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2018 MCAS
Grade 6 English Language Arts
Question 24

Idea Development - Score Point 3

The essay develops the central idea of how Rinko in A Jar of Dreams and the speaker in Somewhere Among feel about their heritage. General explanations combine with text-based evidence to form a moderately developed central idea: "they are upset about their heritage because they feel like they're different from everyone else." Selected details are mostly appropriate, such as "'I told Aunt Waka all about how I felt at school[—]how the boys called me names and the girls made me feel left out.'" and "'Papa would say I am one foot here one foot there between two worlds[—]Japan and America[—]." Overall, the essay has an adequate expression of ideas, pairing a detail with a feeling stated by the character. Moderate organization with introductory and concluding paragraphs provides sufficient awareness of the task.

Standard English Conventions - Score Point 3

The essay shows consistent control of a variety of sentence structures, relative to length. The writer demonstrates control of grammar and usage. In conventions, control of punctuation is evident as text-based evidence is punctuated correctly; the few spelling errors do not detract from the overall clarity of the essay.
Answer for Idea Development Score Point 3, and Standard English Conventions Score Point 3 Both Rinko from A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida and the speaker from Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu feel almost like they are upset about their heritage because they feel like they're different from everyone else. Also, the speaker feels curious about which heritage to be more of a part of. Rinko fells like an outsider because of her heritage. She is called names in school and is felt as if she is left out in activities by other girls. In paragraph 30 of A Jar of Dreams, it states, "'It's the part that makes me feel different and not as good as the others.'" Also, in paragraph 31 in the passage A Jar of Dreams it says, "I told Aunt Waka all about how I felt at school-how the boys called me names and the girls made me feel left out. And I told her a terrible secret I'd kept to myself and never told anybody ever." Rinko feels different because of her Japanesse-American heritage, and she feels as if she is treated worse. In result of the unfairness, Rinko is upset. The speaker from Somewhere Among feels the same as Rinko because she too feels upset about their heritage. In line 29 to 31 in the poem Somewhere Among the text explicitly states, "Everywhere I go here or there I am different," Also, it seems like the speaker fells confused about her heritage because she is contantly confused and stuck between Japan and America. In the poem Somewhere Among it states, "Papa would say I am one foot here one foot there between two worlds-Japan and America-" In conclusion Rinko from A Jar of Dreams and the speaker from Somewhere Among are both upset about their culture, but along with that, the speaker is also curious about their culture.



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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Print Now | Close Window