Post date: May 02, 2017 2:30:8 PM
Here are a few quick tips for the narrative portion of the EOC, in which you will be asked to write part of a brief story based on a text provided for you:
Be sure to use the text you're given as a jumping-off point and basis for your narrative, but don't rely on its wording TOO heavily.
Like all good narratives, try to have a beginning, middle, and end--even in the short space and time you'll have for this.
Try to include imagery--words and phrases that will appeal to the readers' senses
Try to include dialogue, even if it's just internal dialogue--the character's thoughts or a conversation in his or her head.
Speaking of dialogue, be sure to start indent each time the speaker changes. Dialogue should look like this excerpt from Of Mice and Men:
George said, "I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead."
Lennie spoke craftily, "Tell me- like you done before."
"Tell you what?"
"About the rabbits."
George snapped, "You ain't gonna put nothing over on me."
Lennie pleaded, "Come on, George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you done before."
Notice that the punctuation for dialogue goes inside the quotation marks. If you use a phrase like "he said" or "she suggested," be sure to set those off with a comma, like you see above, and to follow it with a period if it's at the end of a sentence.
Finally, here is the description of a high-scoring narrative from the state's rubric for grading narratives:
The student’s response is a well-developed narrative that fully develops a real or imagined experience based on a text as a stimulus. The narrative
Effectively establishes a situation, one or more points of view, and introduces a narrator and/or characters
Creates a smooth progression of events
Effectively uses multiple narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, pacing, reflection, and plot to develop rich, interesting experiences, events, and/or characters
Uses a variety of techniques consistently to sequence events that build on one another
Uses precise words and phrases, details, and sensory language consistently to convey a vivid picture of the events
Provides a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events
Integrates ideas and details from source material effectively
Has very few or no errors in usage and/or conventions that interfere with meaning
I've attached a top-scoring sample paper below as an example. It's based on the Susan B. Anthony speech and is meant to provide an introduction to a narrative about her giving a speech.