CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.9a
The Standard
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 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
What This Standard Means
Students need to use reading skills when they write about literature. They should compare a literary work with a source it uses, then explain what the author kept, changed, cut, or added. They also need to support that explanation with clear evidence from both texts.
Mastery looks like a focused paragraph or essay that names the source connection and explains why the changes matter. Students often get stuck summarizing both texts instead of comparing them. They may also spot a similarity, but miss the author’s purpose or effect.
Ways to Teach It
- Give students a short myth and a modern retelling, then have them highlight what stayed the same and what changed in two colors.
- Ask students to write: What did the later author change, and how does that change affect the theme or character?
- Use an exit ticket with one source detail, one changed detail, and one sentence explaining the effect of the change.
- Compare a movie remake or song sample to its original, then connect that process to authors reworking older literature.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9a
Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specifi...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9a
Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres [e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fa...
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