English 11: Midterm
End-of-Course Assessment (ECA) Guide
In accordance with the High School Content Expectations (HSCE) dictated by the Michigan
Department of Education (MDE), all students in Utica Community Schools will take a common
standards-based End-of-Course Assessment in English. The English 11 Mid-term and Final ECAs
have been created and edited by a committee of more than ten UCS English teachers, including two
representatives from each high school, both system-wide English chairpersons, and a district
English Language Arts expert on the State and Federal content standards and expectations.
The district common portion of the exam—which is to be given during the scheduled Midterm or
Final Exam period (88 minutes)—will range between 40-50 multiple choice questions and will
consist of the following components:
I.
II.
III.
Reading Comprehension and Analysis (45%)
a. Literary based on the genres taught throughout the semester
b. Informational or Literary Non-fiction
Writing Analysis (35%)
a. Editing/Revision
b. Proofreading
ACT-Style Grammar Correction (20%)
a. See UCS K-12 Language: Conventions document
The following examples represent sample passages and questions. These passages are intended to
give teachers and students examples of the format and approximate length of the passages, as well
as sample questions that reflect the type of standards-based questions students will encounter on
the district ECAs.
Reading
Directions Read the following selection. Then answer the questions that follow.
from The Prologue
in The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
translated by Nevill Coghill
Our Host gave us great welcome; everyone
Was given a place and supper was begun.
He served the finest victuals you could think,
The wine was strong and we were glad to drink.
A very striking man our Host withal,
And fit to be a marshal in a hall.
His eyes were bright, his girth a little wide;
There is no finer burgess in Cheapside.
Bold in his speech, yet wise and full of tact,
10 There was no manly attribute he lacked,
What’s more he was a merry-hearted man.
After our meal he jokingly began
To talk of sport, and, among other things
After we’d settled up our reckonings,
He said as follows: “Truly, gentlemen,
You’re very welcome and I can’t think when
—Upon my word I’m telling you no lie—
I’ve seen a gathering here that looked so spry,
No, not this year, as in this tavern now.
20 I’d think you up some fun if I knew how.
And, as it happens, a thought has just occurred
To please you, costing nothing, on my word.
You’re off to Canterbury—well, God speed!
Blessed St. Thomas answer to your need!
And I don’t doubt, before the journey’s done
You mean to while the time in tales and fun.
Indeed, there’s little pleasure for your bones
Riding along and all as dumb as stones.
So let me then propose for your enjoyment,
30 Just as I said, a suitable employment.
And if my notion suits and you agree
And promise to submit yourselves to me
Playing your parts exactly as I say
Tomorrow as you ride along the way,
Then by my father’s soul (and he is dead)
If you don’t like it you can have my head!
Hold up your hands, and not another word.”
Well, our opinion was not long deferred,
It seemed not worth a serious debate;
40 We all agreed to it at any rate
And bade him issue what commands he would.
“My lords,” he said, “now listen for your good,
And please don’t treat my notion with disdain.
This is the point. I’ll make it short and plain.
Each one of you shall help to make things slip
By telling two stories on the outward trip
To Canterbury, that’s what I intend,
And, on the homeward way to journey’s end
Another two, tales from the days of old;
50 And then the man whose story is best told,
That is to say who gives the fullest measure
Of good morality and general pleasure,
He shall be given a supper, paid by all,
Here in this tavern, in this very hall,
When we come back again from Canterbury.
And in the hope to keep you bright and merry
I’ll go along with you myself and ride
All at my own expense and serve as guide.
I’ll be the judge, and those who won’t obey
60 Shall pay for what we spend upon the way.
Now if you all agree to what you’ve heard
Tell me at once without another word,
And I will make arrangements early for it.”
Of course we all agreed, in fact we swore it
Delightedly, and made entreaty too
That he should act as he proposed to do,
Become our Governor in short, and be
Judge of our tales and general referee,
And set the supper at a certain price.
70 W e promised to be ruled by his advice
Come high, come low; unanimously thus
We set him up in judgment over us.
From The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill. Penguin
Classics 1951, fourth revised edition 1977. Copyright © Nevill Coghill, 1951, 1958, 1960,
1975, 1977. Used by permission of Penguin Books Ltd.
Answer the following questions about the excerpt from “The Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales.
1. In lines 5–8, the Host is described as
A. overweight
B. red-haired
C. short
D. squinty-eyed
2. What makes lines 16–19 ironic?
A. The Host told the pilgrims where to travel.
B. Other pilgrims received cheaper rooms.
C. The Host flattered all pilgrims the same way.
D. All the pilgrims were given similar meals.
3. You know that line 20 contains verbal irony because the
A. Host really has a plan for the pilgrims
B. pilgrims have already made a plan
C. pilgrims have already made a plan
D. pilgrims are too tired for fun and games
4. Based on the Host’s words in line 36, you can best make the inference that he is
A. worried about his tavern
B. concerned about feelings of others
C. alarmed by the pilgrims
D. confident about his plan
5. Based on lines 38–41, you can best make the inference that the pilgrims are
A. clever
B. easygoing
C. sympathetic
D. compassionate
from Directions to Servants: Rules That Concern All Servants in General
Jonathan Swift
When you have done a fault, be always pert and insolent, and behave yourself as
if you were the injured person; this will immediately put your master or lady off their
mettle.
If you see your master wronged by any of your fellow-servants, be sure to conceal
it, for fear of being called a tell-tale. However, there is one exception, in case of a
favourite servant, who is justly hated by the whole family; who therefore are bound, in
prudence, to lay all the faults they can upon the favourite.
The cook, the butler, the groom, the market-man, and every other servant who is
concerned in the expenses of the family, should act as if his master’s whole estate ought
10 to be applied to that servant’s particular business. For instance, if the cook computes his
master’s estate to be a thousand pounds a year, he reasonably concludes that a thousand
pounds a year will afford meat enough, and therefore he need not be saving; the butler
makes the same judgment, so may the groom and the coachman, and thus every branch
of expense will be filled to your master’s honour.
When you are chid before company (which, with submission to our masters and
ladies, is an unmannerly practice) it often happens that some stranger will have the good
nature to drop a word in your excuse; in such a case you have a good title to justify
yourself, and may rightly conclude, that whenever he chides you afterwards on other
occasions, he may be in the wrong; in which opinion you will be the better confirmed by
20 stating the case to your fellow-servants in your own way, who will certainly decide in
your favour: therefore, as I have said before, whenever you are chidden, complain as if
you were injured.
It often happens, that servants sent on messages are apt to stay out somewhat
longer than the message requires, perhaps two, four, six, or eight hours, or some such
trifle, for the temptation to be sure was great, and flesh and blood cannot always resist.
When you return, the master storms, the lady scolds; stripping, cudgelling, and turning off
is the word.
But here you ought be provided with a set of excuses, enough to serve on all
occasions. For instance, your uncle came fourscore miles to town this morning, on
30 purpose to see you, and goes back by break of day tomorrow; a brother-servant, that
borrowed money of you when he was out of place, was running away to Ireland; you
were taking leave of an old fellow-servant, who was shipping for Barbados: your father
sent a cow for you to sell, and you could not find a chapman till nine at night; you were
taking leave of a dear cousin who is to be hanged next Saturday; you wrenched your foot
against a stone, and were forced to stay three hours in a shop before you could stir a step;
some nastiness was thrown on you out of a garret-window, and you were ashamed to
come home before you were cleaned, and the smell went off; you were pressed for the
sea-service, and carried before a justice of peace, who kept you three hours before he
examined you, and you got off with much a-do; a bailiff, by mistake, seized you for a
40 debtor, and kept you the whole evening in a sponging-house; you were told your master
had gone to a tavern, and came to some mischance, and your grief was so great, that you
inquired for his honour in a hundred taverns between Pall Mall and Temple Bar.
Take all trademen’s parts against your master, and when you are sent to buy any
thing, never offer to cheapen it, but generously pay the full demand. This is highly for
your master’s honour; and may be some shillings in your pocket; and you are to
consider, if your master hath paid too much, he can better afford the loss than a poor
tradesman.
Never submit to stir a finger in any business, but that for which you were
particularly hired. For example, if the groom be drunk or absent, and the butler be
50 ordered to shut the stable door, the answer is ready, ‘An please your honour, I don’t
understand horses.’ If a corner of the hanging wants a single nail to fasten it, and the
footman be directed to tack it up, hemay say he doth not understand that sort of work,
but his honour may send for the upholsterer.
Masters and ladies are usually quarrelling with the servants for not shutting the
doors after them; but neither masters nor ladies consider that those doors must be open
before they can be shut, and that the labour is double to open and shut the doors; therefore
the best, the shortest, and easiest way is to do neither. But if you are so often teased to shut
the door, that you cannot easily forget it, then give the door such a clap at your going out,
as will shake the whole room, and make everything rattle in it, to put your master and
60 lady in mind that you observe their directions.
If you find yourself to grow into favour with your master or lady, take some
opportunity in a very mild way to give them warning; and when they ask the reason, and
seem loth to part with you, answer, that you would rather live with them than any body
else, but a poor servant is not to be blamed if he strives to better himself; that service is
no inheritance; that your work is great, and your wages very small. Upon which, if your
master hath any generosity, he will add five or ten shillings a quarter rather than let you
go. But if you are baulked, and have nomind to go off, get some fellow-servant to tell
your master that he had prevailed upon you to stay.
6. The author’s purpose in giving advice to servants is to help them
A. press their personal advantage
B. become more honest and efficient
C. understand their masters better
D. work their way toward a better job
7. Lines 8–14 are ironic or satirical because what appears to be the servant’s pride in his work is really a
A. lack of concern for the master’s finances
B. sign of laziness and inattention to the job
C. way of stealing money from the master
D. mark of an ideal servant
8. In lines 23–24, what makes the phrase “somewhat longer” verbal irony?
A. Eight hours is more than “somewhat.”
B. Two hours and eight hours are far apart.
C. The temptation is great.
D. Servants always stay out later.
9. Which choice best describes the counterarguments in lines 28–42?
A. They show all the problems that a servant meets while delivering a message.
B. Each one is phrased to gain the greatest possible sympathy from the master.
C. Each one is phrased to gain the greatest possible sympathy from the master.
D. They show the desperate actions a servant must take when working for a cruel master.
10. The following phrases support the proposition that a servant should always pay a trademan’s full price.
Which one is satirical?
A. “generously pay the full demand” (line 44)
B. “This is highly for your master’s honour.” (lines 44–45)
C. “and may be some shillings in your pocket” (line 45)
D. “he can better afford the loss than a poor tradesman” (lines 46–47)
11. From reading lines 54–60, you can reasonably conclude that the servant’s slamming of the door is a
sign of the servant’s
A. hostility toward the master
B. desire to do a job well
C. tendency to make honest mistakes
D. great physical strength
12. You can conclude in the last paragraph that the author’s purpose is to encourage the servant to
A. lie to gain personal advantage
B. do something to help his fellow servants
C. make a humble offer toward the master
D. seek a more rewarding job elsewhere
13. What is the main purpose of this essay?
A. to inform
B. to persuade
C. to analyze
D. to amuse
Writing and Grammar
Directions Read the comparison-contrast essay and answer the questions that follow.
(1) Television programs films books, and even talk show hosts try to tell you
how you should live your life. (2) Both the Venerable Bede and Geoffrey Chaucer
wrote about characters who represented the proper way for people to behave. (3)
The knight in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and the bishop in Bede’s A History
of the English Church and People are very different characters, both of whom
embody the ideals of their time periods.
(4) In “The Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the actions
and personality of the knight. (5) The narrator describes the knight as “a most
distinguished man.” (6) The knight fought in many battles. (7) The narrator lists
the various battles in which the knight was present. (8) In jousting tournaments,
the knight “always killed his man.” (9) The knight is a good warrior, but he is also
wise and modest. (10) Unlike other successful men, the knight does not wear
elaborate clothing. (11) He has a marked tunic made of linen and cotton. (12) The
knight embody the skills and attributes that people of the time period strove to
attain. (13) The narrator has only praise for the knight, emphasizing that the
knight is a perfect role model for readers.
(14) Unlike Chaucer’s knight, Bede’s bishop does not battle enemies in war.
(15) The bishop battles a different enemy—poverty. (16) Bede calls the bishop
“a protector of the poor and a father to the wretched.” (17) One day, the bishop
willingly gives his horse to a beggar. (18) Bede also describes how the bishop
teaches the king about the importance of taking care of the poor. (19) The bishop’s
great generosity and kindness establish him as a role model for Bede’s readers.
(20) The actions of the knight and the bishop are very different. (21) However,
both Chaucer and Bede use these actions to teach the same lesson. (22) Each writer
hopes that readers will lead lives as moral and as good as these characters do.
14. Which sentence identifies the works being compared and contrasted?
A. sentence 1
B. sentence 2
C. sentence 3
D. sentence 4
15. Which sentence contains the thesis statement?
A. sentence 2
B. sentence 3
C. sentence 4
D. sentence 5
16. Replace the word has in sentence 11 with a verb that improves the imagery.
A. owns
B. shows
C. possesses
D. wears
17. Choose the correct way to fix the subject-verb agreement in sentence 12.
A. The knight embodies
B. The knights embody
C. The knight embodying
D. The knights embodying
18. Which sentence acts as a transition?
A. sentence 12
B. sentence 14
C. sentence 16
D. sentence 18
19. Which of the following would be an acceptable substitute for the transition in sentence 21.
A. On the other hand
B. For example
C. In addition
D. Likewise
20. The language in the essay is
A. sarcastic
B. formal
C. humorous
D. childish
Answer Key:
Reading Comprehension
1. A
2. C
3. A
4. D
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. A
9. C
10. B
11. A
12. A
13. D
Writing and Grammar
14. C
15. B
16. D
17. A
18. B
19. A
20. B