Literature Keystone
Measures a student’s ability to:
 Read and comprehend fiction and non-fiction
 Understand different forms of text (poetry, essay)
 Compare and contrast different but related works
 Revert back to a piece of writing to extract an answer
 Analyze the effectiveness of an author’s use of
literary devices (metaphors, similes, etc) and other
writing tools (organization, style, diction)
Reading
General Reading Assessment Strategies
 Review the entire test first to determine the number
of multiple choice/open-ended questions
 Read all of the passages carefully using a highlighter
to strategically mark ‘key’ points
 Revert back to the text to locate answers if necessary
 Attempt to answer all questions
Types of Questions
Multiple-choice questions require that
you choose your answer from among a
set of four answer choices.
• Read the question carefully.
• Choose the correct answer and record
your choice.
• Only one of the answers provided is
the correct response.
Sample Question
Read the sentence from the poem.
“The yellow flowers turned their happy faces toward
the sun and smiled.”How does the poet’s use of
personification help to communicate an idea in the
poem?
A. It establishes the speaker’s feelings about
flowers.
B. It conveys the speaker’s recollection of a
memory.
C. It shows the speaker’s observations about
nature.
D. It indicates the speaker’s need for acceptance.
Open Ended Questions
General Strategies for Open-Ended Questions
 Write legibly and attempt to fill in the space you are
given. If you write using small letters and don’t fill in
much space, the ‘perception’ of the reader/grader will be
that your content is insufficient
 The writing you complete in class is much more
demanding.
 Keep it simple. This is not the time to be creative.
Open Ended Question
Read the sentence from the passage.
“New York’s compact geography and increasingly
robust bicycle infrastructure make it ideally situated
to reap significant transportation benefits from a
bike-share program.”
Explain how the author’s use of the words “compact
geography” influences the reader. Use information
from the passage to support your explanation
To Study and For More Information
http://www.pdesas.org/module/assessment/Keystone
.aspx#
http://static.pdesas.org/Content/Documents/KYST_L
ITE_AAEC_Smpl_Qstns_Glssry_April-2012.pdf