Cities of Promise and Poverty: A Gilded Age Reading and Comprehension Guide

This resource is a two-page, 12th grade–level informational reading passage titled Cities of Promise and Poverty: Urban Life in the Gilded Age. The text explores the rapid growth of American cities during the late 19th century, highlighting both the opportunities created by industrialization and immigration as well as the challenges of poverty, unsafe working conditions, and inequality.

The passage is accompanied by 10 comprehension questions intentionally aligned to Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Levels 1–3, with a strong emphasis on DOK 2 skills such as summarizing, inferring, comparing, and analyzing cause and effect. Questions assess main idea, vocabulary in context, author’s purpose, and use of text evidence, with higher-order prompts for critical thinking and synthesis.

An answer key is included for teacher use, providing model responses and DOK alignment for each question. The resource is designed for use in classroom instruction, assessment practice, or independent reading, and it can support preparation for state assessments, ACT/SAT, or AP-level skills.