Creative Writing from a Stimulus — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the 11th Grade narrative writing writing prompt.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheet11th Grade · English · Narrative WritingCreative Writing from a Stimulus — Answers
Part A: Read like a writer: the model opening
Read the model opening, then circle the best answer.
Model opening (approx. 250 words), from Stimulus 1:
The cake had been there since the 9:40.
Ines knew because she had been on the 9:40, and she had seen the woman get off it: a small woman in a raincoat the color of mustard, holding the box out in front of her with both hands the way you might carry something alive. The woman had set it on the bench. She had pushed a single candle into the icing, slowly, as if the icing might object. Then she had stood there, looking up the road, while the bus pulled away and the rain came down harder and Ines watched her through the fogged back window until the corner took her.
Now it was 11:15, and Ines was walking home the long way, and the woman was gone, and the cake was not.
She stopped under the shelter. The streetlight above it was failing in a slow, deliberate rhythm, on and off, on and off, like someone trying to remember a word. In the light, the cake looked almost unbearably cheerful. Pink icing. Silver balls. Letters piped in a careful, slightly wobbling hand: HAPPY 40TH, DANNY.
Across the road, a single window was lit on the fourth floor.
Ines looked at the window. She looked at the cake. She looked at the torn timetable, where only two words were left, and understood, with the cold, specific certainty that sometimes arrives in the middle of the night, that somebody had waited here for a long time for a person who had not come.
- Adescribes the setting in detail
- Braises a question (why has a cake been left?) and hints the narrator knows more
- Cintroduces the main character's name
- Dexplains the ending
Answer: raises a question (why has a cake been left?) and hints the narrator knows more
A short, intriguing opening line creates curiosity. "since the 9:40" implies someone has been watching, which leads straight into Ines's memory.
- ADescribes it exactly as written and adds nothing
- BBuilds a backstory around it (the woman, the name Danny) so the image becomes a story
- CIgnores it after the first sentence
- DTurns it into a poem
Answer: Builds a backstory around it (the woman, the name Danny) so the image becomes a story
The writer adds a witness, a time frame and a name on the cake, which turns a still image into a situation with tension.
- Athreatening
- Bhesitant and almost human, reflecting the uncertainty of the scene
- Cbright and cheerful
- Dbroken beyond repair
Answer: hesitant and almost human, reflecting the uncertainty of the scene
The comparison personifies the light as struggling, which mirrors the unanswered questions around the cake.
- Ashow the writer has made a grammatical mistake
- Bslow the reader down so each cheerful detail lands, contrasting with the sad situation
- Cspeed up the action
- Dintroduce dialogue
Answer: slow the reader down so each cheerful detail lands, contrasting with the sad situation
Fragments isolate details. Their cheerfulness becomes painful because we suspect the party never happened.
Part B: Craft choices
Answer in full sentences.
Answer: We never learn who the woman is, who Danny is or why he did not come. Withholding this keeps the reader curious and invites them to fill the gaps; the story's emotional power comes from what is implied, not explained.
Answer: The repeated "and" (polysyndeton) creates a rolling, breathless rhythm that piles details together, then lands on the short final clause "the cake was not", emphasizing the strangeness of the cake still being there.
Answer: Instead of saying Ines feels sad, it shows her looking from window to cake to timetable (a triple repetition of "She looked at") and then reaching a "cold, specific certainty". Her realization is shown through what she notices, so the reader feels the sadness alongside her.
Part C: Plan your piece
Complete each planning step for your own story. The answers show one possible plan, not the only right one.
Answer: Model: The cake was left by a sister for the brother she has not spoken to in six years; the story is about whether he will come down to meet her, and about how hard it is to take the first step towards someone.
Answer: Model: First person, present tense, from the brother's point of view in the lit window, so the reader experiences his hesitation moment by moment and learns the backstory only through his thoughts.
Answer: Model: Start in the middle of his hesitation (coat already on); reveal the six-year silence gradually through memory; withhold the reason for the silence entirely; keep the present action to a few minutes, ending as he opens the door.
Answer: Model: The unlit candle: the sister always brings a candle but forgets the matches, so it represents good intentions and the unfinished business between them. The streetlight's flicker echoes his indecision.
Answer: Model: He counts to ten at the door and does not stop at ten, so the ending implies he goes without showing the reunion. The reader is left with hope and the question of what they will say.
Part D: Write
Model answer: Model opening, from a different point of view (approx. 160 words): I can see the cake from my window. I have been able to see it for an hour and a half, ever since my sister set it down on the bench and lit nothing and waited. She always did that: brought the candle, forgot the matches. Some things you can rely on. The rain is coming in sideways now. From up here the shelter is a small glass box of light, and inside it is a smaller plastic box, and inside that is a cake with my name on it, and somewhere between all those boxes is the thing I have not said to her in six years. My coat is on. It has been on for forty minutes. The door is right there. The streetlight flickers, as if it is asking me a question. I put my hand on the door handle, and I count to ten, and I do not stop at ten.
Success criteria:
- The stimulus is interpreted purposefully and woven into the story, not merely described
- Point of view and voice are consistent and suit the story
- Structure is deliberate: a strong opening, information withheld or revealed with intent, a resonant ending
- Emotion is shown through action, detail and image rather than stated
- Language is precise and sensory; figurative language is controlled and original
- Sentence length and structure are varied for rhythm and emphasis
- Spelling, punctuation and paragraphing are accurate, including dialogue punctuation
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.
Great work. Here's what to try next: