Exercises — Week 18: Week 18 — Timed Practice: Section 2 Literary Performance Task

1. Timed Section 2 Simulation with Constructed Response

1. Write your pacing plan before starting a 70-minute timer: minutes 0 to 10 to read both passages below, minutes 10 to 35 to answer at least eight items from this week's bank, minutes 35 to 65 to plan and write your essay, and minutes 65 to 70 to proofread.
2. Read Passage 1, from a short story: "Every Sunday, Grandma Ruth made the sweet potato pies without a recipe. 'You measure with your eyes,' she told Tamia, who wanted numbers. The year Grandma's hands began to shake, Tamia stood at the counter alone with a notebook she had filled by watching. The first pie cracked down the middle. The second sank. The third smelled right, and when Grandma tasted it, she closed her eyes and said nothing for a long time. Then she said, 'Now you don't need me to write it down.'"
3. Read Passage 2, a poem: "My father's toolbox still smells of oil. / He never taught me how to use the level, / so I watched instead, the bubble drifting / until his breath went slow and the shelf went true. / Now I hang my own shelves crooked, / then patient, then straight, / and his slow breath comes out of me."
4. Respond to this prompt: Both passages show how a skill is passed from one generation to the next. Write an essay that analyzes how each author develops this theme. Explain how the passages are similar and how they are different in the way they present learning from an elder. Use specific evidence from both passages to support your analysis.
5. Before submitting, score your draft against the two rubric rows used in this practice. Written Expression, 0 to 4: a 4 has a clear thesis about both passages, well-chosen evidence from each, explanation of how the evidence develops the theme, logical organization with transitions, and precise language. Written Conventions, 0 to 3: a 3 shows command of grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling, with few errors that do not interfere with meaning. Write your self-scores and one sentence explaining each.