SPECULATIVE ESSAYS
Speculative essays are narrative essays that tell a story and are meant to entertain the reader.
- Speculative prompts often leave off at a certain point and ask the writer to fill in what happens.
- Speculative essays require logical sequence, high level vocabulary, story elements, figurative language, sensory details, and an interesting story.
Table of Contents
On this page you will find:
- SENSORY WORD .pdf
- a sample speculative prompt
- a high scoring essay
- helpful commentaries
- SAMPLE STUDENT PREWRITING ORGANIZERS
Sensory Words help create vivid details.
Click this link here to view a .pdf file FULL OF SENSORY WORDS arranged by each one of the five senses: taste, sight, touch, smell, sound. |
SAMPLE STUDENT PREWRITING MAPS/ORGANIZERS:
You will need Adobe Acrobat to download the .pdf of student examples.
EVERYONE had a lot of really great examples. Proud of you guys!
speculative_prewriting.pdf | |
File Size: | 196 kb |
File Type: |
Here's a real-life NJAsk Speculative Prompt:
A young boy was very excited because he was going fishing with his uncle. Saturday finally arrived, and they drove to the lake. He listened to his uncle tell stories about special tricks for catching fish. When they arrived at the lake, they got into a small fishing boat and headed toward his uncle’s favorite fishing spot. Just as the boy was about to cast his fishing line into the water, he heard a loud noise behind him. Write a story about what happens next on the fishing trip.
Check out the student essay that got 6 points on this prompt!
Click the link above to read a 6pt Speculative essay based on the prompt example above. After you've read it, look below to read some helpful commentary:
Score Point: 6
This sophisticated narrative opens with a vivid description of the start to the day. The story progresses smoothly and logically to an effective conclusion which provides unity and coherence. The student uses vivid vocabulary throughout to capture the mood and create the scene (rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned heartily, the air was crisp and refreshing, red and yellow scales sparkled). The student also successfully uses literary devices such as imagery (sounded like a thousand bones breaking) and onomatopoeia (splash!). The sentences are varied with some sophistication, and word choices are both vivid and effective. Overall, the response demonstrates a superior command of language.
Score Point: 6
This sophisticated narrative opens with a vivid description of the start to the day. The story progresses smoothly and logically to an effective conclusion which provides unity and coherence. The student uses vivid vocabulary throughout to capture the mood and create the scene (rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned heartily, the air was crisp and refreshing, red and yellow scales sparkled). The student also successfully uses literary devices such as imagery (sounded like a thousand bones breaking) and onomatopoeia (splash!). The sentences are varied with some sophistication, and word choices are both vivid and effective. Overall, the response demonstrates a superior command of language.