Week 18: Week 18 — Timed Practice: Section 2 Literary Performance Task
Week of Mon, Mar 15 · week closes Sun, Mar 21
This week's items
Exact due times are in Canvas. Each week opens on its Monday and stays open. Practice is never late — but the MCAP window opens April 5, 2027, so keep pace.
Know these cold
- Section 2 is the literary performance task: two literary passages linked by a theme, about 6 to 9 items, and one constructed response, all in 70 minutes.
- Read both passages before you answer anything. The items, and especially the constructed response, ask how the two texts connect.
- Name the shared theme in your own words after reading. A theme is a full statement about life, such as 'People carry the lessons of their elders,' not a single word like 'family.'
- Then notice the difference. Two passages can share a theme but treat it differently: one hopeful and one sad, one told by a child and one by an adult, one a story and one a poem.
- Treat the items as rehearsal for the essay. Every piece of evidence you find while answering items is a quotation you may use in your constructed response.
- Protect your writing time. A workable plan is about 10 minutes to read, about 25 minutes for the items, about 30 minutes to plan and write, and the last 5 to proofread.
- Your constructed response needs a clear thesis that names both passages and the theme, evidence from each passage, and explanation of how each author develops the idea.
- Written Expression is scored 0 to 4 and Written Conventions 0 to 3. A response is scored on what it does well, so make every paragraph count.
Meerk's quiz — open the Week 18 gate
10 questions, no time limit. One counted try: 85% opens the gate. Miss it and Meerk's Study Path opens: it teaches every miss back to you, then a mastery check — and it cannot finish before 25 minutes of real study. Then your second try opens. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Stuck?
Raise your hand. Mr. James gets a message right away and can help you remotely. Nothing else is stored — just your last name, grade, and where you're stuck.
My Progress
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: What is one skill someone older in our family taught you, or that you learned just by watching them?
En español: ¿Qué habilidad te enseñó alguien mayor de nuestra familia, o cuál aprendiste solo con observarlo?