When designing writing about reading prompts, what should students be required to do?

• A. Write a personal reflection with no reference to the text.
• B. Summarize the plot in one sentence.
• C. Analyze evidence from a text and craft coherent explanations.
• D. Copy a passage from the text.

Answer: (C)

When writing about reading prompts, students should base their response on evidence from the text and craft a clear, logical explanation of how that evidence supports a specific claim about the text. This means presenting a claim about what the author is doing, what a character learns, or what a theme reveals, and then choosing precise details or quotes from the text to show why that claim is valid, with careful explanation that links each piece of evidence to the reasoning.

Personal reflections without tying ideas to the text don’t demonstrate how the text supports a viewpoint. A one-sentence plot summary is too shallow to show analysis or the ability to explain how evidence supports a claim. Copying a passage doesn’t require the student to interpret or justify why that evidence matters. The strongest responses show close reading, use textual evidence, and explain how that evidence develops a thoughtful, text-based interpretation.