2019 MCAS
Grade 7 English Language Arts
Question 8

The central idea is somewhat developed, focusing on three traits while providing a limited selection of evidence. Although there is some understanding of the task evident in the explanation of how determination, intelligence, and curiosity made Newton a great scientist, there is only a basic expression of these ideas: "These two quotes show Isaac's intelligence [through] the inventions and discoveries he made" and "This shows that Isaac was very curious . . . which led him to a lot of his discoveries." The essay has limited organization with few connections between the character traits. It relies on the phrases "Isaac shows" and "this shows that" to provide explanations. Only partial awareness of the task is evident.

There are minor errors in spelling (e.g., "wat") and capitalization ("newton") as well as missing periods in the first and third paragraphs. These errors are not distracting, but given the repetitiveness of sentence structures and the essay's length, the writing demonstrates only mostly consistent control of Standard English conventions for this grade level.