Creative Writing

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing a Story for Assessment

Writing a Story for Assessment

Some tests ask you to write a story of your own, using another story as inspiration. The following activity will help you practice.

Analyze a story prompt.

Read the following prompt and answer the PAST questions about it. Then write down ideas for your story.

Read the writing prompt.

You’ve just read about a shadow and a reflection. Now imagine that you have an adventure with your own shadow or reflection. How do you discover each other? Do you get along? What do you do together? Write a short story that describes your experience with your shadow or reflection. Try to make your story entertaining and original.

Answer the PAST questions.

Purpose?

Audience?

Subject?

Type?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Analyzing the Meaning of Poetry

Analyzing the Meaning of Poetry

Poetry uses different techniques to create different meanings. When you read a poem, watch for these kinds of techniques.

Connotation is the feeling that words create.

Grandma wore denim; mother wore silk.

(Denim has the connotation of being inexpensive, durable, and practical; silk has the connotation of being expensive, delicate, and dressy.)

Denotation refers to the literal meaning of words.

Grandma wore denim; mother wore silk.

(Denim is a cotton fabric; silk is a fabric made from the cocoons of silkworms.)

Imagery refers to what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.

In the trees, green leaves murmur.

In the grass dance sunlight stars.

(Imagery includes trees, green, murmur, grass, dance, sunlight stars.)

Metaphor is saying that one thing is another thing, without using like or as.

The speech was a lighthouse beacon,

Guiding me to shore.

(The speech is a beacon.)

Personification is giving human qualities to nonhuman things.

I wrestled the math problem all afternoon.

It pinned me to the mat.

(The math problem acts like a wrestler.)

Simile is comparing two things using like or as.

My dog is like Saturday,

Brimming with adventure and excitement.

(The dog is compared to Saturday, using like.)

Symbol is using one thing to stand for another.

She kept her heart in a safe

Where no one could ever break it.

(Her heart is a symbol of her inner self and her relationships.)
By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Analyzing the Sound of Poetry

Analyzing the Sound of Poetry

As you know, a poem is not the same as a short story or a novel. One big difference is that poetry plays with the sounds of words. Different techniques create different sounds. When you read a poem, listen for these kinds of sounds.

Alliteration is using the same beginning consonant sound.

The burrow delves down dark and deep

Where slinking creatures go to sleep.

Assonance is repeating vowel sounds within words.

In a yellow casserole

A green bean makes a scene.

Onomatopoeia occurs when a word sounds like what it describes.

The ladle dripped atop my roll

And splashed the soup inside my bowl.

Repetition is using a word or phrase again to draw attention to it or to create rhythm.

The white dove in the white snow

Waits for the white-out winds to go.

Rhyme refers to repeating the end sounds of words, often at the end of lines.

If you would show some gratitude

Instead of so much attitude,

You wouldn’t hear a platitude

About your lack of manners, dude.

Rhythm refers to creating a pattern of stressed and unstressed sounds in a line of poetry.

If you would show some gratitude

Instead of so much attitude,

You wouldn’t hear a platitude

About your lack of manners, dude.

Closely read a poem.

Read the following wintry poem, focusing on the sounds it creates.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Warm-Up for Reading and Writing Literature Assessments

Warm-Up for Reading and Writing Literature Assessments

Reading lets you experience great stories, and writing helps you tell your own great stories. That's why some major assessments test your ability to read literature, write about it, and maybe even write your own stories.

What Is Literature Assessment?

Reading and Writing Literature Assessments
© Thoughtful Learning 2016

Literature assessments test how well you read stories and poems and whether you can write clearly about them. On some literature assessments, you will create your own stories. This unit will help you prepare for these kinds of assessments.

In the following activities, you’ll learn about close reading—reading to understand how a story or poem works. You’ll discover how writers use character, setting, plot, conflict, and theme to develop stories. You’ll also learn how poets use rhythm, rhyme, imagery, and figures of speech. Then you’ll discover strategies for on-demand writing—strategies for developing your own ideas during an assessment.

Thinking About Close Reading

To read closely, you need to think about the parts of a story: character, setting, conflict, and theme. Even flash fiction has these elements.

Read closely.

Read the following flash-fiction story and answer the questions.

Worm with a Backbone

By Kerry Jackson

Flippy the Fish had never seen such a fat worm. It just hung there, wriggling under the water. Its pink skin gleamed with morning sunlight, and the flesh puffed up in the most delicious way. What a perfect breakfast! Flippy was just a little blue gill in a big pond, but if he ate enough worms like this, he’d be a big fish in no time. Except there was something weird about this worm. It was curved. It wriggled, yes, but it never unbent. Flippy moved closer and blinked. The worm looked like it had a backbone—a metal backbone curved in a hook shape. Hmm. Who wants to eat metal? Not so delicious after all, Flippy thought. He finned away across the pond, looking for a better breakfast.

Creative Writing