[Assess students' ability to apply literary devices (dialogue, action, inner thoughts, imagery, foreshadowing) to infer characters' motivations in middle-grade short stories. Use several short, grade-appropriate excerpts and tasks asking students to identify the device(s), cite textual evidence, and write a 2–3 sentence explanation linking the device to the character's motivation; include multiple-choice and short-answer items plus a rubric emphasizing evidence and reasoning.]