Which criterion asks whether the miscue leaves the essential meaning of the sentence intact?

• A. Was the miscue corrected?
• B. Was the miscue graphically similar? (pictures)
• C. Did the miscue leave the essential meaning of the sentence intact?
• D. Did the miscue reflect the speaker's normal patterns?

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is whether a miscue keeps the core meaning of the sentence intact. In miscue analysis, this semantic check asks if, despite decoding mistakes, the overall message the sentence conveys remains the same. If the reader substitutes a word or phrase that still communicates the same idea or gist, that miscue preserves meaning and reflects reliance on meaning cues to make sense of the text.

This is what makes the criterion about meaning preservation the best fit. It’s different from asking whether the miscue was corrected later, or whether the misreading looks visually similar to the printed word, or whether the reader tends to follow their usual patterns. Those other angles address corrections, visual similarity, or reading habits, not whether the essential message survives the miscue.