Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Two friends describe last night's basketball game. Kai says, 'We lost 42-40 because the referee made a terrible call in the last minute.' Rosa says, 'We lost 42-38, and honestly, we just missed too many free throws.' List every way their accounts disagree. Which disagreements could the scoreboard settle, and which could it not?"

   Take answers and sort them on the board in two columns. The final score is something the scoreboard or the score sheet could settle: that is a disagreement of fact. Why the team lost cannot be settled by one record; people who saw the same game can still argue about it: that is a disagreement of interpretation. Point out one thing the friends agree on: the team lost. Tell students that RI.8.9 asks them to do this with whole texts, where the conflicts are harder to see.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Teach the terms and leave them on the board:

   • Conflicting information: two texts on the same topic say things that cannot both be true, or they judge the same thing in opposite ways.
   • Matter of fact: a point that a record, count, date, measurement or eyewitness could check, at least in principle. Who, what, when, where, how many.
   • Matter of interpretation: a point about what the facts mean: why something happened, what a person meant to do, or whether something was good or bad. People who agree on every fact can still disagree here.
   • Not a real conflict: two statements that look different but can both be true, for example because they describe different places or times, or because one is simply more exact.
   • Source: where a writer got the information, such as a witness, a document or an earlier book.

   Show Diagram 1 and walk through its three steps with the warm-up examples. Then show Diagram 2, the conflict chart students will use all lesson.

   Introduce the case. George Washington died in 1799. The next year, Mason Locke Weems, a traveling preacher who sold books, published a short life of Washington for ordinary readers and children. In the 1806 edition he added the story in Source 1, and it became one of the best-known stories in American history. In 1889, the historian Henry Cabot Lodge published a two-volume life of Washington; Source 2 is his answer to Weems. Words to know for Source 1: anecdote (a short true-seeming story), communicated (told), indebted (owing thanks), immoderately (much too), pea-sticks (sticks that hold up pea plants), barked (stripped the bark from), the old gentleman (George's father), guineas (British gold coins), in transports (overjoyed) and virtue (goodness). Words to know for Source 2: evolved (here, made up), scintilla (the tiniest bit), the rector of Mount Vernon (a title Weems gave himself on his title page; Lodge shows that no such church position existed), Boswells (writers who record every word someone says, after James Boswell, who did this for Samuel Johnson), stenographic report (a word-for-word record), intrinsically (in itself), the colt incident (a similar story, told by Washington's step-grandson George Washington Parke Custis, about a horse that died while young George rode it), offspring (product), personages (characters), priggish (smugly proper), foibles (small, silly habits) and limbo (a place for forgotten things). Read both sources aloud.

   1The following anecdote is a case in point. It is too valuable to be lost, and too true to be doubted; for it was communicated to me by the same excellent lady to whom I am indebted for the last.

   2"When George," said she, "was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet! of which, like most little boys, he was immoderately fond, and was constantly going about chopping every thing that came in his way. One day, in the garden, where he often amused himself hacking his mother's pea-sticks, he unluckily tried the edge of his hatchet on the body of a beautiful young English cherry-tree, which he barked so terribly, that I don't believe the tree ever got the better of it. The next morning the old gentleman, finding out what had befallen his tree, which, by the by, was a great favourite, came into the house; and with much warmth asked for the mischievous author, declaring at the same time, that he would not have taken five guineas for his tree. Nobody could tell him any thing about it. Presently George and his hatchet made their appearance. "George," said his father, "do you know who killed that beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden?" This was a tough question; and George staggered under it for a moment; but quickly recovered himself: and looking at his father, with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, "I can't tell a lie, Pa; you know I can't tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet."—Run to my arms, you dearest boy, cried his father in transports, run to my arms; glad am I, George, that you killed my tree; for you have paid me for it a thousand fold. Such an act of heroism in my son is more worth than a thousand trees, though blossomed with silver, and their fruits of purest gold."

   3It was in this way by interesting at once both his heart and head, that Mr. Washington conducted George with great ease and pleasure along the happy paths of virtue. [...]

   1Weems, of course, had no difficulty with the public life, but in describing the boyhood he was thrown on his own resources, and out of them he evolved the cherry-tree, the refusal to fight or permit fighting among the boys at school, and the initials in the garden. [...] As to the other two more familiar anecdotes there is not a scintilla of evidence that they had any foundation [...]. Weems says that his stories were told him by a lady, and "a good old gentleman," who remembered the incidents [...]. To a writer who invented the rector of Mount Vernon, the further invention of a couple of Boswells would be a trifle. I say Boswells advisedly, for these stories are told with the utmost minuteness, and the conversations between Washington and his father are given as if from a stenographic report. [...] There can be no doubt that Washington, like most healthy boys, got into a good deal of mischief, and it is not at all impossible that he injured fruit-trees and confessed that he had done so. [...] But this is the utmost credit which these two anecdotes can claim. [...]

   2There is nothing intrinsically impossible in either the cherry-tree or the colt incident, nor would there be in a hundred others which might be readily invented. The real point is that these stories, as told by Weems and Mr. Custis, are on their face hopelessly and ridiculously false. They are so, not merely because they have no vestige of evidence to support them, but because they are in every word and line the offspring of a period more than fifty years later. No English-speaking people, certainly no Virginians, ever thought or behaved or talked in 1740 like the personages in Weems's stories, whatever they may have done in 1790, or at the beginning of the next century. [...]

   3To enter into any serious historical criticism of these stories would be to break a butterfly. So much as this even has been said only because these wretched fables have gone throughout the world, and it is time that they were swept away into the dust-heaps of history. They represent Mr. and Mrs. Washington as affected and priggish people, given to cheap moralizing, and, what is far worse, they have served to place Washington himself in a ridiculous light to an age which has outgrown the educational foibles of seventy-five years ago. [...] Let us therefore consign the Weems stories and their offspring to the limbo of historical rubbish, and try to learn what the plain facts tell us of the boy Washington.

   • Line up: did it happen? (fact)

     What does each source say about whether the cherry-tree event really happened, and on what does each writer base the claim?

     Result: Weems says the story is "too valuable to be lost, and too true to be doubted," because it "was communicated to me by the same excellent lady" who told him an earlier story (Source 1, paragraph 1). Lodge answers that "there is not a scintilla of evidence that they had any foundation" (Source 2, paragraph 1). Whether an event happened is a matter of fact. Notice what each claim rests on: Weems names no one, so his "lady" cannot be checked, and Lodge's point is that nothing else supports her.

   • Line up: what does the story show? (interpretation)

     Suppose the story were true. Would the two writers agree about what it shows?

     Result: No. For Weems, the story shows a heroic boy and a wise father: "Such an act of heroism in my son is more worth than a thousand trees," and the father leads George "along the happy paths of virtue" (Source 1, paragraphs 2-3). For Lodge, stories like it "represent Mr. and Mrs. Washington as affected and priggish people, given to cheap moralizing" (Source 2, paragraph 3). This is a disagreement of interpretation: it is about what the story means, and no record could settle it.

   • Narrow the conflict: where do they actually agree?

     Lodge does not say that Washington never damaged a tree. What does he allow, and how does that change the disagreement?

     Result: Lodge grants that "it is not at all impossible that he injured fruit-trees and confessed that he had done so," and adds, "But this is the utmost credit which these two anecdotes can claim" (Source 2, paragraph 1). So the conflict is narrower than it first looks: the writers disagree about the story as Weems tells it, with its detailed speeches, not about whether a boy could ever have cut a tree and owned up.

   • Look behind: why might the writers differ?

     What does each writer seem to be trying to do, and how might that explain the conflict?

     Result: Weems wrote to teach young readers to be good; his whole paragraph 3 is about how Mr. Washington led his son to virtue "by interesting at once both his heart and head." Lodge wrote as a historian who wants "the plain facts" and says stories like Weems's "have served to place Washington himself in a ridiculous light to an age which has outgrown the educational foibles" of an earlier time (Source 2, paragraph 3). Different purposes, and different ideas of what counts as evidence, help explain why they disagree.

   The routine. Model it with the examples, filling in a copy of Diagram 2: (1) Line up: find a point both texts discuss and write what each says, in quotation marks, side by side; (2) Label: fact, interpretation, or not a real conflict (Diagram 1); (3) Look behind: what is each claim based on, when was each text written, and what was each writer trying to do? Give students a frame: "Source ___ says ___, but Source ___ says ___. This is a disagreement of fact / interpretation because ___."

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read Sources 3 and 4 aloud: a newspaper report and a city newsletter article about the same storm, both invented for this page. Words to know: topples (knocks over), gusts (sudden strong winds), National Weather Service (the United States government's weather agency), forester (a person trained to care for trees), decay (rot), pruning (cutting off some branches) and act of nature (an event no one caused or could prevent). Pairs highlight each point the sources share in one color and each point where they differ in the other, then fill in Diagram 2 and answer the three prompts below. Teacher notes:

   1PINE HOLLOW, Wednesday. The giant white oak that has shaded the Pine Hollow Public Library for about 200 years crashed onto the library's roof during Tuesday night's storm. The tree came down at about 9:40 p.m., when the National Weather Service measured wind gusts of 60 miles per hour at the county airport.

   2No one was inside the building, and no one was hurt. But the falling trunk punched a hole in the roof of the children's reading room, and rain soaked about 300 picture books.

   3Library director Ana Ruiz said the damage did not have to happen. "In 2023 we asked the city to inspect that tree because big branches kept dropping," she said. "The inspector's report said the trunk was hollow at the base. The city never removed it."

   4City officials did not answer our phone calls on Wednesday.

   5The library will stay closed until the roof is repaired, which Ms. Ruiz expects will take at least a month. Neighbors gathered on Wednesday morning to look at the broken trunk. "It is sad," said one. "That oak was older than the town."

   1Pine Hollow crews worked through the night after a sudden storm swept through town on Tuesday. Wind gusts reached 75 miles per hour, according to the city's own weather station on the roof of City Hall.

   2At about 10:15 p.m., the storm brought down the 150-year-old oak beside the public library. The tree fell across Main Street, and one large branch struck the library's roof. Crews had the street open again by 6 a.m. No injuries were reported.

   3Some residents have asked whether the city should have removed the tree. City forester Dale Moss said the oak was inspected in 2023 and "showed some decay at the base, but was judged safe to keep with pruning." The city pruned the tree in the spring of 2024. "No inspection can predict a gust like Tuesday's," Moss said. "This was an act of nature."

   4The library is expected to reopen in about two weeks. The city thanks everyone who helped clear branches from their neighborhoods.

   1. Line up the time and the wind. What does each source say, and are these real conflicts? Teacher note: Source 3 says "The tree came down at about 9:40 p.m."; Source 4 says 10:15 p.m., 35 minutes later. That is a disagreement of fact that a call log, a photo or a power-company record could settle. The wind is trickier: Source 3 reports 60 miles per hour "at the county airport," and Source 4 reports 75 "according to the city's own weather station on the roof of City Hall." Two stations in different places can record different gusts, so both numbers may be true: this may not be a real conflict.
   2. Line up the inspection. Both sources say the tree was inspected in 2023. What does each say the inspection found? Teacher note: Ms. Ruiz says "The inspector's report said the trunk was hollow at the base"; Mr. Moss says it "showed some decay at the base, but was judged safe to keep with pruning." This is a disagreement of fact about what one document says, and reading the 2023 report would settle it. Ask students to notice that each speaker has a reason to describe the report in a certain way.
   3. Find the interpretation. Where do the sources disagree about what the event means? Teacher note: Ms. Ruiz "said the damage did not have to happen" and blames the city for not removing the tree; Mr. Moss says "This was an act of nature." Whether the fall was preventable, and whose fault it was, is a disagreement of interpretation: even with every fact settled, people could still argue about it.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student reads Sources 5 and 6 alone and fills in a fresh conflict chart with at least four rows before starting the quiz. Context: in July of 64 CE, a fire burned much of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, while Nero was emperor. Two Roman historians wrote about it more than fifty years later: Tacitus in his Annals, and Suetonius in his lives of the emperors. Both wrote in Latin; these are English translations. Words to know for Source 5: treacherously contrived (secretly planned), the circus (the Circus Maximus, Rome's huge chariot-racing track), the Palatine and Cælian hills (two of Rome's hills), inflammable wares (goods that burn easily), conflagration (a huge fire), incessant menaces (constant threats), brands (burning sticks), Antium (a seaside town south of Rome, today's Anzio), the gardens of Mæcenas (a famous park in Rome), the Campus Martius (a large open area of the city), destitute (having lost everything), Ostia (Rome's port), corn (grain), sesterces (Roman coins), peck (a measure of grain), the destruction of Troy (the fall of an ancient city in Greek legend), infamy (disgrace) and the Æmilian property of Tigellinus (land owned by Tigellinus, a powerful friend of Nero). Words to know for Source 6: of consular rank (among Rome's highest officials), tow (loose fibers used to start fires), durst not meddle (did not dare to interfere), his Golden House (the huge palace Nero built after the fire; Suetonius uses its later name), granaries (grain storehouses), coveted (wanted), spoils of war (treasures taken in battle), the Punic and Gallic wars (Rome's old wars against Carthage and the Gauls), rapine (robbery) and exacted contributions (demanded money). Questions 10-15 and 17-20 of the quiz use these sources.

   1A disaster followed, whether accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor, is uncertain, as authors have given both accounts, worse, however, and more dreadful than any which have ever happened to this city by the violence of fire. It had its beginning in that part of the circus which adjoins the Palatine and Cælian hills, where, amid the shops containing inflammable wares, the conflagration both broke out and instantly became so fierce and so rapid from the wind that it seized in its grasp the entire length of the circus. [...] And no one dared to stop the mischief, because of incessant menaces from a number of persons who forbade the extinguishing of the flames, because again others openly hurled brands, and kept shouting that there was one who gave them authority, either seeking to plunder more freely, or obeying orders.

   2Nero at this time was at Antium, and did not return to Rome until the fire approached his house, which he had built to connect the palace with the gardens of Mæcenas. It could not, however, be stopped from devouring the palace, the house, and everything around it. However, to relieve the people, driven out homeless as they were, he threw open to them the Campus Martius and the public buildings of Agrippa, and even his own gardens, and raised temporary structures to receive the destitute multitude. Supplies of food were brought up from Ostia and the neighbouring towns, and the price of corn was reduced to three sesterces a peck. These acts, though popular, produced no effect, since a rumour had gone forth everywhere that, at the very time when the city was in flames, the emperor appeared on a private stage and sang of the destruction of Troy, comparing present misfortunes with the calamities of antiquity.

   3At last, after five days, an end was put to the conflagration at the foot of the Esquiline hill, by the destruction of all buildings on a vast space, so that the violence of the fire was met by clear ground and an open sky. But before people had laid aside their fears, the flames returned, with no less fury this second time, and especially in the spacious districts of the city. [...] And to this conflagration there attached the greater infamy because it broke out on the Æmilian property of Tigellinus, and it seemed that Nero was aiming at the glory of founding a new city and calling it by his name. [...]

   1He spared, moreover, neither the people of Rome, nor the capital of his country. Somebody in conversation saying-- [...] When I am dead let fire devour the world-- "Nay," said he, "let it be while I am living" [...]. And he acted accordingly: for, pretending to be disgusted with the old buildings, and the narrow and winding streets, he set the city on fire so openly, that many of consular rank caught his own household servants on their property with tow, and torches in their hands, but durst not meddle with them.

   2There being near his Golden House some granaries, the site of which he exceedingly coveted, they were battered as if with machines of war, and set on fire, the walls being built of stone. During six days and seven nights this terrible devastation continued, the people being obliged to fly to the tombs and monuments for lodging and shelter. Meanwhile, a vast number of stately buildings, the houses of generals celebrated in former times, and even then still decorated with the spoils of war, were laid in ashes; as well as the temples of the gods, which had been vowed and dedicated by the kings of Rome, and afterwards in the Punic and Gallic wars: in short, everything that was remarkable and worthy to be seen which time had spared.

   3This fire he beheld from a tower in the house of Mecaenas, and "being greatly delighted," as he said, "with the beautiful effects of the conflagration," he sung a poem on the ruin of Troy, in the tragic dress he used on the stage. To turn this calamity to his own advantage by plunder and rapine, he promised to remove the bodies of those who had perished in the fire, and clear the rubbish at his own expense; suffering no one to meddle with the remains of their property. But he not only received, but exacted contributions on account of the loss, until he had exhausted the means both of the provinces and private persons.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) In one sentence each, explain the difference between a disagreement of fact and a disagreement of interpretation. (2) Write two short statements about the same school event that look different but can both be true, and explain why.

   Teacher note on the sources and the history. Sources 1, 2, 5 and 6 are printed exactly as published, with their older spellings ("favourite," "rumour," "sung" for sang, "Mecaenas" in Source 6). Historians have found no evidence for the cherry-tree story beyond Weems's word, and it is now usually treated as a legend; in a part of Lodge's paragraph left out here, he also rejects another Weems story as borrowed from an English book. Lodge's essay makes strong claims too: in a sentence cut from paragraph 3, he writes that Washington "was never for an instant ridiculous or affected," a judgment no record could prove, so students may notice that the historian also interprets. The fire at Rome began in July of 64 CE near the Circus Maximus. Tacitus was a boy at the time and Suetonius was born a few years later, so neither saw it. The saying that Nero "fiddled while Rome burned" comes much later: the violin was not invented until the 1500s, and historians still debate whether Nero had anything to do with the fire. Source 6 mentions the bodies of people who died in the fire, and Source 5 describes the city in flames; there are no graphic details. Sources 3, 4, 7 and 8, Pine Hollow, Ridgeview Middle School and everyone named in them are invented.

   For homework: students read Sources 7 and 8, printed below: an article from a school newspaper and a parent's letter to the school district's newsletter, both invented for this page, about a school that moved its start time later. Words to know: first bell (the start of the school day), attendance office (the office that records who is absent or late), survey (a set of questions asked of many people), lunch detention (a punishment served during lunch) and costs (here, the problems a change causes, not only money).

   1This fall, Ridgeview Middle School moved its first bell from 7:50 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Eight weeks in, the change is working.

   2According to the attendance office, students were late to first period 412 times in September and October of last year. This year, in the same two months, the number dropped to 188. That is a drop of more than half.

   3Students say they feel the difference. In a survey our newspaper gave to 120 students in the cafeteria, 97 said they were getting more sleep. "I'm actually awake in math now," said eighth grader Jordan Pike.

   4Principal Karen Liu said the later start was chosen after a year of meetings with families. "Sleep matters for learning," she said. "We are proud of this change."

   5A few parents have complained about later bus times, but most families seem to have adjusted. The later start is clearly one of the best decisions Ridgeview has made.

   1To the Editor: The student newspaper at Ridgeview Middle School says the new 8:30 start is a success. As a parent of two Ridgeview students, I am not so sure.

   2The paper reports that late arrivals fell from 412 to 188. But the district's own attendance report, posted online, lists 305 late arrivals for September and October this year, not 188. The report also notes that Ridgeview began a new rule this fall: three late arrivals mean a lunch detention. That rule, not extra sleep, may explain much of the drop.

   3The later start has costs, too. The last bus now leaves at 4:10 p.m., and soccer practice ends after dark in November. My older child now gets home after 6:00 p.m. and starts homework later than before.

   4I am not asking the school to go back to 7:50. I am asking it to look at all the facts, including the costs, before it calls the change a success.

   5T. Okafor, Ridgeview parent

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Two reports describe the same town parade. Report A: "About 2,000 people lined Center Street." Report B: "The parade drew a crowd of about 800." What kind of disagreement is this?

   AA disagreement of interpretation, because the writers have different feelings about parades BA disagreement of fact, because a count or a photo of the crowd could settle it CNot a real conflict, because both numbers describe the same crowd on the same street DNot a disagreement at all, because both reports agree that the parade took place

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Review A says a new skate park is "the best thing to happen to our town in years." Review B says it is "a waste of money that belonged in the library budget." Where do the two reviews disagree?

   AOn a matter of fact: when the skate park first opened to the public BOn a matter of fact: how many people have used the park so far this year CThey do not disagree, because both reviews are about the skate park DOn a matter of interpretation: whether the park was a good use of money

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   One history book says a bridge opened "in the spring of 1883." Another says it opened "on May 24, 1883." How should a careful reader label these two statements?

   ANot a real conflict: May 24 is in the spring, so both can be true BA disagreement of fact about the year the bridge opened CA disagreement of interpretation about why the bridge was built DA disagreement of fact, because one date is more exact than the other

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Lodge argues that Weems's stories are false "because they are in every word and line the offspring of a period more than fifty years later" (Source 2, paragraph 2). What kind of evidence is Lodge using against Weems?

   AA letter from Washington's father saying the cherry tree was never harmed BAn eyewitness who was in the garden and saw what really happened CThe way the people in the story talk, which he says does not fit the 1740s DA record showing that the Washington family never owned any cherry trees

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Weems says the story "was communicated to me by the same excellent lady to whom I am indebted for the last" (Source 1, paragraph 1). Why does Lodge think the long conversations between George and his father are a warning sign?

   AThey are too exact: a remembered story would not give every word as if someone had written it down BThey are too short: a real witness would have described the garden and the tree in more detail CThey contradict each other: the father says the tree was worth five guineas and then a thousand trees DThey are written in Latin, which Washington's family did not speak at home in Virginia

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Weems calls the cherry-tree story "too valuable to be lost" (Source 1, paragraph 1). Lodge calls the Weems stories "these wretched fables" and says "it is time that they were swept away into the dust-heaps of history" (Source 2, paragraph 3). What do these statements disagree about?

   AA matter of fact: the year in which Weems first printed the story BA matter of fact: the name of the lady who first told Weems the cherry-tree story CNothing, because both writers agree that the story is well known DA matter of interpretation: whether the story is worth keeping and retelling

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How do Sources 3 and 4 disagree about the age of the oak?

   AThey agree: both sources say the tree was about 150 years old when it fell BSource 3 says about 200 years and Source 4 says 150, a disagreement of fact CSource 3 says 150 years and Source 4 says about 200, a disagreement of interpretation DNeither source gives the age of the tree, so there is no disagreement to find

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What do the two sources say about the damage to the library?

   ABoth say the trunk fell straight through the roof of the children's reading room and into the books BBoth say the library was not damaged at all, only Main Street CSource 3: the trunk broke through the roof; Source 4: one branch struck the roof DSource 4 says the damage was worse than Source 3 does, with about 300 picture books soaked by rain

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 3 says the library will be closed "at least a month"; Source 4 says it "is expected to reopen in about two weeks." Which statement about this difference is most accurate?

   ABoth are predictions, so they disagree about the future; only time will show which is right BIt is a disagreement about a past fact that a weather record can settle today CIt is not a disagreement, because a month and two weeks are the same length of time DIt shows that both newspapers made an arithmetic mistake about the calendar

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Where was Nero when Rome was burning, according to each source?

    ABoth say he was at Antium for the whole fire and never saw it BBoth say he watched the fire from a tower in the house of Mecaenas CTacitus says he sang on a private stage in Antium; Suetonius says he sang in the Circus Maximus DTacitus: at Antium until the fire neared his house; Suetonius: watching from a tower in Rome

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How do the two historians treat the question of who started the fire?

    ABoth say plainly that Nero set the fire himself, and both give exactly the same evidence for it BTacitus says the cause is uncertain; Suetonius says Nero set the city on fire openly CTacitus says Nero set the fire; Suetonius says it began by accident in the shops DNeither historian mentions how the fire began or who might have been to blame

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Both sources mention Nero singing about the fall of Troy. How do they differ on this point?

    AThey do not differ: both present the singing as a proven fact BTacitus says he sang about Troy; Suetonius says he sang about Rome CTacitus reports it as a rumor; Suetonius states it as fact and adds that Nero was delighted DSuetonius reports it only as a rumor; Tacitus states it as fact and quotes the words of the song

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    What does each source say Nero did for the people after the fire?

    ATacitus lists shelters and cheap grain; Suetonius says the cleanup offer was a way to plunder BBoth say Nero did nothing to help and left the city at once CTacitus says Nero drained the provinces of money; Suetonius says the emperor handed out free food DBoth give the same list: shelters, food from Ostia and grain at three sesterces

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Tacitus says the fire ended "after five days" and then "the flames returned" (Source 5, paragraph 3). Suetonius says it lasted "six days and seven nights" (Source 6, paragraph 2). What is the best way to describe this difference?

    AA major disagreement of interpretation about whether Nero was to blame BProof that one of the two historians invented the whole fire CA disagreement of fact about the season of the year in which the fire first broke out in the city DA small difference that may not be a real conflict, since Tacitus says the fire started again

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which pair shows the two historians disagreeing on a matter of interpretation: why something happened or what it meant?

    ATacitus says the fire began in the circus; Suetonius says it burned the temples of the gods and the old houses BSuetonius says Nero wanted the land; Tacitus says only that it "seemed" he wanted a new city CTacitus says grain was cheap; Suetonius says the people slept in the tombs DTacitus names Antium; Suetonius names the house of Mecaenas

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Name two points on which Sources 3 and 4 agree. Then explain why noticing agreement matters when you analyze two texts that conflict.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Tacitus writes that people who tried to stop the fire faced threats from "a number of persons" who "openly hurled brands, and kept shouting that there was one who gave them authority, either seeking to plunder more freely, or obeying orders" (Source 5, paragraph 1). Compare this with what Suetonius says about the people carrying torches (Source 6, paragraph 1). Where do the two sources disagree, and is it a matter of fact or interpretation?

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Tacitus writes that the cause of the fire "is uncertain, as authors have given both accounts" (Source 5, paragraph 1). What does this sentence tell you about the sources Tacitus himself used? Why does it matter when you compare him with Suetonius?

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Using Sources 5 and 6, explain why the two historians might describe Nero differently. Point to at least one word or phrase that shows each writer's attitude.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write a paragraph of 5-7 sentences analyzing the case of the fire at Rome. Identify at least two places where Sources 5 and 6 disagree on matters of fact and one where they disagree on interpretation, and say what kind of evidence, if any, could settle each one.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RI.8.9: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.