You’ve finished the course now. But before you go let’s do revision and a final test!

Revision Points

To do well in your narrative writing test, remember: plan, write and review.

This will help you move through with a strong structure that will reduce the likelihood of rework, which is costly in terms of time.

Overarching points to remember for each of the checkpoints are:

• Length – more than or less than the length may create issues or are symptoms of other issues.
• How to write quickly when you have a time limit – follow the 3-step process.
• Structure to avoid – keep to the genre to make sure you don’t lose points.
• Planning – Streamline your planning to reduce time wastage.
• Relating to the prompt – The prompt should feature centrally.
• Characters – Stick with 1 character, 2 max.
• Coming up with a storyline – Use experience and word association, remember, simple is best.
• Story development – Make sure paragraphs link logically and if struggling, start from the end.
• Main event – Only 1 event should be the ‘star’.
• Beginning and ending – Set up and lead to the main event and close the main event.
• Writing with focus – Cut out irrelevant information.
• Tone – Word choice is important here.
• How to ‘show’ not ‘tell’ your story – Consider the sentence level and the paragraph level.
• Creating a stand-out story! – Your storyline should be the stand-out and you can create interest by using a different angle.
• Editing your writing – Apply the 3 tests.
• Adding that final polish to your piece – Spelling, grammar and punctuation add polish.

Final Exam

The final exam is for you to complete an essay, review it and then submit it for 1 complimentary essay scoring and written feedback. See an example of scoring and expert written feedback on a real essay here. Please note that this is limited to only one essay per purchase of this course, not multiple essays.

Step 1: Get your prompt

Go to https://www.examsuccess.com.au/writing_prompts:

If you are applying for selective/scholarship entry into Year 7 high school (you’re currently in Year 5 or 6), go to Selective school/scholarship Grade 7 Narrative Writing. Select question 28, if you prefer to write another question, please choose another prompt.

If you are applying for selective/scholarship entry into Year 9 high school (you’re currently in Year 7 or 8), go to Selective school/scholarship Grade 9 Narrative Writing. Select question 28, if you prefer to write another question, please choose another prompt.

Step 2: Write your essay

Write your essay by hand on paper or in a book.

Step 3: Self-review your essay

Review your essay using the checklist. Make adjustments where needed.

Is your impression of the essay any of the following?	Check	Potential Cause	Potential Fix**
1. Could not understand what the piece was about. It was unclear and confusing. The piece didn't make sense.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Poor story organization Ineffective planning	Review plan / review relevance
2. The piece seemed too short or too long	Yes No. Move to next row.	Ineffective planning	Review plan / review relevance
3. The piece read like a newspaper report rather than a narrative/creative essay.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Inappropriate tone Poor word choice	Create tone
4. The piece used too much description. It was hard to focus on the story.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Using too much detail Poor editing	Review words and sentences
5. Struggled to come up with ideas for a story.	Yes No. Move to next row.	No strategy Ineffective outlining	Try strategies to help come up with a story
6. Couldn't understand some sentences and what they tried to say. Had to read sentences several times to figure out their meaning.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Lack of clarity Poor editing	Revise sentences
7. There were heaps of spelling and grammar mistakes. The piece was a bit rough and seemed like a draft rather than a polished final version.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Poor editing	Add polish to piece through review
8. The writing seemed disrupted. The piece didn't flow well.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Incorrect use of punctuation Poor editing	Review for connecting words and sentence structure
9. The piece read like a conversation.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Ineffective storyline planning Poor use of speech	Replace dialogue with sentences using 2 tell and 2 show per paragraph
10. The ending or/and beginning of the piece wasn't satisfactory.	Yes No. Move to next row.	No strategy Poor story organisation	Review plan
11. The piece didn't seem to match up to the prompt.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Failure to interpret the question Ineffective planning	Review plan and weave in references to prompt
12. It seemed like there was too much information and/or some parts of the story were repetitive and said the same thing	Yes No. Move to next row.	Poor storyline planning Including too many events in the story Using unnecessary sentences	Eliminate unnecessary detail
13. At some points, it seemed like the essay was a different type of writing piece.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Ineffective planning Lack of genre knowledge	Use set structure
14. The piece wasn't finished OR Struggled with the time limit.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Ineffective planning	Use set process and plan
15. The piece is okay, but it could use more impact – something seems missing.	Yes No. Move to next row.	Lack of tone creation Poor word choice Poor editing	Incorporate ‘showing’ in your piece, balanced with ‘telling’

Step 4: Type up your essay

Go to https://www.examsuccess.com.au/writing_prompts and to your prompt. Type out your essay and click “Save”.

You’ll then receive an email of your essay.

Forward that email to success@examsuccess.com.au with a request for the complimentary final checkpoint essay scoring and written feedback.

When your scoring and feedback is ready (please allow 3 business days), you’ll receive an email from us.

End

Like all good stories, there is always an end.

It’s been a journey and well done and congratulations!

We wish you all the best for your upcoming exam and will be cheering you on!!

If you have news you’d like to share – we would love to hear about it, get in touch anytime at success@examsuccess.com.au.

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