RESPONDING TO TEXT DEPENDENT QUESTIONS

How to answer questions like a high school student.

By SHANNON VESSELL

IMPORTANT ACADEMIC VOCABULARY

A Text: a book or other written or printed work “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell is the last text that we read as a class.

Evidence: something which shows that something else exists or is true In literature, this is in the form of a quote from a selected text

Text Dependent Question: Can only be answered with evidence (a quote) from the text

Cite: quote (a passage, book, or author) as evidence for an argument or statement

MLA Format: stands for Modern Language Association; a style of writing that we use in English class

STEP 1: DISSECT THE QUESTION(WHAT IS IT ASKING?)

Sample Question

Rainsford is a man of

logic. Give evidence from the story of

Rainsford using

reason to get himself

out of a difficult

situation.

Questions to ask yourself…What is this question/prompt asking me to do?

This prompt wants me to find evidence to prove that Rainsford uses logic to get out of difficult situations.

What difficult situations has he been in?Well, he fell off a boat, he was held at gunpoint, and he was

involuntarily involved in a hunting game that held his life on the line… but that’s a lot to write about!! I think I’ll stick with the boat.

How did he get out of these situations? In which situation did he use logic?

He used logic in all of these situations, but after falling off the boat, he remained calm and swam to safety.

Where (what page) can I look on to find evidence to support my answer?

I remember he fell off the boat near the beginning of the story… that should be around page 15. Let me go back and check.

STEP 2: FIND THE EVIDENCE(WHERE DID THIS HAPPEN IN THE STORY? GO AHEAD

AND SET IT UP IN MLA FORMAT)

Sample QuestionRainsford is a man of logic.

Give evidence from the story of Rainsford

using reason to get himself out

of a difficult situation.

Quotes form the text I could use in my response…“A certain coolheadedness had come to him; it was not the first time he had been in a tight place. There was a chance that his cries could be heard by someone aboard the yacht, but that

chance was slender and grew more slender as the yacht raced on. He wrestled himself out of his clothes and shouted with all his

power. The lights of the yacht became faint and ever-vanishing fireflies; then they were blotted out entirely by the night” (15).

“Rainsford remembered the shots. They had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow

deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (15).

“Where there are pistol shots, there are men. Where there are men, there is food” (16).

Page

num

ber

Period

Quotatio

n Mark

s

My PositionRainsford uses logic swim to

remain calm and swim to safety

after falling off his yacht.

My PositionRainsford uses logic swim to

remain calm and swim to safety

after falling off his yacht.

STEP 3: ANALYZE THE EVIDENCE (HOW DOES MY EVIDENCE PROVE MY POSITION? WHAT

IS MOST IMPORTANT?)

Sample QuestionRainsford is a man of logic.

Give evidence from the story of Rainsford

using reason to get himself out

of a difficult situation.

How can I make this more manageable?“A certain coolheadedness had come to him; it was not the first time he had been in a tight place. There was a chance that his cries could be heard by someone aboard the yacht, but that

chance was slender and grew more slender as the yacht raced on. He wrestled himself out of his clothes and shouted with all his

power. The lights of the yacht became faint and ever-vanishing fireflies; then they were blotted out entirely by the night” (15).

“Rainsford remembered the shots. They had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow

deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (15).

“Where there are pistol shots, there are men. Where there are men, there is food” (16).

Falling off a yacht into an ocean can be a pretty stressful situation. Rainsford handled it like a champ. This quote

talks about how he did not freak out when he fell into the water, instead he realized he was not going to be saved and dealt with the situation the best way he knew how…

taking his clothes off so he wouldn’t drown.

After realizing he would not be saved by Whitney or the crew on the yacht, he started to swim in the direction of

the gunshots—hoping to find friendly people.These quotes are WAY too long, I’ll have to shorten them. What’s

most important?

I can chop this one into smaller parts and paraphrase the rest:

“a certain coolheadedness had come to him” (15).

“wrestled himself out of his clothes” (15).

I can use ellipses to shorten this one to make it flow better:“the shots…had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that

direction, swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (15).

STEP 4: PUT IT ALL TOGETHER(HOW CAN I PUT IT ALL TOGETHER TO MAKE IT FLOW?

DOES IT COMPLETELY ANSWER THE QUESTION?)

Sample QuestionRainsford is a man of logic.

Give evidence from the story of Rainsford

using reason to get himself out

of a difficult situation.

Sample AnswerWhen Rainsford falls from the yacht, he quickly

realizes that he cannot get back to the yacht. Instead of freaking out, it is in this moment that “a certain coolheadedness had come to him” (15). He remembers that he has been in tougher situations before, so he calms down and uses reason to think through his situation. He “wrestled himself out of his clothes” (15) so the weight of his clothes would not cause him to drown, and then he starts to shout for help; when he realizes that no one can hear his cries to help him, he remembers “the shots…had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (15). Once he reaches the island, he goes to sleep and later realizes “where there are pistol shots, there are men. Where there are men, there is food” (16). His ability to think through this situation and make it to land safely, illustrates that Rainsford is a logical man who uses reason to get out of difficult situations.

CHECKLIST: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELFDid you remember to use evidence from the text to support your answer?

Where is your evidence? What page number supports your thinking?

Did you quote the text?

What specific word or phrase can you use from the text to support your opinion?

It’s your turn!!!