Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

Just like in seventh grade, students have to see how points supporting the central idea add to the central idea, and why the author might have introduced those supporting points in the order they appear in the text. However, because students are now in eighth grade, expect their quality of responses to be higher.

For example, if a question asks how the author develops the central idea that a swallow might be able to carry a coconut from the Tropics, this could be a sample answer: "The author develops the central idea by first proving that a European swallow doesn't have the airspeed velocity required to carry a coconut, then by proving that an African swallow could technically do it (but is non-migratory), and finally by showing that two swallows could technically carry a coconut together."