Which task assesses students' ability to cite textual evidence effectively?

Citing textual evidence effectively involves analyzing a text to support claims, interpretations, or inferences with specific references to the text itself. Describing the inference process requires students to engage deeply with the text, thinking critically about how they derive conclusions. This process inherently demands that students cite textual evidence to substantiate their reasoning, demonstrating their understanding of the material.

In contrast, summarizing the entire text presents a broader view but does not focus specifically on providing evidence for any particular claim or interpretation. Creating visual summaries, while useful for comprehension, does not require textual citations and instead emphasizes representation and synthesis. Similarly, writing a summary of characters involves recounting information about the characters without necessarily engaging with textual evidence to support broader claims or insights. Thus, the task that most directly involves the ability to cite evidence is the one that focuses on the inference process.