Reading Comprehension Assessment Series
GRADE 7
MAIN IDEA & KEY DETAILS
Women's Suffrage: Rights, Race & the Incomplete Promise of Democracy
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Webb's
Depth of Knowledge · Hess's Cognitive Rigor Matrix
Tier
2 & Tier 3 Academic Vocabulary
· Frustration-Level Text
Student
Name: ________________________________
Date: ____________
Teacher:
________________________________ Period
/ Class: ____________
DIRECTIONS
Read and annotate with attention to both explicitly stated key details and the author's analytical claims about what those details mean. All written responses require formal academic register, organized paragraphs, and specific textual citations.
PASSAGE: THE FRACTURED STRUGGLE FOR THE VOTE
The campaign for women's suffrage—the legal
right to vote—in the United States and Great Britain was not a single unified
movement but a complex, decades-long, and often internally fractured political
struggle that encompassed multiple generations of activists, competing
strategic visions, and profound disagreements about the relationship between
gender equality and racial justice. Understanding the suffrage movement
requires both familiarity with its key events and a critical awareness of whose
experiences are foregrounded and whose are systematically obscured in the
dominant historical narrative.
In the United States, the formal suffrage
movement is typically dated from the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, organized
by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The convention produced the
Declaration of Sentiments—a document modeled deliberately on the Declaration of
Independence—which declared that "all men and women are created
equal" and demanded, among other rights, the right to vote. The suffrage
campaign that followed would last seventy-two years before culminating in the
ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
The strategic debate within the movement was
intense and consequential. The National American Woman Suffrage Association
(NAWSA), led at different periods by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
and later Carrie Chapman Catt, pursued a state-by-state legislative strategy,
seeking to build a political coalition broad enough to pass a constitutional
amendment. The more militant National Woman's Party, led by Alice Paul,
employed confrontational tactics including sustained public demonstrations,
pickets outside the White House, and hunger strikes by imprisoned
activists—tactics borrowed partly from the British suffragette movement—to
force the issue onto the national political agenda.
In Great Britain, the militant wing of the
suffrage movement was led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters through the
Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), founded in 1903. Their tactics
escalated significantly after 1910, encompassing window-smashing campaigns in
London's commercial districts, arson of unoccupied buildings, and the
interruption of public events. The government responded with mass arrests and
force-feeding of hunger-striking prisoners. The WSPU suspended its campaign
upon the outbreak of World War I in 1914, a decision that historians interpret
variously as strategic pragmatism, patriotic deference, or a fundamental
contradiction of the movement's principles.
The standard historical narrative of the
suffrage movement has been extensively criticized by historians for its
exclusions. African American women, including Ida B. Wells and Mary Church
Terrell, were prominent suffrage activists who were systematically excluded
from the dominant organizations, denied leadership roles, and asked by white
suffrage leaders to march at the back of demonstrations to avoid alienating
Southern white voters. The Nineteenth Amendment, when ratified, was largely
unenforceable for Black women in Southern states due to the same mechanisms of
voter suppression—poll taxes, literacy tests, and violent intimidation—that
disenfranchised Black men. Full voting rights for African Americans were not
secured until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The suffrage movement's complexity—its internal conflicts, its tactical debates, its racial exclusions, and its ultimate legal achievement—makes it an essential case study not merely in women's history but in the broader history of American democracy: how rights are demanded, negotiated, partially granted, and subsequently withheld from those deemed insufficiently entitled to full citizenship.
SECTION A — KEY DETAILS:
MULTIPLE-CHOICE (2 pts each)
Questions 1–5: Locate, interpret, and
evaluate explicitly stated facts and evidence.
1. According to the passage, what was
the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, and what document did it produce?
DOK 1 | CRM
A-1
A) A government-sponsored legislative
hearing that produced the first draft of a constitutional amendment for women's
suffrage
B) The formal beginning of the U.S.
suffrage movement, organized by Stanton and Mott, which produced the
Declaration of Sentiments—a document modeled on the Declaration of Independence
that declared all men and women created equal and demanded the right to vote
C) A secret meeting of underground
activists that produced a manifesto demanding equal pay for women in industrial
employment
D) A British suffragette conference
that produced a blueprint for militant protest tactics later adopted by
American organizations
2. According to paragraph three, what
strategic approach did the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
use, and how did it differ from the National Woman's Party's approach?
DOK 1 | CRM
A-1
A) NAWSA used violent tactics
including window-smashing and arson, while the National Woman's Party pursued
legal strategies through state legislatures
B) NAWSA pursued a state-by-state
legislative strategy to build a broad political coalition, while the National
Woman's Party under Alice Paul employed confrontational tactics including
demonstrations, White House pickets, and hunger strikes
C) Both organizations used identical
tactics but disagreed about which states to prioritize in their legislative
campaigns
D) NAWSA focused exclusively on the
federal constitutional amendment strategy, while the National Woman's Party
worked only at the state level
3. According to paragraph four, what
does the WSPU's suspension of its campaign at the outbreak of World War I
reveal about the complexity of the suffragette movement?
DOK 2 | CRM
B-2
A) The WSPU suspended its campaign
because the British government promised to grant women the vote immediately
after the war ended
B) The decision is interpreted by
historians in multiple contradictory ways—as strategic pragmatism, patriotic
deference, or a fundamental contradiction of the movement's
principles—revealing that the movement's actions could not be reduced to a
single interpretation even by contemporary historians
C) The suspension was a unanimous and
uncontroversial decision welcomed by all members of the WSPU
D) The WSPU suspended its campaign
because its members were imprisoned and no longer capable of organizing public
demonstrations
4. According to paragraph five, what
specific mechanisms prevented the Nineteenth Amendment from being enforceable
for Black women in Southern states?
DOK 2 | CRM
B-2
A) Black women voluntarily chose not
to register to vote in Southern states because the dominant suffrage
organizations had not welcomed their participation
B) Poll taxes, literacy tests, and
violent intimidation—the same mechanisms used to disenfranchise Black
men—prevented the Nineteenth Amendment from being enforceable for Black women
in the South, meaning full voting rights were not secured until the Voting
Rights Act of 1965
C) The Nineteenth Amendment contained
a specific provision excluding Black women from its protections in states that
had not supported the Union during the Civil War
D) Black women in Southern states
were prevented from voting by a separate federal law passed in 1920 that
superseded the Nineteenth Amendment
5. According to the passage, how were
prominent African American suffragists Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell
treated within the dominant suffrage organizations?
DOK 2 | CRM
B-2
A) They were welcomed as co-leaders
of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and helped design the
organization's legislative strategy
B) They were systematically excluded
from dominant organizations, denied leadership roles, and asked by white
suffrage leaders to march at the back of demonstrations to avoid alienating
Southern white voters
C) They founded the National Woman's
Party as a response to racial discrimination within the earlier suffrage
movement
D) They chose to work independently of the white-led suffrage organizations because they believed their primary cause was racial justice rather than gender equity
SECTION B — MAIN IDEA & CENTRAL
THEME: MULTIPLE-CHOICE (2 pts each)
Questions 6–10: Identify main ideas, analyze structure, evaluate summaries, and determine central themes.
6. Which statement BEST expresses the
main idea of paragraph five?
DOK 2 | CRM
B-2
A) The Nineteenth Amendment was a
complete and unconditional victory for all women in the United States
regardless of race
B) The standard suffrage narrative
systematically excludes African American women, who were active participants
but were marginalized by white-led organizations and ultimately failed to
receive the full legal protections of the Nineteenth Amendment due to ongoing
voter suppression in the South
C) Ida B. Wells and Mary Church
Terrell were more important to the suffrage movement than Susan B. Anthony or
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
D) African American women were not
interested in suffrage because their primary political concerns were focused on
anti-lynching legislation rather than voting rights
7. What is the central theme of the
passage as a whole?
DOK 3 | CRM
C-3
A) The most important achievement of
the suffrage movement was the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920,
which gave all American women the right to vote
B) The suffrage movement is best
understood as a complex, internally fractured struggle in which legal
achievement was partial, strategically contested, and racially
incomplete—making it an essential case study in how rights are demanded,
negotiated, and unevenly distributed in a democratic society
C) Militant tactics were more
effective than legislative strategies in winning suffrage for women because
they forced the government to respond
D) The primary lesson of the suffrage
movement is that political change requires decades of patient work through
established legal and legislative channels
8. How does the first paragraph
function as a thesis for the entire passage?
DOK 3 | CRM
C-3
A) The first paragraph narrates the
most important event in the suffrage movement and provides chronological
context for the details that follow
B) The first paragraph establishes
the two analytical commitments that organize the entire passage: (1) the
movement was complex and internally fractured, not unified; and (2) its
dominant historical narrative systematically obscures important experiences—both
of which the subsequent paragraphs systematically develop and substantiate
C) The first paragraph argues that
the suffrage movement failed because it could not resolve its internal
conflicts about race and strategy
D) The first paragraph is a neutral
introduction that presents no analytical position and merely introduces the
topic for readers unfamiliar with women's history
9. The author states in the opening
paragraph that understanding suffrage history requires "critical awareness
of whose experiences are foregrounded and whose are systematically
obscured." Evaluate how well the passage itself practices this critical
awareness. Does the passage successfully address the obscured experiences it
promises to examine, or does it fall short of its own standard?
DOK 4 | CRM
D-4
A) The passage fails its own standard
because it spends more time on white suffragists than on Black suffragists,
which perpetuates the very narrative bias it criticizes
B) The passage largely fulfills its
own standard: it explicitly names African American activists, identifies the
specific mechanisms of their exclusion from dominant organizations,
demonstrates that the Nineteenth Amendment left them without enforceable voting
rights, and situates the full achievement of Black voting rights in 1965 rather
than 1920—providing substantive critical correction to the standard narrative,
though a full treatment would require much greater scope
C) The passage exceeds its own
standard because it devotes more attention to African American women than to
the white-led NAWSA and WSPU organizations
D) The passage abandons its stated
critical standard after paragraph one and reverts to the standard narrative
that centers on white suffragists like Anthony, Stanton, and Paul
10. The author concludes that the
suffrage movement is essential as a case study "in the broader history of
American democracy: how rights are demanded, negotiated, partially granted, and
subsequently withheld." Analyze how each of the four verbs in that
sequence—demanded, negotiated, partially granted, withheld—is supported by
specific key details from the passage.
DOK 4 | CRM
D-4
A) Only "demanded" and
"granted" are supported by specific key details;
"negotiated" and "withheld" are asserted without evidence
B) Each verb is substantiated:
"demanded" by the Declaration of Sentiments and the militant tactics
of NAWSA and WSPU; "negotiated" by the competing strategic visions of
different suffrage organizations; "partially granted" by the
Nineteenth Amendment's ratification in 1920; and "withheld" by the
poll taxes, literacy tests, and violence that prevented Black women from voting
until 1965—together demonstrating the passage's central theme of fractured and
uneven rights attainment
C) The four verbs apply only to the
British suffragette movement; the American movement followed a simpler path
from demand to legal achievement
D) The author uses these four verbs to summarize the process experienced only by white suffragists; Black women's experience followed an entirely different pattern not addressed by this sequence
SECTION C — PASSAGE SUMMARY (10 pts)
DOK 2 | CRM B-2 | Write a 6–7 sentence objective summary. Include: the passage's central claim; the most important key detail from each of the passage's major sections; and the central theme. Your summary must acknowledge both the legal achievement of 1920 and its limitations for Black women. Use your own words.
SECTION D — SHORT ANSWER (10 pts each)
11. The passage introduces two
distinct strategic approaches within the American suffrage movement: NAWSA's
legislative coalition-building and the National Woman's Party's militant
confrontation. Using key details from paragraph three, analyze the strengths and
weaknesses of each approach. Which strategy do you think was more essential to
the ultimate ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920? Defend your
position with evidence. (DOK 3 | CRM C-3)
DOK 3 | CRM
C-3
12. The passage opens by stating that the suffrage movement was "often internally fractured" and encompassed "profound disagreements about the relationship between gender equality and racial justice." Evaluate how thoroughly the passage delivers on this opening characterization. Does the evidence in paragraphs three through five demonstrate internal fracture at both the strategic and racial dimensions, or does the passage treat one dimension more fully than the other? (DOK 4 | CRM D-4)
DOK 4 | CRM
D-4
SECTION E — EXTENDED RESPONSE (20 pts)
DOK Level 4
| CRM D-4 |
Minimum 14 sentences. AP/dual-enrollment academic standard.
DOK 4 | CRM
D-4
SECTION F — VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT (5 pts each)
14. The word
"disenfranchised" (paragraph 5) is used to describe Black men in the
South. In this context, "disenfranchised" most precisely means —
DOK 2 | CRM
B-2
A) legally imprisoned for political
activism and denied the right to participate in civic life
B) deprived of the right to vote
through legal mechanisms such as poll taxes and literacy tests or through
violent intimidation
C) economically impoverished to such
a degree that participation in political life was practically impossible
D) excluded from the leadership of
political organizations on the basis of race and social class
DOK 3 | CRM
C-3
A) documented in photographic
archives and visual records from the historical period
B) placed in the background of an
argument to provide context without receiving analytical attention
C) brought to the front and center of
a narrative or analysis, given prominence and interpretive priority
D) subjected to critical scrutiny and revision by subsequent generations of historians
ASSESSMENT SCORING GUIDE
|
Section |
Points Possible |
Points Earned |
DOK Level |
CRM Cell |
|
MC — Key Details (×5) |
20 |
___ |
1–3 |
A-1 / B-2 / C-3 |
|
MC — Main Idea / Theme (×5) |
20 |
___ |
2–4 |
B-2 / C-3 / D-4 |
|
Short Answer (×2) |
20 |
___ |
3–4 |
C-3 / D-4 |
|
Extended Response |
20 |
___ |
4 |
D-4 |
|
Vocabulary (×2) |
10 |
___ |
2–3 |
B-2 / C-3 |
|
Passage Summary |
10 |
___ |
2 |
B-2 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
___ |
— |
— |
Grade 3
— The Underground Railroad
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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