FIRST READ EXTENSION QUESTIONS

from Silent Spring

1
Name:       Date:      

from Silent Spring

Rachel Carson

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following items after you have read the text.
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RI.7.2 Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the
course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

1. (a) Identify two or more central ideas in a text and explain how they
develop over the course of the text.
Identify at least two central ideas, or overall messages, about the environment
that the author develops in the excerpt from Silent Spring. Use details from the
text to explain how these ideas are developed over the course of the text.

    

(b) Write an objective summary of the text.

Write an objective summary of the excerpt from Silent Spring. Your summary
should include main ideas but not personal opinions or judgments. Remember to
include the author and title of the text in your summary.

    

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RI.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text.

2. (a) Explain what the text says explicitly.

Reread paragraphs 1 and 2 of the excerpt from Silent Spring. Explain what the
author is telling the reader about the town she’s describing. Cite at least two
details from the text to support your response.

    

(b) Explain an inference you can draw from the text.

Reread paragraph 7 of the excerpt from Silent Spring. What can you infer that
the “white granular powder” is? Support your inference using at least two details
from the text and background knowledge.

    

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 FIRST READ EXTENSION QUESTIONS
from Silent Spring

____________________________________________________________________________
2
RI.7.8 Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the
reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.

3. (a) Trace the argument and specific claims in a text.

Identify an argument or claim the author of the excerpt from Silent Spring is
making, and explain how she supports it. Use relevant details from the text to
support your answer.

    

(b) Explain whether the reasoning of a claim is sound and the evidence is
sufficient to support the claim.
Does the author of the excerpt from Silent Spring give sound reasoning and
sufficient evidence to support her claim? Use details from the text to support your
assessment.

    

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RI.7.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.

4. (a) Identify an author’s point of view or purpose in a text.

What was the author’s purpose in writing the excerpt from Silent Spring? Explain
how you know what her purpose was by using relevant details from the text.

    

(b) Analyze how the author distinguishes her position from that of others.
Explain how the author distinguishes her own perspective on the events in the
excerpt from Silent Spring from the perspective of others.

    

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 FIRST READ EXTENSION QUESTIONS
from Silent Spring

3
Word Choice: Imagery

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following activity as either a written response or a group

discussion.
____________________________________________________________________________
RI.7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on
meaning and tone.

5. Reread paragraphs 1–3 of the excerpt from Silent Spring. Notice the tone, or the
author’s attitude about the subject. Explain how the author’s choice of words
and phrases, including vivid imagery, impacts the tone of these paragraphs and
how the tone changes across the paragraphs. Then, explain how the tone
influences the meaning of the text and contributes to the mood, or the emotions,
a reader feels when reading the excerpt.

Use these guidelines in your writing or discussion.

 Study the words and phrases used across paragraphs 1–3. What are the
connotations, or emotional associations, of the words?
 How do the descriptions of the town differ among the paragraphs? Support
your response with details from the text.
 What is the author’s tone, or attitude, toward the use of pesticides?
 Look for any repeated images or sounds throughout the paragraphs.
 Explain the mood, or how you felt, when you read the descriptions provided
in each paragraph.

TIP FOR WRITTEN RESPONSE

Take notes as you work through the bulleted items. Then, rework your notes into a
cohesive essay.
TIP FOR DISCUSSION
Ask for evidence of one another’s claims or statements. For example, say, “What makes
you think so?” or “What evidence can you cite for that?”

    

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