CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1
The Standard
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to make claims about a literary text and back them with evidence that is specific, accurate, and well chosen. They should explain both what the text says directly and what it suggests through character actions, imagery, dialogue, structure, or gaps in narration.
Mastery looks like a student using more than one strong quotation or detail, explaining how each one supports the claim, and noticing what the text does not fully answer. Students often get stuck by dropping in quotes without analysis, choosing evidence that is too broad, or treating an uncertain ending as a mistake instead of a deliberate choice.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs three claim cards and a printed passage, then have them highlight the two strongest lines for each claim.
- Ask students to write: What does the narrator know, what do we know, and what remains uncertain?
- Use an exit ticket with one claim, one quotation, and two sentences explaining how the quotation proves the claim.
- Compare a courtroom closing argument to a literary analysis paragraph, focusing on how evidence must be selected and explained.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.