Arizona Standards
Arizona Grades 11–12 ELA Standards
All 41 Arizona English language arts standards for grades 11–12, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Arizona Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
41 standards
Reading Standards for Literature
9 standards11-12.RL.1
Quote the strongest lines from a novel, play or poem to back a reading of it, including a point it only implies, and say where the text leaves a question open.
11-12.RL.2
Trace two or more themes through a novel or play, show how they feed into each other to make a richer story, and sum it up without taking sides.
11-12.RL.3
Analyze how an author's choices in building and linking the parts of a story or play, like setting, plot order and characters, affect the work.
11-12.RL.4
Interpret figurative and connotative meanings in literature and analyze how an author's particular word choices shape meaning and tone.
11-12.RL.5
Analyze how an author's structural choices for parts of a text, like where a story starts or how it ends, shape its overall design, meaning and artistic effect.
11-12.RL.6
Across many genres, analyze how the narrator's point of view affects what a text says outright and what it only suggests.
11-12.RL.7
Compare several versions of a story, play or poem, like a stage production and a film, judging how each one interprets the original.
11-12.RL.9
Analyze how two or more texts from many different eras handle similar themes or topics, like coming of age in a 19th-century novel and a modern one.
11-12.RL.10
By the close of each year, independently and skillfully read and understand stories, plays and poems at the eleventh- and then twelfth-grade level.
Reading Standards for Informational Text
10 standards11-12.RI.1
Quote the strongest lines from a novel, play or poem to back a reading of it, including a point it only implies, and say where the text leaves a question open.
11-12.RI.2
Trace how two or more central ideas grow and interact across a text, and use that to write a complex analysis or an objective summary.
11-12.RI.3
Explain how the people, ideas and events in a complex nonfiction account interact and develop from its opening to its close.
11-12.RI.4
Interpret figurative, connotative and technical wording in nonfiction, and analyze how an author develops and sharpens a key term's meaning across a text.
11-12.RI.5
Analyze and judge how well an author's structure and text features, like headings, sidebars or sections, work in a nonfiction piece.
11-12.RI.6
Identify an author's viewpoint or purpose in a strongly persuasive text and analyze how its style and content make it work so well.
11-12.RI.7
Combine and weigh information from print, charts, data and other media to answer a question or solve a problem.
11-12.RI.8
Lay out and judge how persuasive the reasoning, premises, purpose and argument are in landmark U.S. and world texts, like a famous inaugural address.
11-12.RI.9
Analyze the themes, purposes and persuasive techniques of founding U.S. and world documents, like the Declaration of Independence or the Magna Carta.
11-12.RI.10
By the close of each year, independently and skillfully read and understand nonfiction and informational texts at the eleventh- and then twelfth-grade level.
Writing Standards
10 standards11-12.W.1
Argue a substantive topic or text in writing with a precise claim, a counterclaim weighed for its strengths and limits, linked sections, a formal tone and a close.
11-12.W.2
Explain a complex topic in writing, sorting ideas to show connections, adding headings or figures where they help, using precise terms, and closing on why it matters.
11-12.W.3
Write a story that opens on a problem, sets up a narrator and point of view, weaves dialogue, pacing and more than one plot line, and closes with a reflection.
11-12.W.4
Match how a piece of writing is developed, organized and styled to its task, its purpose and the people who will read it.
11-12.W.5
Strengthen their writing through planning, revision, editing, rewriting or a fresh approach, keeping the focus on what counts most for the purpose and audience.
11-12.W.6
Publish writing online and keep updating it as feedback, new arguments or new information come in, on your own or with a group.
11-12.W.7
Run short and longer research projects on a question you pose or are given, narrowing or widening it as needed and weaving several sources into one account.
11-12.W.8
Search print and online sources with advanced queries, weigh each one's strengths and limits, quote them without leaning on any one, and cite in a standard format.
11-12.W.9
Use evidence from stories and informational texts in writing, like details that show a character in depth or the reasons an author gives for a point.
11-12.W.10
Write regularly for many tasks, purposes and audiences, from a research paper drafted and revised over weeks to a response finished in a single sitting or a day or two.
Speaking and Listening Standards
6 standards11-12.SL.1
Lead and join discussions on grades 11-12 topics, prepared with research, keeping the exchange civil, airing every position, and deciding what still needs research.
11-12.SL.2
Combine information from many media sources to make informed decisions and propose solutions, judging each source's reliability and noting where they disagree.
11-12.SL.3
Judge a speaker's viewpoint, logic, evidence and rhetoric by weighing their stance, assumptions, connected ideas, word choice, emphasis and tone.
11-12.SL.4
Present findings and evidence in a well-organized, developed way that fits the purpose and audience, so listeners can follow the reasoning, message and other viewpoints.
11-12.SL.5
Choose digital media like video clips, graphics or audio with purpose in presentations to clarify findings and evidence and hold the audience's attention.
11-12.SL.6
Show a strong command of formal English and adjust their speaking to many situations and tasks, like a senior project defense or a college interview.
Language Standards
6 standards11-12.L.1
Print many letters, use everyday nouns, verbs and little words like in and on, make plurals like dogs and wishes, ask with who and where, and speak in full sentences.
11-12.L.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
11-12.L.3
Notice how language works differently in a lab report, a poem and a speech, and write and edit to a style manual such as the MLA Handbook when the task calls for one.
11-12.L.4
Work out an unfamiliar grades 11-12 word from context, word families like conceive, conception and conceivable, or a specialized reference, then verify the guess.
11-12.L.5
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
11-12.L.6
Build and use the academic and subject-specific vocabulary needed for college and career reading and writing, looking up on your own any word that matters to an idea.
The official Arizona documents
- Arizona English Language Arts Standards: 11-12th Grade · adopted December 2016 · since 2018-19
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Arizona's standards, not the official wording, which Arizona Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.