In eighth grade, students grapple with high-quality, complex, nonfiction texts and great works of literature. The focus of informational texts shifts from narrative to expository. Students know how to cite textual evidence supporting an analysis or critique. Students know how to question an author’s assumptions and assess the accuracy of the claims. Eighth grade students read closely and find evidence to use in their own writing; they analyze two or more texts that provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify whether the disagreement is over facts or interpretation. They analyze how point of view can be manipulated to create specific effects such as dramatic irony and investigate how particular passages within a text connect to one another to advance the plot, reveal a character, or highlight an idea. Students have developed a strong vocabulary of academic words which they use to speak and write with more precision. Their writing continues to grow focusing on organizing ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; choosing relevant facts well; and using varied transitions to clarify or show the relationships among elements.