To successfully complete this assessment, students must consider key aspects of the painting’s reliability and think about other information that could be used to evaluate the reliability of the document. In Question 1, students must identify two reasons why the painting might not be reliable evidence of what happened at the Constitutional Convention. Students should explain why the over 160-year gap in time between when the painting was created and the event depicted might limit its reliability. They should also explain that Congress’s commissioning of the painting to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Constitution may have influenced the scene that Howard Chandler Christy chose to depict. In Question 2, students should identify relevant information that would help them evaluate the reliability of this painting.
Level: Proficient
Question 1: Student identifies two relevant aspects of the background and/or source information and explains why each might call the reliability of the painting into question.
Question 2: Student identifies relevant information to help determine the reliability of the painting.
Level: Emergent
Question 1: Student identifies at one or more relevant aspects of the background and/or source information that might call the reliability of the painting into question but does not provide a complete explanation for one or more of the aspects they identified.
Question 2: Student identifies relevant information but does not fully explain how it would help determine the reliability of the painting.
Level: Basic
Question 1: Student does not identify a relevant aspect of the background and/or source information that might call the reliability of the painting into question.
Question 2: Student does not identify relevant information or does not explain how it would shed light on the reliability of the painting.
