Before Unit One -- The Standards (Lit 9)

Let's start this class with something you will be doing in every single unit you complete -- a discussion of the Georgia Performance Standards, and what they actually mean.  Below you can see I have copied one of the standards for American Literature (Lit 11):

ELA9RL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation.

Read it one more time.
I wanted to start with this one since it is one that covers much of what we will do through the course of the class.  Think about what it means.  I realize this is not written in the way we usually talk, so let's work on translating it.

Your task:
Create a post on your blog called "Georgia Performance Standards", and then simply explain what you think the above standards mean.  It should not take you any more than three sentences.  Once you are done, you may want to add why mastering a standard like this is important.

Next:
Take a look at this standard as well:
ELA9RL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to contemporary context or historical background.

Once you have reviewed this one, follow the above directions one more time.  Keep in mind that you are explaining what you think this standard means, and that there are no right and wrong answers at this point.

Once everybody has finished, we will have a brief discussion.