Reading Comprehension Assessment Series
GRADE 8
VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
Philosophy of Language: Immersion,
Performativity & the Power of the Word
GRADE 8 Reading Test VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT with A...
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GRADE 6 Reading Test VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT with A...
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GRADE 4 Reading Test VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT with A...
GRADE 3 Reading Test VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT with A...
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: LANGUAGE AS WATER —
PERFORMATIVITY, CONSTRUCTION & THE GRAMMAR OF POWER
Language is the water we swim in—so
pervasive, so constitutive of our cognitive and social lives, that we rarely
pause to examine its nature or interrogate its power. Yet philosophy of
language, one of the most rigorous and technically demanding subfields of
contemporary philosophy, reveals that language is far stranger, more contested,
and more consequential than our unreflective immersion in it suggests. At its
deepest level, the philosophy of language confronts a question that resists
easy resolution: does language describe a world that exists independently of
it, or does language, at least in part, constitute the world it appears merely
to name?
The debate between descriptivism and
constructivism in the philosophy of language turns on this question.
Descriptivists hold that language functions as a transparent medium for
communicating information about a mind-independent reality—that the word "tree"
corresponds to actual trees that would exist whether or not any language had
evolved to name them. Constructivists, drawing on the later work of Ludwig
Wittgenstein and the anthropological linguistics of Benjamin Lee Whorf, argue
that language does not merely describe but actively structures perception,
thought, and social reality. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis—the claim that the
language one speaks shapes what one is able to think—remains vigorously
contested but empirically alive: studies of color perception across cultures
with different numbers of basic color terms, and research on spatial reasoning
in languages that use absolute rather than egocentric directional systems,
suggest that linguistic categories do exert measurable influence on cognition.
The performative dimension of
language—identified by philosopher J. L. Austin in his speech act theory—adds a
further layer of complexity. Austin distinguished between constative
utterances, which describe or report states of affairs ("The door is open"),
and performative utterances, which do not describe but enact—which perform an
action in the very act of being spoken. When a judge says "I sentence you
to ten years," the sentence does not describe a sentencing; it is the
sentencing. When a sovereign says "I declare war," the declaration is
the act. The power embedded in performative language is not metaphorical; it is
constitutive—it brings into existence the very reality it announces.
The political implications of Austin's
framework are substantial and have been developed extensively by feminist
philosopher Judith Butler, who argues that categories of social
identity—gender, race, sexuality—are not descriptions of pre-existing biological
facts but performative constructs, constituted and maintained through repeated
linguistic and social acts. Butler's concept of "performativity"
extends Austin's insight from formal institutional speech acts to the
quotidian, or everyday, repetition of social norms through which identity
categories are continuously reproduced. The body, on this account, is not a
natural object that precedes language; it is a semiotic artifact—a text written
and rewritten by the overlapping scripts of culture, medicine, law, and custom.
Critics of constructivist and performative
theories argue that they risk collapsing the distinction between language and
reality—that if everything is discourse, nothing can be meaningfully challenged
from outside it. The philosopher John Searle, a defender of external realism,
insists that there is a mind-independent world that language describes but does
not create, and that collapsing this distinction produces a philosophical
idealism that is both epistemically incoherent and politically dangerous: if oppression
is merely a discursive construct, then material liberation becomes impossible.
The philosophy of language does not resolve
this debate. What it does offer is a set of tools—distinctions, concepts, and
modes of analysis—with which to examine the power embedded in apparently
innocent linguistic acts: the choice of a pronoun, the naming of a disease, the
declaration of a war, the legal definition of a person. These are not merely
semantic questions. They are, in the deepest sense, questions about what
exists, who counts, and who decides.
SECTION A — CONTEXT CLUES (2 pts each)
Questions 1–6: Use context clues to determine
word and phrase meanings.
1. [Context Clues — Inference]
The passage describes "descriptivists" as holding
that language is "a transparent medium for communicating information about
a mind-independent reality." Using context, what does
"mind-independent" most precisely mean in this philosophical context?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference from theoretical contrast.
A) A reality that is too complex for
the human mind to comprehend without the assistance of scientific instruments
B) A reality that exists objectively
and would continue to exist regardless of whether any conscious mind or
language system existed to perceive or name it—rocks and trees exist
independently of human thought about them
C) A reality that is independent of
individual minds but dependent on collective human agreement and social
construction
D) A reality that can be accessed
only through rigorous scientific methodology rather than through ordinary
perception or language
2. [Context Clues — Inference]
The passage introduces "constative utterances" as
speech acts that "describe or report states of affairs." It then
contrasts these with "performative utterances" that "enact"
rather than describe. Using the contrast as a context clue, what does
"constative" most likely mean?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference of a compound technical term.
A) Constant and unchanging, referring
to statements that remain true regardless of circumstances
B) Descriptive and fact-stating—from
the Latin "constat" (it is established)—referring to utterances whose
function is to represent or report an already-existing state of affairs rather
than to bring one into existence
C) Constitutive and world-making,
referring to speech acts that create realities through the act of speaking
D) Contested and debated, referring
to statements about which there is significant academic disagreement
3. [Context Clues — Inference]
In paragraph four, Butler's concept of
"performativity" is distinguished from Austin's in that it extends to
"quotidian, or everyday, repetition of social norms." Using this
embedded definition, which of the following would BEST exemplify
"quotidian" performativity in Butler's sense?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference of technical term from appositive.
A) A parliamentary vote in which
legislators formally enact a new law defining legal personhood
B) The daily, often unconscious
repetition of gender-conforming behaviors—choice of clothing, speech patterns,
gestures, social roles—through which individuals continuously reproduce the
category of "gender" without any single official act of declaration
C) A philosophical conference at
which scholars formally debate the relationship between language and social
reality
D) A court ruling in which a judge
legally recognizes the rights of a previously excluded social group
4. [Context Clues — Inference]
Paragraph five states that critics argue constructivism
"risks collapsing the distinction between language and reality." The
verb "collapsing" is used figuratively here. Using context, what does
"collapsing the distinction" mean?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
inference of contested philosophical term.
A) Making the boundary between
language and reality physically collapse through the weight of too many
theoretical arguments
B) Eliminating the meaningful
difference between two categories—if language constructs reality, there is no
longer any distinction between the thing said and the thing itself, which
Searle argues produces philosophical incoherence
C) Simplifying a complex distinction
into a binary opposition that fails to capture the nuances of the actual
relationship
D) Allowing the distinction to
temporarily collapse during philosophical analysis before being restored in
ordinary practical life
5. [Context Clues — Inference]
The final paragraph describes apparently innocent
"linguistic acts" including "the choice of a pronoun, the naming
of a disease, the declaration of a war, the legal definition of a person."
What is the function of the word "apparently" in the phrase
"apparently innocent linguistic acts"?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
inference of compound term from examples.
A) "Apparently" signals
that the examples are only approximately accurate and the author is uncertain
whether they fully illustrate the point
B) "Apparently" is a
crucial qualifier: it signals that these acts seem (appear) innocent—natural,
neutral, and without significant power—but are in fact deeply consequential and
politically loaded; the word challenges the reader's assumption of linguistic
innocence without stating the challenge directly, instead embedding it in a
single adverb that requires the reader to recognize the irony
C) "Apparently" is used as
a synonymous intensifier for "seemingly," adding emphasis without
analytical significance
D) "Apparently" signals the
author's personal uncertainty about whether pronoun choices and disease-naming
are truly political acts
6. [Context Clues — Inference]
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is described as "vigorously
contested but empirically alive." What does the phrase "empirically
alive" communicate that "not yet disproven" would not?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
inference of evaluative qualifier "empirically alive."
A) "Empirically alive" and
"not yet disproven" communicate identical claims; the distinction is
purely stylistic
B) "Not yet disproven"
implies a hypothesis barely surviving scrutiny in a purely negative sense;
"empirically alive" implies positive and ongoing vitality—that new
experimental evidence (color perception studies, spatial reasoning research)
continues to be generated that supports and extends the hypothesis, giving it
active scientific momentum rather than merely defensive survival
C) "Empirically alive"
implies the hypothesis has been proven beyond reasonable doubt but is contested
on political rather than scientific grounds
D) "Empirically alive" is a
hedging phrase that the author uses to avoid taking a position on the validity
of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
SECTION B — FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (2 pts each)
Questions 7–12: Identify and interpret
metaphors, similes, irony, personification, and allusion.
7. [Figurative Language — Extended Metaphor] The passage opens: "Language
is the water we swim in." Analyze this metaphor in detail. What does
"water" suggest about the nature of language, and what does
"swimming in" it (rather than, say, "standing beside" it)
suggest about humanity's relationship to language?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
opening metaphor analysis.
A) The metaphor implies language is
dangerous and suffocating, like water in which one can drown
B) Water suggests that language is
the sustaining medium within which cognitive and social life takes
place—pervasive, invisible to those immersed in it, and impossible to step
outside; "swimming in" rather than "standing beside"
emphasizes total immersion, suggesting we cannot observe language from the
outside because we are always already inside it—making critical analysis of
language inherently difficult and rare
C) The metaphor implies language is
natural and biological, like water, rather than socially constructed and
politically loaded
D) The metaphor is a cliché that adds
rhetorical color without contributing specific analytical content to the
argument
8. [Figurative Language — Metaphor/Paradox] The passage describes the
philosophy of language as "rigorous and technically demanding" while
also describing our ordinary relationship to language as "unreflective
immersion." What paradox does this contrast establish about the discipline's
challenge?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Tests
oxymoron in opening paragraph.
A) The paradox is that philosophers
are paid to study something everyone already knows, making their work redundant
B) The paradox is that the most
technically rigorous analysis is being applied to the thing we understand least
carefully because we understand it most automatically; the very familiarity of
language—the fact that we swim in it without noticing—makes it the hardest
object for philosophy to examine, because examination requires the distance
that immersion prevents; rigor must work against habituation
C) The paradox is that simple
questions about language require complex answers, while complex questions about
science require only simple ones
D) There is no paradox; the contrast
is simply between the academic study of language and its everyday use
9. [Figurative Language — Performative Language as Metaphor] The passage's opening sentence is
itself arguably a performative act: "Language is the water we swim
in" does not merely describe language—it enacts a particular way of
understanding language by compelling the reader to inhabit a specific metaphor.
Evaluate this observation. Is the opening sentence constative or performative
in Austin's sense?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
meta-level reading of performativity.
A) It is purely constative—it
describes a property of language without enacting anything
B) It functions as both: on the
surface it appears constative (stating a metaphorical fact about language), but
it operates performatively by compelling the reader to adopt a specific
conceptual framework—immersion—through which all subsequent claims in the
passage will be read; the sentence doesn't just describe; it installs a
cognitive lens, which is itself a performative act that shapes what the reader
is able to think about language from that point forward
C) It is purely performative in
Austin's technical sense—equivalent to a judge's sentencing or a sovereign's
declaration of war
D) The constative/performative
distinction does not apply to metaphorical sentences, only to literal speech
acts in institutional contexts
10. [Figurative Language — Metaphor (Butler)] Butler describes the body as
"a semiotic artifact—a text written and rewritten by the overlapping
scripts of culture, medicine, law, and custom." Analyze the layers of the
"text" metaphor. What does calling the body a "text" imply,
and what does "written and rewritten" add?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
metaphor in Butler's framework.
A) The metaphor implies the body is
imaginary and therefore has no material existence independent of cultural
interpretation
B) Calling the body a
"text" implies it is not a pre-given natural object but something
that carries meaning—and meaning is assigned by interpreters, not inherent;
"written and rewritten" adds the temporal and dynamic dimension,
suggesting the body's meanings are not fixed but continuously revised through
changing cultural, medical, legal, and social scripts—making the body a site of
ongoing inscription rather than a stable biological fact
C) The metaphor implies that bodies
can be literally edited and revised through surgical and medical intervention
D) Calling the body a
"text" is a reductionist metaphor that oversimplifies the complex
biological realities of human embodiment
11. [Figurative Language — Metaphor/Irony (Searle)] Searle argues that collapsing the
language/reality distinction produces a philosophical idealism that is both
"epistemically incoherent and politically dangerous." The word
"epistemically" is a Tier 3 modifier from "epistemology"
(the study of knowledge). Analyze how the pairing of "epistemically
incoherent" with "politically dangerous" creates a two-pronged
argument. Why does Searle need both critiques?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
irony in realist counter-argument.
A) Searle needs both because the
epistemic critique is for academic philosophers and the political critique is
for general readers—the two audiences require different arguments
B) Searle needs both critiques
because constructivism can be challenged on two independent fronts:
epistemically (it fails as a theory of knowledge—if all reality is discursive,
then there is no standard from outside discourse by which to judge truth or falsity,
which makes knowledge claims self-undermining) AND politically (it fails as a
theory of liberation—if oppression is merely a discursive construct, then
challenging it requires only changing discourse rather than transforming
material conditions, which Searle argues is both naive and dangerous). Each
critique could in principle fail while the other succeeds, so both are
necessary to make a fully robust case against constructivism.
C) The two critiques are
redundant—"epistemically incoherent" and "politically
dangerous" describe the same problem from different vocabularies
D) Searle includes the political
critique only as a rhetorical appeal to emotion; his true argument is
exclusively epistemological
12. [Figurative Language — Metaphor (Closing)] The passage closes: "These
are not merely semantic questions. They are, in the deepest sense, questions
about what exists, who counts, and who decides." The phrase "who
counts" can mean (1) who is enumerated or tallied, or (2) who matters or
has standing. Analyze how both meanings operate in this closing sentence and
evaluate the rhetorical effect of the ambiguity.
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
analysis of closing conceptual metaphor.
A) Only meaning (2) applies; the
phrase is asking who has moral standing in political life, not who is literally
counted in any census
B) Both meanings operate
simultaneously and the ambiguity is deliberately productive: "who
counts" in the tallying sense evokes legal and political enumeration—who
is recognized as a legal person, a citizen, a rights-bearing individual;
"who counts" in the mattering sense evokes moral recognition—whose
suffering registers, whose interests matter; the dual meaning suggests these
two senses of "counting" are inseparable—legal enumeration and moral
mattering are deeply entangled. The ambiguity forces the reader to hold both
simultaneously, which is exactly the kind of expanded attention to language the
passage has been cultivating throughout.
C) The ambiguity is an editorial
error—the author intended only the political-power meaning and should have
written "who matters" to avoid confusion
D) The phrase "who counts"
is a mathematical metaphor implying that political questions should be resolved
through quantitative democratic procedures rather than through language
philosophy
SECTION C — MULTIPLE MEANINGS (2 pts each)
Questions 13–16: Select the contextually
correct meaning of polysemous words.
13. [Multiple Meanings] The
word "constitutive" appears in paragraph three: "its power is
constitutive—it brings into existence the very reality it announces." In
different contexts, "constitutive" can mean (1) serving to form or
compose something, (2) having the power to establish or enact, or (3)
fundamental and essential to identity. How do all three meanings operate in
Austin's claim?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
polysemy of "constitutive."
A) Only meaning (2)
applies—performative speech acts have legal power to enact official realities
B) All three meanings are
simultaneously active: performative speech acts (1) compose or form the reality
they announce (the sentencing constitutes the punishment); (2) have the power
to officially enact new states of affairs (a declaration of war constitutes a
war); and (3) are fundamental to identity—what Austin is claiming is that
certain speech acts are not contingent additions to reality but essential,
identity-forming acts that bring realities into existence that could not exist
without them. The layering of all three meanings makes "constitutive"
far more powerful than any synonym.
C) Only meanings (1) and (3) apply;
Austin is interested in the compositional and identity-forming functions of
speech, not in their institutional power
D) The three meanings of
"constitutive" are incompatible and the word should be understood as
having only its technical philosophical meaning
14. [Multiple Meanings] The
passage's critics argue that if "everything is discourse, nothing can be
meaningfully challenged from outside it." The word "discourse"
can mean (1) a formal speech or text, (2) a conversation or exchange of ideas,
or (3) in post-structuralist theory, the system of language, knowledge, and
power that defines what can be said and thought within a given domain. Which
meaning is most active in the critics' objection, and why does this specific
meaning make the objection more powerful than if meaning (1) or (2) were
intended?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
polysemy of "discourse."
A) Meaning (1) is most active; the
critics are arguing that formal academic texts cannot challenge themselves
B) Meaning (3) is most active: if
"discourse" means the all-encompassing system within which thought,
knowledge, and power operate, then the claim that "everything is
discourse" is far more radical than if it merely meant "everything is
a conversation"—it would mean that reality itself is structured by the
same power relations that structure language, making it impossible to access
any external standpoint from which to identify or challenge those power
relations; this is the source of the critics' concern, which meanings (1) and
(2) cannot generate
C) Meaning (2) is most active; the
critics are arguing that if all human exchange is merely conversation, nothing
has permanent or actionable significance
D) All three meanings are
simultaneously active and the critics' objection depends on the ambiguity
between them
15. [Multiple Meanings] Descriptivists
describe language as a "transparent medium." The word
"medium" can mean (1) a material or channel through which something
is transmitted, (2) a person who communicates with spirits, or (3) the middle
point between two extremes. How does meaning (1) work in this context, and what
does "transparent" add to it?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
polysemy of "medium."
A) Meanings (2) and (3) are equally
relevant; language as medium communicates between mind and reality (like a
medium speaking to spirits) and represents a middle ground between pure thought
and pure reality
B) Meaning (1) is operative: language
is the channel through which information about reality is transmitted from
world to mind; "transparent" is crucial because it specifies that the
channel does not distort what passes through it—a transparent medium allows
reality to be seen through it without alteration, just as a perfectly clear
window allows undistorted sight; the descriptivist claim is precisely that
language is like a clear window rather than a colored or distorting lens—a
claim the constructivists directly challenge
C) Only meaning (3) applies; language
is the medium in the sense of the middle ground between thought and reality,
neither fully one nor the other
D) "Medium" in this context
is a purely technical philosophical term with no connection to its ordinary
meanings
16. [Multiple Meanings] The
passage states that the philosophy of language "confronts a question that
resists easy resolution." In different contexts, "resolution"
can mean (1) the formal decision of a governing body, (2) the clarity or
sharpness of an image, (3) the solving of a problem or conflict, or (4)
firmness of determination. How do meanings (2) and (3) work together in this
philosophical context to characterize what the debate lacks?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
polysemy of "resolution."
A) Only meaning (3) applies; the
passage simply means the question cannot be solved
B) Meanings (2) and (3) work together
productively: the question lacks both solution (meaning 3—it has not been
settled between descriptivists and constructivists) and clarity/resolution
(meaning 2—it cannot be brought into sharp focus, because the terms of the
debate themselves—language, reality, construction—are inherently blurry and
contested). To say the question "resists easy resolution" is to claim
it cannot be solved AND that it cannot even be made fully clear, which together
explain why philosophy of language remains alive and contested despite
centuries of analysis
C) Meanings (1) and (4) are most
active; the question resists the formal resolution of an official philosophical
verdict and the firmness required for certainty
D) All four meanings are
simultaneously active, making "resolution" an intentionally
polysemous term that the author uses to keep the argument deliberately open
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 describes most people's use of language as "unreflective
immersion." What does the word "unreflective" imply about
ordinary speakers that "unconscious" or "habitual" would
not?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
connotation of "unreflective."
A) "Unreflective" is a
weaker term than "unconscious," implying only minor inattention
rather than complete lack of awareness
B) "Unreflective"
specifically implies the absence of philosophical reflection—not merely that
language use is automatic, but that it is unexamined and unthought-about;
"unconscious" would suggest a deeper psychological process beyond the
speaker's reach, while "habitual" would simply describe behavioral
repetition; "unreflective" targets specifically the failure of
critical self-awareness, which is precisely the capacity the philosophy of
language is designed to cultivate—making the opening sentence both a
description and an implicit critique of ordinary linguistic practice
C) "Unreflective" is a
neutral descriptor equivalent to "automatic" with no critical or
normative implication
D) "Unreflective" implies
ordinary speakers are intellectually inferior to philosophers who study
language professionally
18. [Connotation & Tone] The
passage states that the central question of philosophy of language
"resists easy resolution." What does the word "resists"
imply about the question's nature that "lacks" or "has not yet
achieved" would not?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
connotation of "resists."
A) "Resists" is a neutral
synonym for "lacks" with no additional implication about the nature
of the question
B) "Resists" personifies
the question, giving it an active, almost willful character—the question does
not merely fail to be resolved (as "lacks" would imply) but actively
opposes resolution, as if the question itself is an agent pushing back against
attempts to settle it; this implies that the difficulty is intrinsic to the
question's nature rather than a contingent product of insufficient
philosophical effort—that easier resolution is not coming, because the question
is constitutively resistant to it
C) "Resists" implies
philosophers have simply not tried hard enough to resolve the question
D) "Resists" weakens the
claim by implying the question is only somewhat difficult and could be resolved
with sufficient effort
19. [Connotation & Tone] The
final paragraph refers to "apparently innocent linguistic acts." In
this context, "innocent" carries both its everyday connotation and a
technical implication. What is the technical implication of calling a
linguistic act "innocent"?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
connotation of "innocent."
A) "Innocent" in this
technical context means the act was performed without any intent to cause harm
or to exercise power
B) "Innocent" in this
context technically means politically neutral, without power effects, and
without ideological loading—the very thing the passage has been arguing is
impossible; to call an act "apparently innocent" is to invoke the ideology
that language is transparent and neutral (the descriptivist position) and then
immediately subvert it by demonstrating that these apparently neutral acts
(naming, pronouns, definitions) are among the most consequential exercises of
power in social life
C) "Innocent" is a legal
term implying that speakers who use these linguistic acts cannot be held
responsible for their social effects
D) "Innocent" is used
sarcastically throughout the final paragraph, indicating that the author finds
the pretense of linguistic neutrality comical
20. [Connotation & Tone] The
passage's final sentence states: "They are, in the deepest sense,
questions about what exists, who counts, and who decides." The three
questions—what exists, who counts, who decides—are presented without answers.
What tone does ending on unanswered questions establish, and how does this
tonal choice relate to the passage's philosophical argument?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Tests
connotation of final verb tense choice.
A) Ending with unanswered questions
signals that the passage is incomplete and the author intends to answer them in
a follow-up text
B) The unanswered questions establish
a tone of open, active philosophical inquiry—they function not as failures of
argument but as the passage's most precise conclusion: the philosophy of
language does not deliver answers but sharpens questions; by ending on three
unresolved questions, the author demonstrates the discipline's purpose and
value (clarifying what is at stake) rather than its failure (not resolving it);
the tone is neither despairing nor triumphant but seriously, rigorously open—a
tone that mirrors the discipline's genuine epistemic situation
C) The unanswered questions establish
a tone of deliberate obscurity designed to make the passage seem more
philosophically sophisticated than it is
D) The tone is ironic, implying the
author believes these questions are actually quite easy to answer and is
challenging the reader to supply the obvious responses
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 deploys three distinct metaphors for language
across its six paragraphs: "water we swim in" (paragraph 1),
"transparent medium" (paragraph 2, the descriptivist view), and
"text written and rewritten by overlapping scripts" (paragraph 4,
Butler's view). Construct a precise analysis of what each metaphor implies
about the relationship between language and reality. Then evaluate which
metaphor is most consistent with the passage's overall argument, and explain
whether the author endorses one metaphor or uses all three as competing
analytical tools. (DOK 3 | CRM C-3)
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
22. [Connotation / Word Choice — Evaluation] Austin's distinction between
constative and performative utterances is presented in paragraph three as the
hinge on which the passage's larger argument turns. Yet the passage's opening
sentence—"Language is the water we swim in"—can itself be analyzed as
either constative or performative. Conduct this analysis: if the opening
sentence is constative, what fact does it report? If it is performative, what
reality does it bring into existence? Then evaluate: does the ambiguity between
these two functions undermine or strengthen the passage's philosophical
argument about the nature of language? (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] This passage argues that
apparently neutral linguistic acts—pronoun choices, disease names, legal
definitions—are "in the deepest sense, questions about what exists, who
counts, and who decides." In a rigorously organized extended response: (1)
reconstruct the full chain of argument from "language describes
reality" (descriptivism) → "language constructs reality"
(constructivism) → "language performs reality" (Austin/Butler) →
"language is political" (the final paragraph's claim), analyzing the
logical progression of each step; (2) identify and analyze THREE key examples
of figurative language from the passage that do philosophical work—that is,
that are not merely decorative but that advance or enact the argument; (3)
evaluate Searle's counter-argument—is his claim that constructivism is both
epistemically incoherent and politically dangerous convincing, or does it
misunderstand what constructivists are actually claiming?; and (4) construct
your own position on the passage's central question: does language describe a
world that exists independently of it, or does it in part constitute that
world? Use the passage's vocabulary and figurative language as the primary
tools of your argument.
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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