Sample CBEST Narrative Essay (http://www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/PDF/CBEST_OPT_Writing.pdf)

SAMPLE RESPONSES: WRITING TOPIC 2 Score Point 4

If my seventh grade history teacher had known what was in store for him that year, I am sure he would not have chosen the teaching profession. I took an immediate dislike for this tall and gangly character. Why? There was really no reason except that he did not fit my image of a history teacher. He was young, knowledgeable, and eager to please—perhaps a bit too eager and that is where our clash began. Each day Mr. Simms would strut across the room making ridiculous analogies, crowing out quotes from Abraham Lincoln and making what I thought was a complete fool of himself. It must have been this kind of annoying behavior that made me suddenly decide to start antagonizing this bewildered fellow. I interrogated him; I found faults with his reasoning; I publically announced contradictory details. I wanted answers and he couldn't give them. Because Mr. Simms was an inexperienced teacher and did not reprimand my rudeness, I continued my torture tactics. I began antagonizing this poor man in subtle ways. While all the other students were obediently paying attention and taking notes, I would sit and stare at a point in the air just above Mr. Simms' left temple. Some days I would sit bolt upright and pretend to be falling asleep, but when called on I would ask a question or make a point that was undeniably relevant to the discussion or lecture that was underway. Then too, I would come to class just late enough to create a slight distraction, then I would noisily turn the pages in my book and notebook, as if desperately searching for my place. My very best trick, however, was the Friday I handed in the midterm paper. We were studying the SpanishAmerican War, and he was always trying to spice up his lectures by breaking into foreign languages, so I decided to write my paper in Spanish. "Let's see what he does with this one," I said to myself. It must have fazed him, but he didn't let on. Mr. Simms commented on my paper in Spanish too difficult for me to understand, then at the bottom wrote "THRILLED TO SEE YOU ENGAGED BY THE ASSIGNMENT. A-." Had I had chalked up another victory? I wasn't so sure. Maybe I realized antagonizing Mr. Simms wasn't fun anymore. Maybe I realized I was the loser in the end. The day after I got the paper back, I suddenly became "engaged" by history class. I stopped fooling around, started paying attention in class, and called a halt to the needling of Mr. Simms, a man who, I decided, was not so bad after all.

http://www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/PDF/CBEST_OPT_Writing.pdf