Reading Comprehension Assessment Series
GRADE 6
VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
The French Revolution: Convulsion,
Contradiction & Conceptual Grammar
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Webb's
Depth of Knowledge · Hess's Cognitive Rigor Matrix
Context
Clues ·
Figurative Language · Multiple Meanings · Tier
2 & Tier 3 Vocabulary
Frustration-Level
Text ·
Full-Stack Assessment
Student
Name: _________________________________
Date: ____________
Teacher:
_________________________________
Period / Class: ____________
SKILL REFERENCE: VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
QUESTION CATEGORIES
Seven question types assess your full
vocabulary-in-context skill set. Study the table, then read the passage and
annotate as you go.
|
Question Category |
Skill Tested |
DOK / CRM Range |
Points |
|
Context Clues — Direct
Definition |
Locate embedded definition;
infer from appositive or restatement |
DOK 1–2 / A-1–B-2 |
2 pts each |
|
Context Clues — Inference |
Use surrounding sentences to
infer meaning without an explicit definition |
DOK 2–3 / B-2–C-3 |
2 pts each |
|
Figurative Language —
Metaphor |
Interpret a non-literal
comparison embedded in the text |
DOK 2–3 / B-2–C-3 |
2 pts each |
|
Figurative Language — Idiom
/ Simile / Personification |
Identify figurative meaning;
explain rhetorical effect |
DOK 2–3 / B-2–C-3 |
2 pts each |
|
Multiple Meanings |
Choose the meaning of a
polysemous word that fits the specific context |
DOK 2–3 / B-2–C-3 |
2 pts each |
|
Connotation / Tone |
Distinguish between
denotative meaning and connotative weight; identify author's tone |
DOK 3 / C-3 |
2 pts each |
|
Short Answer — Vocabulary |
Construct definitions;
explain figurative meaning; analyze word choice effect |
DOK 3–4 / C-3–D-4 |
10 pts each |
|
Extended Response |
Analyze how vocabulary and
figurative language work together to develop meaning and tone |
DOK 4 / D-4 |
20 pts |
DIRECTIONS
Read and annotate carefully—underline
unfamiliar words, circle context clues, and note figurative language. The
category label in brackets on each question identifies the specific vocabulary
skill being tested. Written responses require formal academic register,
complete sentences, and direct textual citation.
PASSAGE: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION —
JANUS-FACED, INCENDIARY & INDELIBLE
The French Revolution (1789–1799) was not a
single event but a decade-long convulsion—a violent, contradictory, and
ultimately world-altering political upheaval that dismantled a thousand years
of monarchical and aristocratic order in France and unleashed forces whose
consequences reverberated through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Historians describe the Revolution as a Janus-faced phenomenon: like the Roman
god Janus, it looked simultaneously backward toward the abolition of an unjust
ancient regime and forward toward a political modernity still being negotiated
today.
The Revolution was born from a convergence of
crises: a financially ruined state burdened by war debt, a harvest failure that
left ordinary people at the edge of starvation, a philosophical tradition—the
Enlightenment—that had spent a century delegitimizing royal authority, and a
bourgeoisie, or middle class, that had grown wealthy and educated under the old
order while remaining systematically excluded from political power. The
Estates-General, a legislative body that had not met since 1614, was convened in
May 1789—a measure of desperation on the part of the Crown—and immediately
became the forum in which these accumulated grievances exploded.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen, adopted by the National Assembly in August 1789, proclaimed the
sovereignty of the nation over the sovereign—the king—and articulated universal
principles of liberty, equality, and the rule of law that would echo in
constitutions and revolutions across the globe for centuries. The document was
incendiary, or inflammatory and capable of igniting explosive controversy,
precisely because it translated abstract Enlightenment philosophy into a set of
enforceable political rights. A king who had governed by divine right was
suddenly governing on borrowed terms.
The Revolution's trajectory was not a smooth
arc from oppression to liberation. It devolved—descended into a worse
condition—through a series of increasingly radical phases, culminating in the
Reign of Terror (1793–1794), during which the Committee of Public Safety, under
the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre, executed approximately 17,000 people
by guillotine and imprisoned hundreds of thousands more. Robespierre justified
the Terror with the chilling euphemism that the Republic required "despotism
of liberty"—a phrase that compressed into three words the Revolution's
most lethal contradiction: that freedom might require totalitarian violence to
defend itself.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who seized power in a
coup in 1799, both consummated and betrayed the Revolution. He
institutionalized many of its legal and administrative achievements—the
Napoleonic Code, which standardized French law and abolished the feudal privileges
of the aristocracy, remains the foundation of civil law in dozens of countries
today—while simultaneously crowning himself Emperor and extending French
military domination across Europe. Napoleon was, in historian David Bell's
phrase, simultaneously the Revolution's "heir and its gravedigger."
The French Revolution's enduring significance
lies not in its immediate outcomes, which were chaotic, bloody, and ultimately
autocratic, but in the vocabulary it created. Words and concepts—nation,
citizen, rights, terror, reaction, revolution itself—entered the political
lexicon with the specific meanings they still carry today. The Revolution did
not create a stable republic; it created the conceptual grammar of modern
politics.
SECTION A — CONTEXT CLUES (2 pts each)
Questions 1–6: Use context clues to determine
word and phrase meanings.
1. [Context Clues — Direct Definition] In paragraph two, the word
"bourgeoisie" is immediately followed by the phrase "or middle
class." What does this context clue tell you about the social group that
was excluded from political power under the ancien régime?
DOK 1 · CRM
A-1
▸ Tests
recognition of parenthetical definition.
A) The bourgeoisie was the peasant
and agricultural laboring class that formed the majority of France's population
B) The bourgeoisie was the middle
class—educated, economically prosperous, but politically excluded—whose
exclusion from power made them a driving force of Revolutionary energy
C) The bourgeoisie was the
aristocratic class that held hereditary titles and land under the feudal system
D) The bourgeoisie was the Catholic
clergy who controlled enormous wealth and institutional power in
pre-Revolutionary France
2. [Context Clues — Direct Definition] Paragraph three defines the
Declaration of the Rights of Man as "incendiary, or inflammatory and
capable of igniting explosive controversy." Using this definition, which
historical document would BEST qualify as similarly incendiary?
DOK 1 · CRM
A-1
▸ Tests
application of embedded definition.
A) A legal code that codified
existing laws without changing their substance, providing clarity without
altering the distribution of power
B) A proclamation that declared
enslaved people in Confederate states to be free—directly challenging the legal
and economic foundations of an entire social order
C) A treaty between two nations
establishing new trade routes and tariff agreements
D) A scientific paper presenting new
astronomical data that slightly revised existing calculations about planetary
orbits
3. [Context Clues — Inference]
Paragraph four states the Revolution "devolved—descended
into a worse condition—through a series of increasingly radical phases."
Using this in-text definition, what would be the OPPOSITE of devolution in a
political context?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference from contextual antonym.
A) A revolution that collapses
entirely and returns to the exact conditions that existed before it began
B) A political process in which
conditions progressively improve—ascending from worse to better—through reform,
stabilization, or the development of more just and effective institutions
C) A political system that maintains
identical conditions over a long period without any change in either direction
D) A military coup that replaces one
form of government with another of equal or similar character
4. [Context Clues — Inference]
Paragraph four describes Robespierre's phrase "despotism
of liberty" as a "chilling euphemism." Using the surrounding
context—which explains that the phrase compressed the Revolution's "most
lethal contradiction"—what does "euphemism" mean here?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference from contextual elaboration.
A) A technical philosophical term
used by Robespierre to describe his theory of republican government in academic
writing
B) A mild or pleasant-sounding
expression used to soften or disguise an uncomfortable, brutal, or
contradictory reality—in this case, using the word "liberty" to
describe what was in practice totalitarian violence
C) A foreign loanword adopted by the
French Revolutionary government from classical Latin political philosophy
D) A rhetorical strategy of
deliberate exaggeration used to galvanize public support for government
policies
5. [Context Clues — Inference]
The final paragraph states that words "entered the
political lexicon with the specific meanings they still carry today."
Based on the surrounding context—which describes these words as part of the
"conceptual grammar of modern politics"—what does "lexicon"
most likely mean?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference from synonym "lexicon."
A) A formal dictionary published by
the French Revolutionary government to standardize political terminology
B) The vocabulary or specialized set
of terms used in a particular field, profession, or domain of knowledge—here,
the shared political vocabulary that modern democratic societies inherited from
the Revolution
C) A code of laws establishing legal
definitions for political crimes and constitutional violations
D) A collection of speeches and
proclamations from the Revolutionary period preserved as historical documents
6. [Context Clues — Inference]
The passage calls the French Revolution a "Janus-faced
phenomenon." The passage explains that Janus was a Roman god who
"looked simultaneously backward . . . and forward." Using this
contextual elaboration, analyze what makes the "Janus-faced" metaphor
more precise than simply calling the Revolution "contradictory."
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
inference of complex oxymoron.
A) "Janus-faced" and
"contradictory" are synonymous; the classical reference adds only
rhetorical ornamentation
B) "Contradictory" implies
internal inconsistency or incoherence; "Janus-faced" implies
something more specific—that the Revolution was facing two different directions
simultaneously with full awareness and intention, looking backward toward the
past (abolition of the ancien régime) and forward toward a not-yet-realized
future (political modernity)—a productive and directional duality rather than a
merely confused one
C) "Janus-faced" implies
the Revolution was deceptive and two-faced, hiding its true intentions behind a
mask of idealistic language
D) "Janus-faced" implies
the Revolution had two leaders who disagreed about its direction, like the two
faces of Janus pointing different ways
SECTION B — FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (2 pts each)
Questions 7–12: Identify and interpret
metaphors, similes, irony, personification, and allusion.
7. [Figurative Language — Metaphor]
The passage describes the Revolution as "a decade-long
convulsion." In medicine, a convulsion is an involuntary, violent,
uncontrollable spasm of the body. What does calling the Revolution a
"convulsion" imply about its nature?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
interpretation of geological metaphor.
A) The Revolution was medically
induced by a disease epidemic that destabilized the French population's ability
to govern themselves rationally
B) The Revolution was violent,
involuntary in the sense that its forces could not be controlled or predicted
by any actor, and of limited duration—like a convulsion, it seized the body
politic with intense violence before subsiding, leaving the body changed but
still present
C) The Revolution was caused by the
personal convulsions—emotional breakdowns—of specific leaders like Robespierre
and Napoleon
D) "Convulsion" is used as
a purely neutral synonym for "event" with no specific medical or
physiological connotation
8. [Figurative Language — Allusion]
Historian David Bell calls Napoleon simultaneously "the
Revolution's heir and its gravedigger." Analyze this metaphor. What does
"heir" imply, and what does "gravedigger" imply, and why
does placing these two roles in the same person create a paradox?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
interpretation of historical allusion.
A) Both "heir" and
"gravedigger" suggest succession—Napoleon simply continued the
Revolution and eventually buried it peacefully after its natural conclusion
B) "Heir" implies Napoleon
was the legitimate continuation of the Revolution—inheriting its legal and
social achievements; "gravedigger" implies he also ended it by
burying what remained of its republican spirit under his imperial rule. The
paradox is that the same person who carried the Revolution forward also killed
it—making Napoleon both its highest achievement and its termination
C) "Heir" refers to
Napoleon's legal inheritance of French law, while "gravedigger"
refers specifically to his military campaigns that buried thousands of soldiers
D) The metaphor is internally
contradictory and should be understood as Bell's criticism of Napoleon rather
than an accurate characterization
9. [Figurative Language — Oxymoron]
Robespierre justified the Terror with the phrase
"despotism of liberty." This is an oxymoron—a combination of
contradictory terms. Analyze what this oxymoron reveals about the Revolutionary
ideology that produced it.
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
analysis of ideological oxymoron.
A) The oxymoron reveals Robespierre's
personal hypocrisy—he believed in liberty for himself but was willing to deny
it to others
B) The oxymoron reveals a fundamental
ideological trap embedded in the Revolution's own logic: if liberty is an
absolute value that must be defended against its enemies at all costs, then the
defense of liberty can justify the suspension of liberty—a contradiction that
transforms the protector of freedom into its destroyer, exposing the potential
for any absolutist political value to become the justification for its own
opposite
C) The oxymoron is deliberate
propaganda designed to confuse the French public and prevent them from
recognizing the Terror as politically motivated violence
D) The oxymoron reveals that
Robespierre was a poor writer who failed to recognize the contradiction in his
own language
10. [Figurative Language — Metaphor]
The final paragraph describes the Revolution's vocabulary as
the "conceptual grammar of modern politics." What does the word
"grammar" add to the claim that the Revolution gave modern politics
its "vocabulary"?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
extended metaphor analysis.
A) "Grammar" and
"vocabulary" are synonymous; using both words is purely redundant
emphasis
B) "Vocabulary" (individual
words and their meanings) is an important but insufficient description of what
the Revolution created; "grammar" (the rules that govern how words
relate to one another and form coherent meaning) adds the claim that the
Revolution did not merely introduce new terms but established the structural
rules by which political argument is organized—making it the architecture of
thought rather than merely its building blocks
C) "Grammar" implies the
Revolution's contribution was primarily linguistic and literary rather than
political and institutional
D) "Grammar" suggests the
Revolution's vocabulary was prescriptive and restrictive, constraining the
kinds of political arguments that can be made within its framework
11. [Figurative Language — Metaphor/Irony] The passage describes the king
after the Declaration of the Rights of Man as "governing on borrowed
terms." What is ironic about a king "borrowing" the terms on
which he governs?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
ironic reading of figurative language.
A) There is no irony; kings regularly
revised the terms of their governance in response to political pressure
throughout history
B) The irony is that sovereignty—the
king's absolute right to govern—is precisely what cannot be
"borrowed": sovereignty is either possessed unconditionally or not at
all; a king who "borrows" the terms of his authority from the nation
has, by that very act, acknowledged that the nation is the true sovereign and
that his power is conditional and revocable—making him no longer a king in the
traditional sense
C) The irony is that the Declaration
was written by the king's own advisors, so he was borrowing terms from his own
government
D) The irony is that
"borrowing" implies repayment, but the king never restored
sovereignty to its pre-Revolutionary form
12. [Figurative Language — Synecdoche] The passage refers to the
Enlightenment as "a philosophical tradition that had spent a century
delegitimizing royal authority." What does it mean for a tradition rather
than a person to "delegitimize" authority, and what does this phrasing
suggest about how ideas exercise power in history?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
analysis of metonymy/synecdoche.
A) It simply means that Enlightenment
philosophers individually wrote books criticizing monarchy; the phrase has no
additional implications
B) Attributing the action of
delegitimizing to a "tradition" rather than to specific individuals
suggests that the Enlightenment operated as a collective, self-reinforcing
intellectual force rather than as a collection of isolated thinkers—that ideas
accumulated, quoted each other, and mutually reinforced until they constituted
a pressure no single person directed but that all participated in; it implies
ideas exercise power through their cumulative weight and social diffusion, not
merely through individual genius
C) It means the Enlightenment was a
formal institution with political authority to revoke the legitimacy of
monarchical governments
D) It suggests that the Enlightenment
was so abstract and philosophical that it had no real political effects on the
actual governance of France
SECTION C — MULTIPLE MEANINGS (2 pts each)
Questions 13–16: Select the contextually
correct meaning of polysemous words.
13. [Multiple Meanings] The
Estates-General was "convened in May 1789." The word
"convene" can mean (1) to call a formal meeting of an official body,
(2) to come together or assemble, or (3) to summon to a legal proceeding. Which
meaning is most active here, and what does the "measure of
desperation" context add to your understanding?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
disambiguation of "convened."
A) The legal summons meaning,
implying the king was putting the Estates-General on trial
B) The official assembly meaning—the
king formally called the body into session; the "desperation" context
adds the crucial detail that this was an act of last resort rather than routine
governance, reframing what might appear to be a normal institutional action as
evidence of the Crown's crisis
C) The voluntary assembly meaning,
suggesting the Estates-General chose to meet on its own initiative without
royal direction
D) All three meanings are equally
present, making the sentence deliberately ambiguous about whether the meeting
was voluntary or compelled
14. [Multiple Meanings] The
passage states the Revolution's "trajectory was not a smooth arc from
oppression to liberation." In different contexts, "arc" can mean
(1) a curved geometric shape, (2) the narrative trajectory of a story or
character, or (3) a path of development toward a goal. Which meaning is most
active here?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
disambiguation of "arc."
A) The geometric meaning—the
Revolution did not follow a curved physical path across European geography
B) The narrative/developmental
trajectory meaning—the Revolution did not follow the expected story of steady
progression from a bad beginning to a good end; the "smooth"
qualifier makes clear that the expected arc was one of uninterrupted moral improvement
C) The character arc meaning,
implying the Revolution's individual leaders did not develop as expected
D) The geometric and developmental
meanings are simultaneously active, creating a mixed metaphor
15. [Multiple Meanings] The
Declaration "articulated universal principles of liberty, equality, and
the rule of law." In different contexts, "articulate" can mean
(1) to express clearly in words, (2) to connect or join parts at a joint or
hinge, or (3) to pronounce words distinctly. How do meanings (1) and (2) work
together in the context of the Declaration?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
polysemy of "articulated."
A) Only meaning (1) applies; the
Declaration expressed principles in clear language but had no structural
function
B) Both meanings operate together:
the Declaration "articulated" (expressed clearly) abstract
Enlightenment principles AND "articulated" (connected and joined)
philosophy to political practice—hinging together the theoretical and the institutional,
making abstract ideas legally operative. The word suggests the Declaration was
not merely expressive but structurally connective, joining two previously
separate domains
C) Only meaning (2) applies, because
the Declaration connected the monarch to the National Assembly through a
constitutional hinge
D) Meaning (3) is most active,
because the Declaration was primarily a spoken proclamation delivered aloud to
the French public
16. [Multiple Meanings] The
passage states that Napoleon "both consummated and betrayed the
Revolution." The word "consummate" (used here as a verb) can
mean (1) to complete or bring to fulfillment, (2) to complete a marriage by
having sexual intercourse, or (3) to make something perfect or complete. How do
meanings (1) and (3) work together in this context to describe Napoleon's
relationship to the Revolution?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
polysemy of "consummated."
A) Only meaning (1) applies; Napoleon
completed the Revolution by ending it, making "consummated" a neutral
term for historical completion
B) Meanings (1) and (3) work
together: Napoleon brought the Revolution to its fullest realization (meaning
1) by institutionalizing its legal achievements in the Napoleonic Code, AND he
represented the perfection or highest form (meaning 3) of its administrative
rationalization—paradoxically, the most complete expression of the Revolution's
institutional vision was achieved by an Emperor, making "consummated"
both a tribute and an irony
C) Meaning (2) is metaphorically
active, suggesting Napoleon entered into a marriage-like relationship with the
Revolution that he then violated through betrayal
D) None of the three meanings applies
precisely; "consummated" is used loosely as a synonym for
"extended" or "continued"
SECTION D — CONNOTATION & TONE (2 pts each)
Questions 17–20: Analyze how specific word
choices shape the passage's tone and meaning.
17. [Connotation & Tone] The
passage states the Revolution "unleashed forces whose consequences
reverberated through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." What does
the word "unleashed" suggest about these forces that a word like
"produced" or "generated" would not?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
connotation of "unleashed."
A) "Unleashed" is a neutral
synonym for "produced" with no additional connotation
B) "Unleashed" (to release
something that was previously restrained, as one unleashes a dog or a weapon)
implies that the forces the Revolution released were dangerous, powerful, and
potentially uncontrollable—that they had been held back by the old order and,
once released, could not be recalled or contained; "produced" implies
deliberate creation, while "unleashed" implies dangerous release of
something already existing
C) "Unleashed" implies the
Revolution's consequences were exclusively violent and destructive
D) "Unleashed" suggests the
author approves of the Revolution because releasing restrained forces is
inherently positive
18. [Connotation & Tone] The
author describes "despotism of liberty" as a "chilling
euphemism." What specific emotional response does the word
"chilling" invoke, and why is this the appropriate tonal choice for
describing this phrase?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
connotation of "chilling."
A) "Chilling" is a neutral
physical description indicating the phrase was written in cold weather
B) "Chilling" (producing a
sense of dread and cold unease) is precisely appropriate because the phrase's
horror lies in its composed, intellectual elegance—the calm, philosophical way
in which mass murder was framed as a logical necessity; a "chilling"
thing is not merely frightening but disturbing in its rationality, its
detachment, its capacity to make atrocity sound reasonable
C) "Chilling" suggests the
phrase was cowardly and evasive, like a person who blanches at difficult tasks
D) "Chilling" implies the
author disapproves of the Terror on personal moral grounds, which compromises
the passage's scholarly objectivity
19. [Connotation & Tone] The
final sentence states the Revolution "created the conceptual grammar of
modern politics" rather than "a lasting political legacy." What
tone does "conceptual grammar" establish that "lasting political
legacy" would not?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests tone
of "conceptual grammar."
A) "Conceptual grammar" and
"lasting political legacy" establish the same tone; the distinction
is stylistic
B) "Conceptual grammar"
establishes a tone of structural inevitability—grammar is not chosen but
internalized, not merely adopted but constitutive of how thought itself is
organized; by calling the Revolution's contribution a "grammar" rather
than a "legacy," the author implies that we cannot think outside
it—that modern political thought is not merely influenced by the Revolution but
structured by it at the level of its basic cognitive framework
C) "Conceptual grammar"
establishes a tone of technical precision appropriate to an academic essay,
while "lasting political legacy" would be appropriate only for a
popular history
D) "Conceptual grammar"
establishes a more modest tone than "lasting political legacy"
because grammar is a tool rather than an achievement
20. [Connotation & Tone] Paragraph
two describes "accumulated grievances" that "exploded" in
the Estates-General. Analyze the connotative relationship between
"accumulated" and "exploded." What does this pairing imply
about the Revolution's inevitability?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests tone
of "accumulated grievances."
A) The pairing is a mixed metaphor
that weakens the sentence by combining incompatible images
B) "Accumulated" (gathered
over time, building up layer by layer) and "exploded" (released
suddenly and violently when pressure becomes unbearable) together create a
pressure-cooker model of the Revolution: the grievances were not sudden but had
been building for a long time under structural constraints; when the container
(the old order) could no longer hold them, the explosion was inevitable—the
pairing implies the Revolution was not a spontaneous event but a structural
consequence
C) "Accumulated" weakens
"exploded" by implying the explosion was gradual rather than sudden
D) "Accumulated" and
"exploded" together suggest the Revolution was entirely the fault of
the bourgeoisie, who deliberately accumulated their grievances as a political
strategy
SECTION E — SHORT ANSWER (10 pts each)
DOK 3–4
| CRM C-3 / D-4 |
Complete sentences and specific textual evidence required.
21. [Figurative Language — Analysis]
The passage uses three distinct body metaphors to describe
political phenomena: "convulsion" (for the Revolution itself),
"heir and gravedigger" (for Napoleon's relationship to the
Revolution), and "Janus-faced" (for the Revolution's dual
orientation). Analyze what body or person each metaphor invokes and what
specific quality it contributes to the passage's argument. Which of the three
do you find most analytically precise? Defend your evaluation. (DOK 3 | CRM
C-3)
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
22. [Connotation / Word Choice — Evaluation] Robespierre's phrase
"despotism of liberty" is described as a "euphemism" and an
oxymoron simultaneously. Explain how a phrase can function as both a euphemism
(softening something harsh) and an oxymoron (combining contradictory terms).
Then evaluate: does the passage suggest that Robespierre was cynically lying,
self-deceived, or expressing a genuine if catastrophically flawed ideology?
Cite specific evidence from the passage to defend your interpretation. (DOK 4 |
CRM D-4)
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
SECTION F — EXTENDED RESPONSE (20 pts)
DOK Level 4
| CRM D-4 |
Minimum 10–14 sentences. Formal academic register.
23. [Vocabulary & Figurative Language — Synthesis] The French Revolution, according
to this passage, matters today primarily because of the vocabulary it
created—words like "citizen," "rights," "terror,"
and "revolution" itself. The passage calls this vocabulary the
"conceptual grammar of modern politics." In a carefully organized
extended response: (1) analyze the difference between calling something a
"vocabulary" versus calling it a "grammar"; (2) evaluate
whether the author's claim is convincing—are we truly unable to think outside
the Revolution's vocabulary, or does this claim overstate the Revolution's
influence?; (3) select THREE specific words or concepts from the passage that
illustrate how Revolutionary-era language continues to structure contemporary
political discourse; and (4) propose one contemporary political word or concept
that was NOT created by the French Revolution but that has since expanded the
political lexicon in a comparably significant way, and defend your choice.
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
SECTION G — VOCABULARY JOURNAL (4 pts each × 5 words)
Select FIVE challenging words or phrases from
the passage. For each: write the passage sentence, explain the meaning from
context, and write your own original sentence using the word correctly.
Word 1:
Word / Phrase:
_____________________________________________
Sentence from
passage:
Meaning from
context:
My original sentence:
Word 2:
Word / Phrase:
_____________________________________________
Sentence from
passage:
Meaning from
context:
My original sentence:
Word 3:
Word / Phrase:
_____________________________________________
Sentence from
passage:
Meaning from
context:
My original sentence:
Word 4:
Word / Phrase:
_____________________________________________
Sentence from
passage:
Meaning from
context:
My original sentence:
Word 5:
Word / Phrase:
_____________________________________________
Sentence from
passage:
Meaning from
context:
My original sentence:
ASSESSMENT SCORING GUIDE
|
Section |
Points Possible |
Points Earned |
DOK Level |
CRM Cell |
|
Sec A: Context Clues MC (×6) |
12 |
___ |
1–3 |
A-1 / B-2 / C-3 |
|
Sec B: Figurative Language
MC (×6) |
12 |
___ |
2–3 |
B-2 / C-3 |
|
Sec C: Multiple Meanings MC
(×4) |
8 |
___ |
2–3 |
B-2 / C-3 |
|
Sec D: Connotation &
Tone MC (×4) |
8 |
___ |
3 |
C-3 |
|
Sec E: Short Answer (×2) |
20 |
___ |
3–4 |
C-3 / D-4 |
|
Sec F: Extended Response |
20 |
___ |
4 |
D-4 |
|
Sec G: Vocabulary Journal |
20 |
___ |
2 |
B-2 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
___ |
— |
— |
Grade 3
— The Underground Railroad
Section A — Key Details MC
(Questions 1–5):
Q1: B
Q2: C
Q3: B
Q4: C
Q5: B
Section B — Main Idea /
Theme MC (Questions 6–10):
Q6: A
Q7: C
Q8: B
Q9: B
Q10: B
Section F — Vocabulary
(Questions 14–15):
Q14: B
Q15: C
Open-Response
Scoring: Apply DOK/CRM Rubric below.
Grade 4
— The Dust Bowl
Section A — Key Details MC
(Questions 1–5):
Q1: B
Q2: A
Q3: B
Q4: C
Q5: B
Section B — Main Idea /
Theme MC (Questions 6–10):
Q6: B
Q7: C
Q8: B
Q9: B
Q10: B
Section F — Vocabulary
(Questions 14–15):
Q14: B
Q15: B
Open-Response
Scoring: Apply DOK/CRM Rubric below.
Grade 5
— Gutenberg's Printing Press
Section A — Key Details MC
(Questions 1–5):
Q1: B
Q2: C
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Section B — Main Idea /
Theme MC (Questions 6–10):
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Q9: B
Q10: B
Section F — Vocabulary
(Questions 14–15):
Q14: C
Q15: B
Open-Response
Scoring: Apply DOK/CRM Rubric below.
Grade 6
— The Columbian Exchange
Section A — Key Details MC
(Questions 1–5):
Q1: B
Q2: C
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Section B — Main Idea /
Theme MC (Questions 6–10):
Q6: B
Q7: A
Q8: B
Q9: B
Q10: B
Section F — Vocabulary
(Questions 14–15):
Q14: B
Q15: B
Open-Response
Scoring: Apply DOK/CRM Rubric below.
Grade 7
— Women's Suffrage
Section A — Key Details MC
(Questions 1–5):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Section B — Main Idea /
Theme MC (Questions 6–10):
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Q9: B
Q10: B
Section F — Vocabulary
(Questions 14–15):
Q14: B
Q15: C
Open-Response
Scoring: Apply DOK/CRM Rubric below.
Grade 8
— The Space Race
Section A — Key Details MC
(Questions 1–5):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Section B — Main Idea /
Theme MC (Questions 6–10):
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Q9: B
Q10: B
Section F — Vocabulary
(Questions 14–15):
Q14: C
Q15: B
Open-Response
Scoring: Apply DOK/CRM Rubric below.
DOK
/ CRM Open-Response Rubric
|
Score |
DOK |
Summary / Key Detail Accuracy |
Main Idea / Theme Analysis |
Register & Citation |
|
18–20 |
4 — Extended |
Complete, precise,
text-specific; no omissions |
Evaluates; synthesizes
across multiple paragraphs |
Tier 3 vocabulary; formal
register; cited accurately |
|
14–17 |
3 — Strategic |
Mostly accurate; minor
omissions |
Analytical; explains rather
than retells |
Tier 2; generally formal;
partial citations |
|
9–13 |
2 — Skills |
Partially accurate; some
paraphrase errors |
Some analysis; mixes summary
and interpretation |
Mixed register; general
references to text |
|
0–8 |
1 — Recall |
Inaccurate or absent |
Retelling only; no
analytical claim |
Informal; no textual
evidence |
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