Narrative Writing Task Flashcards
7 cards from real NJSLA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Narrative Writing Task flashcards as text
A student wants to show rather than tell that her character is nervous before a big game. Which sentence best achieves this?
Answer: She kept bouncing her knee and checking the clock every few seconds.
Showing nervousness through specific physical actions (bouncing knee, checking clock) is more vivid than simply stating the emotion.
In a narrative, what is the primary purpose of rising action?
Answer: To build tension and develop complications that lead to the climax.
Rising action builds suspense and intensifies conflict, driving the story toward its climax.
Which transition word would best signal a shift to a different time period in a personal narrative?
Answer: Meanwhile
'Meanwhile' indicates a simultaneous or shifted time frame, making it ideal for moving between time periods in a narrative.
A writer ends every paragraph with the same character 'learning a lesson.' What is the main weakness of this approach?
Answer: It feels repetitive and makes the narrative's theme too heavy-handed.
Repeating explicit lesson statements throughout a narrative becomes monotonous and reduces the impact of the story's theme.
Which narrative technique is used in the sentence: 'The old house groaned as the storm approached, as if warning them to leave'?
Answer: Personification
Giving the house human qualities (groaning, warning) is personification, a figurative language technique common in narrative writing.
When writing an NJSLA narrative based on a provided stimulus text, what should a student do first?
Answer: Read the stimulus carefully and identify key characters, events, and themes.
Careful reading of the stimulus is essential so the narrative response accurately reflects and extends the provided material.
A narrative has an exciting climax but ends abruptly with 'And then everything was fine.' What is the main problem with this conclusion?
Answer: It fails to show how the character changed or resolve the conflict satisfactorily.
An abrupt, vague ending does not demonstrate the character's growth or tie up the story's conflict in a meaningful way.