Textual Evidence vs. Invented Motive in a Prose Answer
Mr. Teron is marking the 4-mark question on a prescribed Class X Karbi prose lesson. In the lesson, a boy borrows a basket of seed paddy from a neighbour and promises to return double after harvest. Rain ruins half his field, so he returns only the same amount. The neighbour says nothing. The question asks: 'Why does the boy return only the same amount of seed paddy?' One student writes: 'Because he was selfish and wanted to keep the extra for his family. The neighbour was angry but did not speak.' The rubric is: 4 = correct motive plus two textual details; 3 = correct motive plus one detail; 2 = partial or mixed; 1 = fragment; 0 = irrelevant. The teacher must decide whether the accurate detail about the neighbour's silence can lift the answer above 2, and must give feedback that separates textual evidence from invented motive.
1. Using the rubric, assign a score to the student answer and identify which sentences are evidence-based and which are invented.
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Score: 2 marks.
Evidence-based parts: the answer correctly notes that the neighbour 'did not speak,' which is in the text, and it correctly states that the boy returned only the same amount. Those are real details.
Invented parts: 'he was selfish,' 'wanted to keep the extra for his family,' and 'the neighbour was angry.' The text gives a crop failure-rain ruins half the field-so the boy has no surplus to return. 'Selfish' contradicts that stated cause. The neighbour's silence is not labelled anger; the story leaves the neighbour's feeling unstated.
The score is 2, not 3, because 3 requires the correct motive, and this answer has the wrong motive. It is not 1 because it is not a fragment and it does use one accurate detail. The accurate detail about silence cannot lift the answer to 3 on its own, because the central explanation is still wrong.
2. Write the feedback you would give, naming one thing to keep and one thing to change.
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Keep: 'You noticed the neighbour's silence-that is a real detail from the story, and it is worth using.'
Change: 'But the story tells you why the boy returns only the same amount: rain ruins half his field, so he has no extra seed to double. "Selfish" is your idea, not the text's idea. The neighbour's silence is not the same as anger.'
Next step: 'Before you name a motive, underline the sentence that gives the cause. Then write a because-clause that uses that sentence.' This feedback names a strength, corrects the misreading, and gives a transferable procedure rather than just a mark.
3. Draft a 4-mark model answer for the question.
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The boy returns only the same amount because rain ruins half his field, so he has no surplus to return double. The text states that half the field was lost; that is the cause of the shortfall, not selfishness. He still returns the original measure, which shows he keeps the promise as far as he can. The neighbour's silence should be read as restraint or as an unstated reaction, not as anger, because the story does not give the neighbour's thoughts. The answer therefore combines the correct motive (crop failure) with two textual details: the ruined half-field and the returned original measure.