Page 76 - SpringBoard_CloseReading_Workshop_Grade7_Flipbook

Synthesizing your Understanding
Understanding Speaker, Subject, Purpose, and Tone: Refer back to Activity 1 and review the definitions of speaker, subject, purpose and tone. Reread the passage by Isaacson and underline sentences that you believe express important ideas about the speaker, subject, purpose and tone of the passage. Then respond to the questions below.
1. Who is the speaker of the text—the person (or persons) writing it? What is his or her background with the subject? How does this person’s background or position impact the way the text is written?
2. What is the subject? Who and what is this excerpt about? Be as specific as you can in identifying the subject of the passage.
3. What is the purpose? What is the reason behind the creation of this piece of writing? What do you suppose the writer wanted the audience to think or do as a result of reading the text?
4. What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the passage? Tone describes the attitude of the author about the subject being discussed. Now that you have identified the subject and the purpose, explain how the tone is established.
Writing Prompt: Using textual evidence to support your thinking, write a paragraph in which you discuss Isaacson’s purpose, tone, and ideas. Be sure to:
• Write a topic sentence that identifies Isaacson’s purpose and tone. • Choose several pieces of appropriate textual evidence.
• Explain the significance of your textual evidence.
Close Reading Workshop 5 • Close Reading of Informational Texts in Social Studies/History 75
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