a particular way
    • the arrangement of words or phrases
    • words that convey author's purpose
    • syntax, words, and syllables that create rhythm to reveal the meaning of the text
    • implied meaning or particular image associated with a particular word or phrase

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Read the poem "Mussels in April." Then answer the following.

In line 10, the speaker most likely refers to the mussels as “sealed mysteries” to

  1. convey a sense of wonder about the experience
  2. express regret that rituals of childhood are over
  3. suggest that collecting the mussels is tiring work
  4. emphasize how well the mussels are hidden in the rocks
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2005_122_eng14.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Read this sentence from the last paragraph of "In The Country of Grasses."

As my eyes become acquainted with lion, I begin to distinguish fur from grass.

Which of these statements best explains the meaning of this sentence?

  1. At first, all lions look alike to the author, but once she gets a better look, she can tell individual lions apart.
  2. The lions are camouflaged in the tall grass, but the longer the author looks, the better she can make them out.
  3. Though fearful of the lions as they hide in the tall grass, the author soon begins to make friends with the animals.
  4. Having never seen lions, the author has no idea what they look like, but little by little, she begins to identify their features.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2005_122_eng39.xml

Correct Answer:
B

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Read these sentences related to the story “Breakfast”, the first chapter from the novel Jim the Boy.

Occasionally the uncles grew cross with each other, and, for a few days, Uncle Al and Uncle Coran would retire to their houses immediately after supper. There they sat by their own fires, or on their own porches, and kept their own counsel until their anger passed.

These details are included to show that the uncles want to

  1. determine blame
  2. avoid arguments
  3. protect their privacy
  4. seek outside assistance
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2006_122_eng11.xml

Correct Answer:
B

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Read the screenplay Anna and the King. Then answer the following:

Read this line from the scene.

MONGKUT (eyes flashing): You do not set conditions, and you shall OBEY!

According to the stage directions, how should the actor playing King Mongkut deliver this line?

  1. angrily
  2. anxiously
  3. doubtfully
  4. suspiciously
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2006_122_eng16.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Read the poem “Foul Shot.” Then answer the following:

In line 4, the poet uses the phrase “squeezed by silence” to describe the effect of

  1. the time clock on the crowd
  2. the spectators on the player
  3. the player's hands on the ball
  4. the size of the court on the game
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2006_122_eng23.xml

Correct Answer:
B

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Read the essay “Yes, I Can!” Then answer the following.

When the author says the frontiersmen's “real possibles were contained in a skin bag carried just behind their eyeballs,” he is suggesting that the frontiersmen

  1. carried extra possibles bags
  2. were secretive about their possibles bag
  3. used intelligence and imagination to survive
  4. depended on their eyes and ears to avoid trouble
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2006_122_eng30.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

Read the essay “Bug, Interrupted.” Then answer the following:

Which of these descriptions of fireflies in “Bug, Interrupted” is NOT supported by the images in the poem “Fireflies in the Garden”?

  1. “shimmering creatures”
  2. “moving every which way”
  3. “a treasure-trove of flashing delight”
  4. “trapped in the glass castle”
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2007_122_eng13.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

Read the essay “Rough Road Ahead: Do Not Exceed Posted Speed Limit.” Then answer the following:

When the author cautions cyclists against accepting advice from “old-timers who haven’t left the confines of their porches since Carter was in office,” he is suggesting that the men’s

  1. information is out of date
  2. houses are in need of repair
  3. knowledge of cycling is limited
  4. politics differ from the author’s
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2007_122_eng17.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

Read the poem “Unfolding Bud.” Then answer the following:

The poet most likely uses the words “Revealing its rich inner self” in line 15 to show

  1. that a poem is like nature
  2. how difficult it is to write poetry
  3. that poetry often has hidden meaning
  4. how a reader should respond to the poem
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2007_122_eng23.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2008

Read the essay “The Architecture of a Soul.” Then answer the following item.

What is the most likely reason the author begins her essay with a list of names of shells?

  1. The shells are important to the author’s work as a naturalist.
  2. The author values the shells because they are all that remain of her childhood.
  3. The shells represent the memory of the author’s grandmother and the time they spent together.
  4. The author uses the shells to suggest the abundance of life forms that can be found in the sea.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2008_122_eng16.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2008

Read the story “Winter Hibiscus.” Then answer the following item.

For Saeng, the hibiscus represents all of the following EXCEPT

  1. ability to overcome obstacles
  2. affection for her new country
  3. connection to her past experiences
  4. comfort in a time of disappointment
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2008_122_eng40.xml

Correct Answer:
B