"The Circuit"
Who is the narrator of The Circuit and what does he strongly want?
Francisco; he wants stability and the chance to attend school/learn where his family follows their migrant work.
Who are the two first-person narrators in the excerpt from Flipped?
Bryce and Juli.
What is the difference between denotation and connotation?
Denotation is the literal/dictionary meaning; connotation is the feeling or association a word carries.
What makes a complete sentence?
It has a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete thought.
What does the C in CER stand for, and what should it do?
Claim; it directly and clearly answers the question.
How does the family's work affect Francisco's education?
The family must move for agricultural work, so Francisco's schooling is repeatedly interrupted.
How does Bryce view Juli during the shared incident?
Answer: He sees her as intrusive/annoying and wants space from her.
Draw a plot diagram and put the five major plot stages in order.
Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
Sentence or fragment: Something in his eyes.
Fragment; it does not express a complete thought.
What is the job of reasoning in CER?
Reasoning explains HOW the evidence proves/supports the claim.
Why is Mr. Lema important to Francisco?
Mr. Lema encourages him, helps him feel successful/belonging at school, and offers to teach him trumpet.
How does Juli interpret the same incident differently?
She sees Bryce positively/romantically and interprets their interaction, including hand-holding, as meaningful and exciting.
What is an inference?
A logical conclusion based on text evidence plus reasoning/what the reader already knows.
When can an intentional fragment be effective in fiction?
To create voice/realistic dialogue, pacing, suspense, humor, or emphasis. Accept any accurate effect.
What is a controlling idea or thesis?
The central idea a response will explain or prove; it should directly answer the prompt.
What inference can you make about Francisco's attitude toward school? Use one story detail.
He values school deeply and sees it as hope/opportunity. Evidence may include his excitement about learning, connection with Mr. Lema, or disappointment when the family must move.
What does the repeated plot event from two narrators show readers about point of view?
The same event can have different meanings depending on who tells it. Point of view shapes interpretation, characterization, tone, and what details readers notice.
What is tone, and what two things can help reveal it?
Tone is the narrator’s/author’s attitude toward the subject. Diction/word choice and specific details/actions can reveal it.
What is the difference between a reflexive and an intensive pronoun?
A reflexive pronoun receives/refers the action back to the subject and is necessary to the meaning; an intensive pronoun adds emphasis and can usually be removed without changing the core meaning.
What makes a text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection meaningful instead of random?
The writer explains HOW the connection deepens understanding of the text, character, conflict, or theme.
Why is the ending of The Circuit especially significant to the unit theme of CHANGE?
Francisco finally feels hope, belonging, and opportunity at school, but the family must move again. The ending shows change can bring hope and loss at the same time and reinforces the repeating 'circuit' of work, moving, and interrupted schooling.
Bryce uses vivid verbs such as barged, shoved, and wedged. Explain how the connotation of those verbs develops his characterization of Juli.
The verbs have forceful/negative connotations, making Juli seem intrusive or overwhelming and revealing Bryce’s irritated attitude toward her.
How does the structure of Flipped affect meaning when the plot restarts from Juli’s point of view?
The repeated structure lets readers compare interpretations of the same event, showing that perspective changes meaning and complicates what readers first believed.
Edit the dialogue: hello I said my name is Janell and name two dialogue rules you used.
“Hello,” I said. “My name is Janell.” Rules may include quotation marks around spoken words, punctuation inside quotation marks, capitalization of spoken words, and correct separation/punctuation of dialogue.
Honors CER: Compare how change affects Francisco in The Circuit and either Bryce or Juli in Flipped. Give a claim, one specific detail from each text, and reasoning.
Answers vary. Full credit requires a defensible comparison claim, one relevant detail from each text, and reasoning explaining how both details support the claim about change.
Exemplar: "
Claim: Change can help people become more mature by forcing them to see situations from a different perspective.
Evidence: In The Circuit, Francisco’s family moves frequently for work, forcing him to leave behind schools and friends. In Flipped, Juli changes her opinion of Bryce after realizing that he is not the person she thought he was.
Reasoning: Both Francisco and Juli experience changes that challenge what they previously believed. These experiences help them understand themselves and other people better, showing that change can lead to personal growth and a new perspective."