Students will be given 45 minutes to complete the Reading Persuasive Text section of the HSPA.

Students will read a persuasive passage and then respond to multiple-choice and open-ended questions to assess literal and inferential thinking. Questions will be based on those skills that critical readers use to understand, analyze, and assess texts.

For the purposes of this assessment, "persuasive text" is defined as text in which the writer attempts to sway the reader to a specific point of view. Because persuasive writing is based on a personal vision, it is inherently controversial. Exploring these controversial issues develops and enhances students' critical thinking skills. Persuasive passages will be selected from previously published text, such as essays, speeches, book and movie reviews, editorials, letters, advertisements, charitable campaign appeals, and political literature. Students will respond to open-ended and multiple choice questions about these passages.

Students will:

• recognize a theme or central idea.

• recognize details that develop or support the main idea.

• extrapolate information and/or follow directions.

• paraphrase, retell, or interpret words, phrases, or sentences from the text.

• recognize a purpose for reading.

• make tentative predictions of meaning.

• make judgments, form opinions, and draw conclusions from the text.

Student open-ended responses will be scored using the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Rubric.