Passage Excerpt from Winter Wheat
Excerpt from Winter Wheat
by Mildred Walker
Ellen, the narrator, is preparing to leave her parents and the family farm for college the next day.
The text of this excerpt is not reproduced here for copyright reasons. Read it as printed on the test under “The original DOE question” on each question’s page.
From WINTER WHEAT by Mildred Walker, published by University of Nebraska Press. Copyright © 1944 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1971 by Mildred Walker. All rights reserved.
Question
Which sentence from the excerpt provides evidence that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage?
- A“Mom folded the ironing board and put it inside their bedroom that was just off the kitchen.” (paragraph 2)
- B“ ‘There’s no need to go to town; she can catch the train at Gotham just as well.’ ” (paragraph 5)
- C“We’d go in right after dinner and go around to the stores, Dad going one way and Mom and I another.” (paragraph 7)
- D“ ‘Why, Yeléna, you know that; Anna Petrovna.’ ” (paragraph 22)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence from the excerpt provides evidence that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
A. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 2 describes a domestic moment that takes place within the family home, it does not relate to the heritage of either parent and therefore does not provide evidence that her mother wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
B. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 5 provides the name of the train station closest to Ellen’s family’s farm, the train stop at Gotham is not related to the family’s heritage. Therefore, this sentence does not provide clear evidence that her mother wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
C. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 7 describes an aspect of the family dynamic (Ellen predicts that while browsing in stores in town, “Dad [would go] one way and Mom and I another”), their shopping habits do not provide clear evidence that her mother wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
D. CORRECT. In this sentence from paragraph 22, Ellen’s mother addresses her by the Russian version of her name (Yeléna) and repeats her own Russian name (Anna Petrovna). The choice to call her daughter Yeléna instead of Ellen follows immediately after Ellen asks, “Mom, was that really your name—what Dad called you?” (paragraph 21), and the mother’s surprised response provides evidence that she both wants and expects Ellen to understand the family’s Russian heritage.
Question analysis
This evidence question asks which quoted sentence from the Winter Wheat excerpt shows that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage. The four sentences, from paragraphs 2, 5, 7 and 22, all involve Mom, so students must reread each one in its paragraph to see what it really shows about her.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Finding the sentence that supports a stated idea is everyday grade 7 work. The quotations are short and plainly worded and the idea is concrete, so one careful rereading of each in context is enough, a lighter task than usual.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 6, 80 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 83 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Only one of the four sentences touches the family’s origins at all, so a student who knows what heritage means can rule out the others at a glance. The small risk lies with students who match “Mom wants” to any line where Mom states a preference, or who do not recognize the Russian names, since the quotation stops before Mom mentions Russia.
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The quoted line never mentions heritage; students must see that Mom calling Ellen “Yeléna” and repeating “Anna Petrovna,” as things Ellen should already know, shows her wish to pass on their Russian roots. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The names’ Russian origin is clearest outside the quotation, in the rest of paragraph 22, where Mom names her birthplace, and in paragraph 2’s “instead of a Russian.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Define heritage in your own words, then reread each quoted sentence in its paragraph and ask whether it shows Mom handing something about the family on to Ellen.
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
The wrong answers, classified
A True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Picks an everyday moment of Mom putting away the ironing board, perhaps remembering that paragraph 2 also mentions her Russian roots, though this sentence shows only housework.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Matches “Mom wants” to Mom’s spoken preference that Ellen catch the train at Gotham, which backs half the idea, a wish of Mom’s, but concerns travel, not heritage.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Notices Mom and Ellen shopping together in Ellen’s imagined trip to town, a sign of closeness, but going around the stores says nothing about where the family comes from.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which sentence shows that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage. Heritage is the history and traditions a family passes down, such as where it came from. Look for a sentence where Mom shares something about the family’s roots.
Look at the conversation
At the train, Dad called Mom Anna Petrovna, a name Ellen had never heard him use. In paragraph 21, Ellen asks, “Mom, was that really your name—what Dad called you?” In paragraph 22, Mom answers, “Why, Yeléna, you know that; Anna Petrovna.” Then she reminds Ellen that she was born in Russia.
Work out what Mom’s answer shows
Mom calls her daughter Yeléna, the Russian form of Ellen. She repeats her own Russian name. She also says “you know that,” as if Ellen should already know. Mom is surprised that Ellen doesn’t. That shows Mom wants and expects Ellen to know where the family comes from.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Folding the ironing board is housework. It says nothing about the family’s past.
- B does not fit. Mom does want something here, the train at Gotham. But that is about travel, not heritage.
- C does not fit. Shopping in town shows family habits, not family roots.
- D fits. Mom uses Russian names and expects Ellen to know them.
Watch out: B tempts because it shows what Mom wants. But the question asks what she wants Ellen to understand about the family.
Choose the answer
Only one sentence has Mom passing on the family’s Russian roots. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because Mom states a wish in it: Ellen can catch the train at Gotham. But that wish is about the trip, not the family’s past. In D, Mom uses the Russian names Yeléna and Anna Petrovna. She is surprised that Ellen doesn’t know them. That shows she wants Ellen to understand her heritage.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from Winter Wheat” as shown on the test
