2019 Released Items
Grade 8
English Language Arts/Literacy
Literary Analysis Task
English Language Arts/Literacy
2019 Released Items: Grade 8 Literary Analysis Task
The Literary Analysis Task requires students to read two literary texts that
are purposely paired. Students read the texts, answer questions for each
text and for the texts as a pair, and then write an analytic essay.
The 2019 blueprint for the grade 8 Literary Analysis Task includes Evidence-
Based Selected Response/Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response items
as well as Prose Constructed Response prompt.
Included in this document:
• Answer key and standards alignment
• PDFs of each item with the associated text(s)
Additional related materials not included in this document:
• Sample scored student responses with annotations and practice papers
• Scoring Rubric for Prose Constructed Response Items
• Guide to English Language Arts/Literacy Released Items: Understanding
Scoring
English Language Arts/Literacy
Release Items Answer and Alignment Document ELA/ Literacy:
Grade 8
Text Type: LAT
Passage(s): from
The Black Pearl
Item Code
Answer(s)
Standards/Evidence
Statement Alignment
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Item Type: EBSR
P
art A: A
P
art B: B, E
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.4.1
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Item Type: EBSR
P
art A: B
P
art B: B
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.2.2
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Item Type: EBSR
P
art A: C
P
art B: D
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.4.1
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Item Type: EBSR
P
art A: C
P
art B: D
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.3.3
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Item Type: EBSR
P
art A: C
P
art B: C
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.4.1
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Item Type: TECR
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.5.1
English Language Arts/Literacy
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Item Type: PCR
Refer to Grade 8 Scoring Rubric
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.2.2
RL 8.2.3
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Item Type: TECR (additional item)
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.2.1
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Item Type: PCR (additional item)
Refer to Grade 8 Scoring Rubric
RL 8.1.1
RL 8.2.1
RL 8.2.3
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Item Type: EBSR
P
art A: D
P
art B: B
L 8.4.1
RL 8.
1.1
English Language Arts/Literacy
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Today you will analyze a passage from The Black Pearl and a poem
titled “The Last Bargain.” As you read these texts, you will gather
information and answer questions about the themes of each text so
you can prepare a written response.
Read the passage from The Black Pearl, in which pearl dealers visit the
Salazar family. Then answer the questions.
from The Black Pearl
by Scott O’Dell
1 They came early in the afternoon, dressed in their best black suits and
carrying a scale and calipers and their money in a crocodile bag. The
excitement in the town had died after a couple of days, but when word got
around that the dealers were going to the Salazars to buy the great black
pearl a crowd followed them and stood outside our gate.
2 My mother and my two sisters had come back from Loreto, for they too had
heard the news of the pearl, and so the fountain in the patio was turned on
and the parlor was fixed up with flowers and all the furniture shone.
3 The four men wore serious faces and they put their calipers and scales on
the parlor table and their brown crocodile bag. They sat down and folded
their hands and said nothing.
4 Then my father said, “The bag is very small, gentlemen. I doubt that it holds
enough money to buy the great Pearl of Heaven.”
5 The four dealers did not like this. One of them, named Arturo Martín, was
big and shaped like a barrel and had small white hands.
6 “I have heard that the pearl is the size of a grapefruit,” he said. “In which
case we have more money than we need. For as you know the large ones
are of little value.”
7 “They do not live long, these monsters,” said Miguel Palomares, who was as
fat as Martín and had a bald head that glistened. “They often die or become
dull before a year passes.”
English Language Arts/Literacy
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8 “And so do many of the small ones,” my father said. “Like the pink one
Señor Palomares sold us last month.”
9 Señor Palomares shrugged his shoulders.
10 “Before I show the Pearl of Heaven,” my father said, “I will tell you the price.
It is twenty thousand pesos, no more and no less.”
11 The four men looked at each other and smiled thin smiles, as if to say that
they had made up their minds already about what they would pay.
12 My father went out of the room and came back with the pearl wrapped in a
piece of white velvet. He laid it on the table in front of the four dealers.
13 “Now, gentlemen.” With a flourish he unwrapped the pearl and stepped back
so all of them could see it. “The Pearl of Heaven!”
14 The great pearl caught the light, gathered it and softened it into a moon of
dark fire. None of the dealers spoke for a moment or two.
15 Then Señor Martín said, “It is as I feared, more like a grapefruit than a
pearl.”
16 “It is a monster all right,” Señor Palomares said. “The kind that often has a
brief life and is very hard to sell.”
17 One of the dealers who had not spoken cleared his throat and said, “But still
we will make an offer.”
18 The other dealers nodded solemnly.
19 “Ten thousand pesos,” said Martín.
20 Señor Palomares grasped the pearl in a small, white hand and studied it.
21 “I think that I see a flaw,” he said after a long time. “Ten thousand is too
much.”
22 “There is no flaw,” my father said. “And the price, gentlemen, remains
twenty thousand pesos.”
English Language Arts/Literacy
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23 The great pearl was passed around to the other dealers and they all turned it
in their hands and squinted at it. At last Señor Martín used the calipers and
placed the pearl on the scales. His readings were the same as I had made,
almost.
24 “Eleven thousand pesos,” he said.
25 “Nine thousand more is required,” my father answered. “In your lives you
have never seen a pearl like this one nor will you.”
26 “Twelve thousand,” said Señor Palomares.
27 After that and for most of an hour the price the dealers offered went up two
hundred and fifty pesos at a time until the figure reached the sum of fifteen
thousand pesos. And then tempers began to rise and my mother brought in
a pitcher of cold juice and a platter of buñuelos. I knew that she wanted to
take the dealers’ offer, for I stood where I could see her in the hall making
gestures to my father. She had set her mind on a beautiful red carriage and
four white horses she had seen in Loreto and was fearful of losing her wish if
my father did not lower the price.
28 Señor Martín wiped his mouth and said, “Fifteen thousand pesos is our last
offer.”
29 “Then,” said my father, “I shall take the great pearl to Mexico City and ask
twice that amount and sell it without haggling to dealers who know its true
worth.”
30 Señor Palomares picked up the pearl and put it down. His small head was
sunk deep in the folds of his fat neck. Suddenly his head came forth like the
head of a turtle and he looked at my father who was pacing back and forth.
31 “If you remember,” he said, “you made the long journey to the City of
México once before. And what did you find there? You found that the dealers
are not so generous with their money as we are here in La Paz. And you
came home after the long journey with your tail between your legs.”
32 Señor Palomares got to his feet and the others followed him.
English Language Arts/Literacy
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33 “Fifteen thousand, two hundred and fifty pesos,” he said. “This is our final
offer.”
From THE BLACK PEARL by Scott O’Dell. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company ©
1967.
English Language Arts/Literacy
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1. Part A
Which word best describes the tone of paragraph 27 of the passage from
The Black Pearl?
A. tense
B. eager
C. consoling
D. desperate
Part B
Select two details from paragraph 27 that most contribute to the tone
identified in Part A.
A. “. . . for most of an hour . . .”
B. “. . . tempers began to rise. . . .”
C. “. . . a pitcher of cold juice . . .”
D. “. . . a beautiful red carriage . . .”
E. “. . . fearful of losing her wish . . .”
F. “. . . lower the price.”
English Language Arts/Literacy
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2. Part A
Which phrase best describes how the author of The Black Pearl develops the
theme that people’s fortunes are beyond their control?
A. by hinting that pearl dealers have cheated Señor Salazar in the past
B. by showing that the dealers will offer Señor Salazar less than he wants
for the pearl
C. by showing that Señor Salazar’s family disagrees with him about
whether the pearl is valuable
D. by hinting that Señor Salazar’s neighbors are only interested in the
wealth he could gain from the pearl
Part B
Which evidence from the passage supports the answer to Part A?
A. “The excitement in the town had died after a couple of days, but when
word got around that the dealers were going to the Salazars to buy the
great black pearl a crowd followed them and stood outside our gate.”
(paragraph 1)
B. “The four men looked at each other and smiled thin smiles, as if to say
that they had made up their minds already about what they would pay.”
(paragraph 11)
C. “At last Señor Martín used the calipers and placed the pearl on the
scales. His readings were the same as I had made, almost.”
(paragraph 23)
D. “‘You found that the dealers are not so generous with their money as we
are here in La Paz. And you came home after the long journey with your
tail between your legs.’” (paragraph 31)
English Language Arts/Literacy
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Read the poem “The Last Bargain.” Then answer the questions.
The Last Bargain
by Rabindranath Tagore
“Come and hire me,” I cried, while in the morning I was walking on the
stone-paved road.
Sword in hand, the King came in his chariot.
He held my hand and said, “I will hire you with my power.”
But his power counted for nought, and he went away in his chariot.
5 In the heat of the midday the houses stood with shut doors.
I wandered along the crooked lane.
An old man came out with his bag of gold.
He pondered and said, “I will hire you with my money.”
He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away.
10 It was evening. The garden hedge was all aflower.
The fair maid came out and said, “I will hire you with a smile.”
Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the
dark.
The sun glistened on the sand, and the sea waves broke waywardly.
A child sat playing with shells.
15 He raised his head and seemed to know me, and said, “I hire you with
nothing.”
From thenceforward that bargain struck in child’s play made me a free man.
“The Last Bargain” by Rabindranath Tagore—Public Domain
English Language Arts/Literacy
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3. Part A
What does the word hire mean as it is used in the last stanza of “The Last
Bargain”?
A. to make an insincere offer that will soon be forgotten
B. to form an agreement that is based on an exchange of goods
C. to form a relationship that is based on a feeling of understanding
D. to make a quick promise that will be ignored when interest is gone
Part B
Which evidence from the poem best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “. . . glistened on the sand . . .” (line 13)
B. “. . . playing with shells.” (line 14)
C. “. . . raised his head . . .” (line 15)
D. “. . . seemed to know me . . .” (line 15)
English Language Arts/Literacy
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4. Part A
What does line 9 of “The Last Bargain” reveal about the speaker?
A. The speaker is insulted by the offer.
B. The speaker is not able to express his wishes.
C. The speaker is not interested in gaining wealth.
D. The speaker is becoming frustrated with others.
Part B
Which evidence from the poem supports the answer to Part A?
A. “. . . houses stood with shut doors.” (line 5)
B. “‘I will hire you with my money.’” (line 8)
C. “. . . she went back alone into the dark.” (line 12)
D. “‘I hire you with nothing.’” (line 15)
English Language Arts/Literacy
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5. Part A
How does the word choice in the last stanza of “The Last Bargain” most
affect the meaning of the poem?
A. by indicating the speaker’s conflicted thoughts
B. by revealing that the speaker is dazzled by beauty
C. by emphasizing the speaker’s appreciation of simplicity
D. by suggesting that the speaker is thinking about the future
Part B
Which evidence from the poem best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “. . . glistened on the sand . . .” (line 13)
B. “. . . sea waves broke . . .” (line 13)
C. “A child sat . . .” (line 14)
D. “From thenceforward . . .” (line 16)
English Language Arts/Literacy
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6. Compare and contrast the structure of the passage from The Black Pearl and
the structure of the poem “The Last Bargain.” Drag each description into the
appropriate box. All descriptions will be used.
English Language Arts/Literacy
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7. You have read a passage from The Black Pearl and the poem “The Last
Bargain.”
Write an essay analyzing how the events in each text contribute to the
development of each text’s theme. Be sure to use evidence from both texts
in your essay.
English Language Arts/Literacy
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8. The table shows a shared theme of the passage from The Black Pearl and
the poem “The Last Bargain.”
Complete the table with one piece of evidence from each text that best
supports the shared theme. Drag and drop the pieces of evidence that best
support the shared theme into the appropriate rows of the table. Not all
pieces of evidence will be used.
English Language Arts/Literacy
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9. You have read a passage from The Black Pearl and the poem “The Last
Bargain.”
Write an essay in which you analyze how the characters develop the theme
in each text. Be sure to use evidence from both texts in your essay.
English Language Arts/Literacy
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10. Part A
What is the meaning of haggling as it is used in paragraph 29 of the
passage from The Black Pearl?
A. losing an opportunity
B. burdening the family
C. concealing the truth
D. debating a price
Part B
Which evidence from the passage best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “She had set her mind on a beautiful red carriage and four white horses.
. . .” (paragraph 27)
B. “Señor Martín wiped his mouth and said, ‘Fifteen thousand pesos is our
last offer.’” (paragraph 28)
C. “‘If you remember,’ he said, ‘you made the long journey to the City of
México once before.’” (paragraph 31)
D. “Señor Palomares got to his feet and the others followed. . . .”
(paragraph 32)
