CORE Assessment Module
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task for an Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Cover Sheet
Content Area
Title
Grade Level
Problem Type
Anchor Standards
SBAC Assessment Claims
Common Core Standards
Task Description
Module Components
English Language Arts
Performance Task for an Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
9
Constructed Response, Performance Task
Reading 9.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to
make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when
writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Reading 9.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their
development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
Reading 9.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop
and interact over the course of a text.
Reading 9.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings,
and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Writing 9.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and
sufficient evidence.
Writing 9.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,
and audience.
Claim #1 Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a
range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.
Claim #2 Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a
range of purposes and audiences.
RL 9.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL 9.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is
shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of
the text.
RL 9.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or
conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with
other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
RL 9.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in
the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g.,
how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or
informal tone).
W 9.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive
topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
W 9.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
This assessment task is to be completed in two parts. The prewriting &
planning in part one involves reading, annotation, note-taking, speaking
and listening, and constructed response questions. In part two, students
will be asked to write arguments to address a prompt, and they will
support their explanations/interpretations with evidence from the text.
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task Cover Sheet, ELA Grade 9 Performance
Task Teacher Directions (2 pages), Constructed Response Questions for
Students handout, Student Writing Prompt handout, The Grapes of Wrath
Excerpt & Annotation handout (2 pages), Character Analysis Graphic
Organizer handout (separate word document for ‘Landscape’ printing)
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task
Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
This Common Core-aligned ELA Grade 9 Performance Task can be given be given over 2-3 class periods, depending
on class schedules. The directions below outline the steps to follow for a 3-class period administration:
approximately two 55 minute class periods for annotation, note-taking, constructed response questions, and
discussion; one class period for completing the final writing prompt.
Text: Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking, 1967. (1939) From Chapter 15
Materials: ELA Grade 9 Performance Task Cover Sheet, ELA Grade 9 Performance Task Teacher Directions (2
pages), Constructed Response Questions for Students handout, Student Writing Prompt handout, The Grapes of
Wrath Excerpt & Annotation handout (2 pages), Character Analysis Graphic Organizer handout (separate word
document for ‘Landscape’ printing)
Teacher Preparation: Students must have practice with analyzing details, diction, and characters in literary texts.
Directions to Teacher: Class Periods 1-2
1. Reading:
Distribute to students The Grapes of Wrath Excerpt/Annotation handout, and have students read the
excerpt independently. Students may annotate their ideas and questions in the space provided on the
handout.
2. Note-taking:
Distribute to students the Character Analysis Graphic Organizer handout. Ask students to reread the
passage, and independently record evidence and their ideas/thoughts for the first four columns.
3. Speaking/Listening:
After students independently complete columns 1-4 of the Character Analysis Graphic Organizer,
instruct them to meet in pairs or groups of three to share ideas, ask questions, and add information to the
final column of the graphic organizer.
4. Constructed Response Questions for Students:
Distribute the Constructed Response Questions for Students handout, and ask students to write
individually their responses to the questions below on a separate piece of lined paper.
1. Word Meaning: List all three phrases in the excerpt that have the word humility. What does this word mean?
What is significant about the nature of the man’s humility? What does this diction (word choice) suggest
about this man? (RL 9.4)
2. Key Details: Find and record both references to the screen in the excerpt. How is the screen significant to the
relationship between the man and Mae? What might be the significance of having a screen in this excerpt? Use
evidence from the text to support your explanation/interpretation. (RL 9.2, 9.3)
3. Central Ideas: Examine the excerpt for details related to eyes, seeing, and/or looking. How do these details
reveal the characters’ attitudes and the central ideas of the excerpt? Use evidence from the text to support
your explanation/interpretation. (RL 9.2, 9.3)
4. Reasoning/Evaluation: Examine Mae’s actions near the end of the excerpt, and explain whether or not there
has been a shift in her attitude toward the man and the boys. What is the reason for this? Use evidence from
the text to support your explanation/interpretation of Mae’s actions. (RL 9.1)
5. Optional Speaking/Listening Opportunity:
After students independently answer the Constructed Response Questions for Students, instruct them to
meet in pairs or groups of three to share ideas, ask questions, and add information to their notes.
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task
Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Directions to Teacher: Class Period 3
Distribute to students the Student Writing Prompt handout (prompt provided below). Let them know how much
time they will have to respond to the prompt. Encourage students to use their graphic organizers and their
constructed response answers to write their arguments.
Writing Prompt:
After carefully analyzing the details and diction in the excerpt from John Steinbeck’s
The Grapes of Wrath, write an essay in which you explain how Mae’s interactions with the
other characters reveal her complex attitude toward the man and his boys. Use evidence
from the text to support your explanation/interpretation.





Include concrete details (verbatim and/or paraphrased) from the text.
Use appropriate transitions.
Use precise language and vocabulary to make an argument for your explanation/interpretation.
Establish and maintain a formal style.
Provide a concluding section that supports your argument.
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task
Student Name
Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Constructed Response Questions for Students
Directions:
Answer the questions below on a separate sheet of lined paper. You may use this sheet to make any
notes or draft your essay, but only your complete answers on a separate sheet of paper will be
scored. You may refer to the reading passage and your graphic organizer to help you answer the
questions.
1. List all three phrases in the excerpt that have the word humility. What does this word mean? What is
significant about the nature of the man’s humility? What does this diction (word choice) suggest
about this man? (RL 9.4)
2. Find and record both references to the screen in the excerpt. How is the screen significant to the
relationship between the man and Mae? What might be the significance of having a screen in this
excerpt? Use evidence from the text to support your explanation/interpretation. (RL 9.2, 9.3)
3. Examine the excerpt for details related to eyes, seeing, and/or looking. How do these details reveal the
characters’ attitudes and the central ideas of the excerpt? Use evidence from the text to support your
explanation/interpretation. (RL 9.2, 9.3)
4. Examine Mae’s actions near the end of the excerpt, and explain whether or not there has been a shift
in her attitude toward the man and the boys. What is the reason for this? Use evidence from the text
to support your explanation/interpretation of Mae’s actions. (RL 9.1)
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task
Student Name
Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Student Writing Prompt
Directions:
Please respond to the prompt below in writing. You may use your graphic organizer and constructed
response answers to write your argument. You may take notes on this paper, but you should write your
entire response on lined paper.
Writing Prompt:
After carefully analyzing the details and diction in the excerpt from John Steinbeck’s
The Grapes of Wrath, write an essay in which you explain how Mae’s interactions with the
other characters reveal her complex attitude toward the man and his boys. Use evidence
from the text to support your explanation/interpretation.





Include concrete details (verbatim and/or paraphrased) from the text.
Use appropriate transitions.
Use precise language and vocabulary to make an argument for your explanation/interpretation.
Establish and maintain a formal style.
Provide a concluding section that supports your argument.
ELA Grade 9 Performance Task
Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Student Name
Excerpt & Annotation
from chapter 15 in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Excerpt
Annotation
(my ideas and questions about the text)
The man took off his dark, stained hat and stood with a curious
humility in front of the screen. “Could you see your way to sell us a
loaf of bread, ma’am?”
Mae said, “This ain’t a grocery store. We got bread to make
san’widges.”
“I know, ma’am.” His humility was insistent. “We need bread and
there ain’t nothin’ for quite a piece, they say.”
“‘F we sell bread we gonna run out.” Mae’s tone was faltering.
“We’re hungry,” the man said.
“Whyn’t you buy a san’widge? We got nice san’widges, hamburgs.”
“We’d sure admire to do that, ma’am. But we can’t. We got to make
a dime do all of us.” And he said embarrassedly, “We ain’t got but a
little.”
Mae said, “You can’t get no loaf a bread for a dime. We only got
fifteen-cent loafs.”
From behind her Al growled, “God Almighty, Mae, give ‘em bread.”
“We’ll run out ‘fore the bread truck comes.”
“Run out then, goddamn it,” said Al. He looked sullenly down at the
potato salad he was mixing.
Mae shrugged her plump shoulders and looked to the truck drivers
to show them what she was up against.
She held the screen door open and the man came in, bringing a
smell of sweat with him. The boys edged behind him and they went
immediately to the candy case and stared in—not with craving or
with hope or even with desire, but just with a kind of wonder that
such things could be. They were alike in size and their faces were
alike. One scratched his dusty ankle with the toe nails of his other
foot. The other whispered some soft message and then they
straightened their arms so that their clenched fists in the overall
pockets showed through the thin blue cloth.
Mae opened a drawer and took out a long waxpaper-wrapped loaf.
“This here is a fifteen-cent loaf.”
Excerpt
The man put his hat back on his head. He answered with inflexible
humility, “Won’t you—can’t you see your way to cut off ten cents’
worth?”
Al said snarlingly, “Goddamn it, Mae. Give ‘em the loaf.”
The man turned toward Al. “No, we want ta buy ten cents’ worth of
it. We got it figgered awful close, mister, to get to California.”
Mae said resignedly, “You can have this for ten cents.”
“That’d be robbin’ you, ma’am.”
“Go ahead—Al says to take it.” She pushed the waxpapered loaf
across the counter. The man took a deep leather pouch from his
rear pocket, untied the strings, and spread it open. It was heavy
with silver and with greasy bills.
“May soun’ funny to be so tight,” he apologized. “We got a thousan’
miles to go, an’ we don’ know if we’ll make it.” He dug in the pouch
with a forefinger, located a dime, and pinched in for it. When he put
it down on the counter he had a penny with it. He was about to drop
the penny back into the pouch when his eye fell on the boys frozen
before the candy counter. He moved slowly down to them. He
pointed in the case at big long sticks of striped peppermint. “Is them
penny candy, ma’am?”
Mae moved down and looked in. “Which ones?”
“There, them stripy ones.”
The little boys raised their eyes to her face and they stopped
breathing; their mouths were partly opened, their half-naked
bodies were rigid.
“Oh—them. Well, no—them’s two for a penny.”
“Well, gimme two then, ma’am.” He placed the copper cent carefully
on the counter. The boys expelled their held breath softly. Mae held
the big sticks out.
Annotation
(my ideas and questions about the text)