The Narrative Writing Task on LEAP English I and II: reading a stimulus text and writing an original narrative connected to it (a continuation, a new point of view, or a narrative reflecting its theme), using effective narrative technique, a well-structured sequence of events, and precise detail, scored on the narrative Written Expression dimension plus Knowledge of Language and Conventions.

What this skill is asking

The Narrative Writing Task (NWT) is one of the two possible second prose constructed responses on LEAP English I and II (the other being the Literary Analysis Task), and it is different in kind from the analytic tasks: instead of analyzing a text, you write one. You read a stimulus text and write an original narrative connected to it, for example a continuation of a story, a retelling from a different point of view, or a narrative that reflects the stimulus's theme. It has its own rubric: the Written Expression dimension (a holistic 0 to 4, weighted times 3, up to 12 points) plus Knowledge of Language and Conventions (0 to 3), for up to 15 points. This page covers reading the stimulus, developing an original narrative, and using narrative technique. The transferable skill is crafting a coherent, well-told story under time, grounded in a given starting point.

Reading the stimulus and planning the narrative

A narrative task still begins with reading.

Reading the stimulus carefully tells you what to stay consistent with, the characters, the setting, the tone, and what the prompt wants you to do with it. Planning a brief arc before writing, a situation, a complication, and a resolution, keeps the narrative coherent under time pressure. This task draws on the literary-reading module in reverse: the elements you analyze in a story (character, point of view, plot, structure) are the elements you now create. Understanding point of view, for instance, is essential when the prompt asks you to write from a different character's perspective.

Writing with narrative technique

The score lives in the craft.

This rubric is the key difference from the analytic tasks: where the Literary Analysis and Research Simulation tasks reward a text-based claim and explained evidence, the Narrative Writing Task rewards storytelling craft. Both rubrics share the Knowledge of Language and Conventions dimension (0 to 3), so clean grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure matter here too. Knowing which rubric applies to which task, covered fully in the writing-rubric page, tells you whether to aim for analysis or for narrative craft. A vivid, well-structured, clean narrative connected to the stimulus is the target.

Writing the Narrative Writing response

Try this

Q1. How is the Narrative Writing Task rubric different from the Literary Analysis and Research Simulation rubric? [Recall]

• Cue. The Narrative Writing Task uses a Written Expression dimension (holistic 0 to 4, times 3, up to 12) that rewards narrative development, organization, and technique, plus conventions (0 to 3), for up to 15. The analytic tasks use combined Reading Comprehension and Written Expression (0 to 4 times 4, up to 16) plus conventions, rewarding a text-based claim and evidence.

Q2. A student is asked to continue a story but writes a brand-new tale with different characters. Why will this score low, and what should they do? [Short explanation]

• Cue. It will score low because the response is not connected to the stimulus: the task requires consistency with the given characters, setting, and voice when continuing the story. They should keep those elements, pick up where the stimulus left off, and develop the events to a resolution with narrative technique.