1. Desert Tortoise in the Rain
SCORING:
Desert Tortoise in the Rain
By Joseph Bruchac

2. Desert Tortoise
in the Rain
By Joseph Bruchac

3. 18 What is the main conflict in the poem?
Grade: HS
Strand and Target:
LA05
Key: C
18 What is the main conflict in the poem?
A. A tortoise emerges from hibernation.
B. A tortoise demonstrates curiosity.
C. A tortoise seeks his former home.
D. A tortoise lives near the ocean.

4. Grade: HS
Strand and Target:
LT10
Key: D
19 Based on the information in the poem, what conclusion can be drawn about
the tortoise?
A. He is clumsy.
B. He is injured.
C. He is unhappy.
D. He is persistent.

5. 20 Which sentence best summarizes the fifth stanza of the poem?
Grade: HS
Strand and Target:
LC02
Key: D
20 Which sentence best summarizes the fifth stanza of the poem?
A. The desert tortoise drinks the cool raindrops.
B. A bird sings in the branches of a beautiful tree.
C. A house and fence burn down to the scorched ground.
D. The desert tortoise starts his long journey back to the desert.

6. Grade: HS
Strand and Target:
LA06
Key: A
21 According to the poem, which sentence tells how the tortoise is different
after the fire?
A. He is free to return home.
B. He is sick from too much ash.
C. He is sad that the house is gone.
D. He is moved by the mountain view.

7. Grade: HS
Strand and Target:
LA04
Key: B
22 What is the meaning of the phrase “the chirr of a wren” in the third stanza
of the poem?
A. The sight of a bird
B. The sound of a bird
C. The silence of a bird
D. The movement of a bird

8. Grade: HS Strand and Target: LC03
23 Why does the tortoise “begin his trek back toward the Mohave”? Include
two details from the poem in your answer.
______________________________________________________________
Grade: HS
Strand and Target:
LC03

9. 2
A 2-point response provides two text-based details to show why the tortoise begins his trek back toward the Mohave.
Example: The tortoise begins his trek back to the Mohave because the house where he lived was washed away by fire and he is going back to be with his kind. 1
A 1-point response provides one text-based detail that shows why the tortoise begins his trek back toward the Mohave.
Text-based details may include, but are not limited to:
The earth-dug bed beneath the porch steps is all that remains of a house washed away by fire (home burned down)
The backyard fence which once kept him from the sight of ocean or winding canyon, has also been returned to ash
He turns his gaze away from the sea below
Where human hands a decade ago picked him up to carry him here
Away from his own kind
As I watch him move with what some call patience it seems that words can barely express what the tortoise knows
The tortoise knows of the rain and the fire here at the fenced-in edge of a continent where our human desires have come again to nothingness

10. “begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
23 Why does the tortoise “begin his trek back toward the Mohave”? Include
two details from the poem in your answer. 2
This response includes at least two details from the poem to explain why the tortoise
“begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
E. …so he is coming back to his own kind.
D. …”back to the Mohave where human hands a decade ago picked him up
to carry him here.”
E. …away from his own kind.”
A. …he goes because the house is burned down.
A. “all that remains of the house washed away by fire.”

11. “begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
23 Why does the tortoise “begin his trek back toward the Mohave”? Include
two details from the poem in your answer. 2
This response includes at least two details from the poem to explain why the tortoise
“begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
B. …”The backyard fence, which once kept him from the sight of the
ocean or winding canyon,”…
E. …”toward the Mohave…his own kind,”…
D. …he was once taken away to where he didn’t belong…

12. “begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
23 Why does the tortoise “begin his trek back toward the Mohave”? Include
two details from the poem in your answer. 1
This response includes one detail from the poem to explain why the tortoise
“begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
D. Where human hands a decade ago, picked him up to carry him here.

13. “begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
23 Why does the tortoise “begin his trek back toward the Mohave”? Include
two details from the poem in your answer. 1
This response includes one detail from the poem to explain why the tortoise
“begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
E. …he wants to go back to his own kind…

14. “begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”
23 Why does the tortoise “begin his trek back toward the Mohave”? Include
two details from the poem in your answer.
This response includes no details from the poem to explain why the tortoise
“begins his trek back toward the Mohave.”