CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9
The Standard
Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to compare a literary work with an earlier source it uses. They should notice borrowed characters, plots, conflicts, themes, images, or lines, then explain what the newer author changed and why those changes matter.
Mastery looks like a clear claim about transformation, backed by details from both texts. Students often stop at spotting similarities. They need help moving from “these are alike” to “the author changed this part to create a new meaning, point of view, or effect.”
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs a short myth and a modern poem based on it, then have them color-code kept details, changed details, and new details.
- Ask students: What did the later author keep, change, or leave out, and how does that shift the message?
- Use a three-column exit ticket: source detail, changed version, effect of the change.
- Compare a familiar film remake or song cover to its original, focusing on what changed and what new meaning appears.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9
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What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each versi...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3
Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is order...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.9a
Apply grades 9—10 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work [e.g., how Shakespear...