rubric_gradations: 31

This data as json

id	skill_code	dimension	level	level_label	behavioral_description	sample_response	created_at	updated_at	active_version
31	L-FIGURATIVE	performance	3	Proficient	Student interprets figurative language accurately and explains how specific devices create particular effects on meaning or tone. Goes beyond naming the device to articulate the mechanism — what the comparison reveals, why the specific word was chosen over alternatives, how the figurative language connects to the text's larger concerns. Analyzes word choice with attention to connotation and contextual fit, explaining what the author's specific selection achieves that alternatives would not.	The metaphor 'the city gnawed at its own bones' works on several levels. By making the city the agent of its own destruction — it gnaws at itself rather than being destroyed by something external — the poet locates the cause of urban decay inside the city rather than outside it. This isn't a natural disaster or an invading force; it's self-inflicted damage. The word 'bones' is important because bones are structural, foundational — they're what everything else is built around. So the city isn't just losing surface features like paint or windows; it's eating through its own support system. And 'gnawed' rather than 'devoured' or 'consumed' implies a slow, repetitive action — something done compulsively over time rather than in one dramatic moment. That pacing matches the reality of urban decay, which happens gradually enough that people barely notice until the damage is irreversible. The metaphor captures not just destruction but the specific character of it: internal, structural, and slow.	2026-05-24 00:17:32	2026-05-26 01:43:59	1