2022 Short Response

Excerpt from Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library

​

Short Response Questions

Strategies for short response questions

• Preview the questions before reading the text

• Break down questions by isolating the question word and identifying the targeted skill

• Read the text and annotate using the questions to guide you

• Answer the Question using R.A.C.E. *Be sure to do the C & E in R.A.C.E TWICE

Let's open the PDF and read!

Let's read the article "Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library."

Question to consider:

-Based on paragraphs 6 and 13, what is the author’s purpose for writing the article? Use two details from the article to support your response.

Multiple Choice

Look at the following question, then select true or false for the statement below:

Based on paragraphs 6 and 13, what is the author’s purpose for writing the article? Use two details from the article to support your response.

For a question like this, it is fine to simply restate the question and quote the article without providing an answer in your own words.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which of the following would be a good answer (R.A.C.E.) to this question:

Based on paragraphs 6 and 13, what is the author’s purpose for writing the article? Use two details from the article to support your response.

• The author's purpose for writing the article is to illustrate how much money Jefferson spent on his love of books.

• The author’s purpose for writing the article is to illustrate the importance of Thomas Jefferson’s love of reading and its impact on the United States.

• The author's purpose for writing the article is to illustrate how Thomas Jefferson was nominated to write The Declaration of Independence.

• The author's purpose for writing the article is to illustrate how educated Thomas Jefferson was.

Open Ended

What are some transition words/phrases we can use when we are about to provide a quote from the text?

Transition words/phrases for Citing

• According to the (text, author) . . .

• According to paragraph ___ of the article, it states . . .

• For example, the (article, author, narrator, text) states that . . .

• For instance, the text (says, states, explains) . . .

• The writer goes on to say . . . (use as a follow up to a previous quote)

Multiple Choice

Which of the following citations (R.A.C.E) provides strongest support for our answer to the question:

Based on paragraphs 6 and 13, what is the author’s purpose for writing the article? Use two details from the article to support your response.

• “At the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Tom used all he knew, from all the books he’d read, to write the Declaration of Independence. These words started a new country, the United States of America.”

• "Tom packed his memories and traveled across the ocean for the first time."

• "Tom shopped for new books—from Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid, and London—in languages he knew (English, Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, Anglo-Saxon) . . ."

• "They'd burned the Library of Congress. Three thousand precious books, gone forever."

Open Ended

Go back to the article. What is a second citation that you could use to answer the question:

Based on paragraphs 6 and 13, what is the author’s purpose for writing the article? Use two details from the article to support your response.

*Please write a quote from the article that was not already used by the previous question.

Open Ended

What are some transition words/phrases that we can use when we are about to explain a quote from the text?

Transition words/phrases for Explaining

• In other words . . .

• This information/quote/evidence (shows, Illustrates, demonstrates) . . .

• The evidence is clear that . . .

• This quote suggests . . .

• This evidence proves . . .

Model Answer:

Based on paragraphs 6 and 13, the author’s purpose for writing the article is to illustrate the importance of Thomas Jefferson’s love of reading and its impact on the United States. In paragraph 6, “At the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Tom used all he knew, from all the books he’d read, to write the Declaration of Independence. These words started a new country, the United States of America.” This evidence clearly illustrates that Thomas' extensive knowledge gained through his love of literature gave him the ability to write possibly one of our nations most well known and beloved historic documents. In paragraph 13, the author states, "He couldn't let his country go without a library." The author is eluding to Jefferson's love for the United States by the sizeable donation of books he made to the Library of Congress. This quote also shows the value Jefferson placed on Libraries, illustrating his love of books.