Reread the conversation between Oskar and his mother at the beginning of the excerpt.

As for the bracelet Mom wore to the funeral, what I did was I converted Dad’s last voice message into Morse code, and I used sky-blue beads for silence, maroon beads for breaks between letters, violet beads for breaks between words, and long and short pieces of string between the beads for long and short beeps, which are actually called blips, I think, or something. Dad would have known. It took me nine hours to make, and I had thought about giving it to Sonny, the homeless person who I sometimes see standing outside the Alliance Française, because he puts me in heavy boots, or maybe to Lindy, the neat old woman who volunteers to give tours at the Museum of Natural History, so I could be something special to her, or even just to someone in a wheelchair. But instead I gave it to Mom. She said it was the best gift she’d ever received. I asked her if it was better than the Edible Tsunami, from when I was interested in edible meteorological events. She said, “Different.” I asked her if she was in love with Ron. She said, “Ron is a great person,” which was an answer to a question I didn’t ask. So I asked again. “True or false: you are in love with Ron.” She put her hand with the ring on it in her hair and said, “Oskar, Ron is my friend.” . . . I wanted to tell her she shouldn’t be playing Scrabble yet. Or looking in the mirror. Or turning the stereo any louder than what you needed just to hear it. It wasn’t fair to Dad, and it wasn’t fair to me. But I buried it all inside me. I made her other Morse code jewelry with Dad’s messages—a necklace, an anklet, some dangly earrings, a tiara—but the bracelet was definitely the most beautiful, probably because it was the last, which made it the most precious. “Mom?” “Yes?” “Nothing.”

What do we learn about the relationship between Oskar and his mother in this passage? Write an explanatory response, using specific evidence from the passage to support your ideas.

WRITER’S CHECKLIST: INFORMATIONAL/EXPLANATORY
Be sure to:
• Introduce the topic clearly, provide a focus, and organize information in a way that makes sense.
• Use information from the two passages so that your essay includes important details.
• Develop the topic with facts, definitions, details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
• Identify the passages by title or number when using details or facts directly from the
passages.
• Develop your ideas clearly and use your own words, except when quoting directly from the passages.
• Use appropriate and varied transitions to connect ideas and to clarify the relationship among ideas and concepts.
• Use clear language and vocabulary.
• Establish and maintain a formal style.
• Provide a conclusion that supports the information presented.
• Check your work for correct usage, grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

RACE Method of Organization

R estate the prompt

A nswer the question

C ite evidence from the passage

E xplain HOW and WHY your evidence supports your answer