-
Name: _________________________________________________ Period:
___________ Date: _____________________________
Historical Fiction Unit Assessment
Directions: Read each of the questions and passages and decide
on the best answer. For short response questions, you must respond
in complete sentences, unless otherwise stated, for full credit. 1.
What element of a story is especially important in the historical
fiction genre?
A. Fictional characters B. Realistic and historical setting C.
Futuristic and realistic plot D. Fantasy-like conflict
2. What do responsible authors of historical fiction do to
prepare their story?
A. Authors interview readers for inspiration. B. Authors create
inaccurate and implausible settings. C. Authors make up futuristic
time periods. D. Authors research the historical time period
3. What is the authors purpose for writing historical
fiction?
A. To entertain readers with a plausible story about a
historical time period. B. To inform readers about the true events
of a historical time period. C. To retell a persons experience
during a specific time period. D. To teach readers about a
realistic, but fictional event in history.
Read the following excerpt and respond to question 4.
Infection
In the year 2015, President Obama declared martial law when the
infection spread across
the country. My dad was the Surgeon General when the outbreak
happened and grabbed as many vials of medicine that he could to
prevent our family from getting whatever illness killed off 80% of
Americans. Now, hes merely a scavenger, searching for anything that
would help us survive in a lawless, uninhabitable land. Today, my
dad and I are walking through Millennium Park in what used to be
the vibrant Windy CityChicago. From where I stand, I can see the
skyscrapers standing tall, creating deep shadows in the central
part of the city. To the right of me, hedges are un-kept; the
fields are empty. To the left, I can see Soldier Fieldhome of the
Chicago Bears. As we walk through the open space, all I can think
is manwhen civilization reboots itself, this infectionthis
apocalyptic eventits meant for the history books. The future is
sure to learn from its past
_______ / 21
-
Name: _________________________________________________ Period:
___________ Date: _____________________________
4. Does the passage, Infection, reflect the historical fiction
genre? How so, or not so? Explain your response by referring to the
text. (3 points)
Read the following excerpt and respond to question 5-7. From
Fever 1793 by: Laurie Halse Anderson August 16th, 1793:
I sat down at the table. Our kitchen was larger than most, with
an enormous hearth crowded with pots and kettles, and two bake
ovens built into the brickwork beside it. The size of the room did
not match the size of our family. We were only three: Mother,
Grandfather, and me, plus Eliza who worked for us. But the roomy
kitchen could feed one hundred people in a day. My family owned the
Cook Coffeehouse. The soon-to-be famous Cook Coffeehouse,
Grandfather liked to say. My father had built our home and business
after the War for Independence ended in 1783. I was six years old.
The coffeehouse sat just off the corner of Seventh and High
Streets. At first we were lucky if a lost farmer strayed in, but
business improved when President Washington's house was built two
blocks away. Father was a carpenter by trade, and he built us a
sturdy home. The room where we served customers filled most of the
first floor and had four large windows. The kitchen was tucked into
the back, filled with useful shelves and built-in cupboards to
store things. Eliza was the coffeehouse cook. Mother couldn't
prepare a meal fit for pigs. I found this amusing, considering our
last name was Cook. In a manner, though, it was serious. If not for
Eliza's fine foods, and the hungry customers who paid to eat them,
we'd have been in the streets long ago. Mother's family had washed
their hands of her when she ran off to marry a carpenter, a
tradesman (the horror!), when she was but seventeen. So we were
very fond of Eliza. Like most blacks in Philadelphia, Eliza was
free. She said Philadelphia was the best city for freed slaves or
freeborn Africans. The Quakers here didn't hold with slavery and
tried hard to convince others that slavery was against God's
will.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
-
Name: _________________________________________________ Period:
___________ Date: _____________________________
5. Identify selected elements of historical fiction from the
excerpt of Fever 1793 by completing the
chart below. (2 points)
Historical Fiction Element
Identification
Historical Events
One main historical event from the selection is:
_____________________________________________________________________
Real Places
The real place in the selection is:
_____________________________________________________________________
6. Explain how Eliza is a plausible character according to
historical facts from the excerpt. Use textual evidence to support
your response. (2 points)
7. Based on the excerpt, what type of historical background
information or Historical Note
would be most appropriate for readers to read to better
understand the excerpt? A. Information on how to run a coffee
house. B. A WebQuest on immigration to America. C. An article that
discusses mens professions in the late 1700s. D. The relationship
between freed black slaves and whites in the North.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
-
Name: _________________________________________________ Period:
___________ Date: _____________________________
Read the following 2 excerpts and respond to question 8.
The Difficult JourneyHistorical Fiction Excerpt
The wagon train departed bright and early this morning. I was
disappointed that I had to tell my friends goodbye, but I had
chosen to leave Denver. By that point, we had already been
traveling for several long months. I was sorry to leave Denver, but
I heard there was gold in California. It was June when we had first
left Denver and I had made the decision that I would be continuing
onward with the rest of the families on the wagon train. California
Gold RushNonfiction Article
The California Gold Rush (18481855) began on January 24, 1848,
when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in
Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the
Gold Rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii),
and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to the
state in late 1848. All told, the news of gold brought some 300,000
people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad.
Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came
from the east overland on the California Trail and the Gila River
trail.
8. Using the nonfiction excerpt, California Gold Rush, add to
the excerpt of The Difficult Journey
that tells the readers about the narrators decision for why she
would continue on to California. The end of the excerpt has been
provided for you to add onto. (10 points)
Element 3 Advanced 2 On Target 1 Novice 0 Not
Included
Historical Content
The writing: Includes and
references 2 pieces of information from the article.
The writing: Includes and
references 1 piece of information from the article.
The writing: Slightly
references 1 piece of information from the article.
The writing: Does not
include textual support from the article.
Fictional Content
The writing: Continues the
excerpt appropriately and completely, according to the
prompt.
The writing: Continues the
excerpt appropriately according to the prompt.
The writing: Does not
appropriately continue the excerpt according to the prompt.
The writing: Does not
include fictional content, or is completely irrelevant to the
context of the story.
Grammar and Mechanics
The writing: Uses mostly
correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation that moves the reader
easily through the text.
The writing: Includes some
grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, but it does not
impede the understanding of the text.
The writing: Demonstrates
little attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuationerrors
make the text difficult to read.
The writing: Was not
written, or does not show any attention to grammar and
punctuation.
-
Name: _________________________________________________ Period:
___________ Date: _____________________________
It was June when we had first left Denver and I had made the
decision that I would be
continuing onward with the rest of the families on the wagon
train.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
