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
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students write an analysis explaining how one literary work uses and changes an earlier source. They support the comparison with precise evidence from both texts and explain why the changes matter.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student identifies borrowed elements, such as plot, character, image, or theme, and traces meaningful changes. The student uses precise evidence from both works and connects the changes to purpose, meaning, or context.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often list similarities without analyzing changes, or assume any shared theme proves direct influence. They may summarize both works, cite only the later text, or discuss a change without explaining why it matters.
How to Assess It
- Give students paired excerpts from a myth and a later adaptation. Ask them to identify one transformed element, quote both texts, and explain the effect in three sentences.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs printed excerpts from a myth and its adaptation, then have them highlight borrowed details in blue and changed details in yellow.
Ask students to write: Why might the later author have changed this character, event, or theme for a new audience?
Use matching cards with source details and transformed versions, awarding a point when students match and explain the effect accurately.
Compare a film adaptation scene with its source passage, then have students explain how the filmmaker changed it for a modern audience.
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Printable W.9-10.9a Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.9a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
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Where This Standard Sits
Before This Standard
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What This Unlocks
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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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