Top Tips
It is my experienced opinion that students who
start with question 3 then go on to question 1 then 2 are more successful. This
is because question 2 is worth the least amount of marks and should be left
till last. Also, Q1 and 2 require the student to read the same text so you
would want to complete the questions one after the other.
Question
One-Directed Writing
Understand it!
Read the question and ask yourself
about
WWW
What is
the purpose of this text?
Who should
I be writing as (in what tone)?
What text
am I being asked to write?
Read it!- highlight the key words in the three bullet points (these
show you what you should be looking for) in three separate colours then
work through the passage line by line and highlight relevant material as
you go in the right colour (quotes which help you answer each bullet
point).
Plan it!- as you highlight each relevant point you should annotate it with
the `two pronged attack`. This means you should ask yourself what the
quote means (remember you have to write in your own words)
and for
the second prong you should ask yourself: `so what?` What does this quote
show you? You have to develop your ideas to get into the top two bands.
Write it!- write in order of each bullet point. Paragraph one should be
bullet point one, paragraph two should explore bullet point two and
paragraph three should cover bullet point three. Make sure that you start
your writing as directed in the question and start each paragraph with a
re-wording of the bullet point. MAKE IT EASY FOR THE EXAMINER. Don`t
forget to write in your own words and develop your ideas with thoughts and
feelings. For example:
`I couldn`t find a light switch` could
become
`I couldn`t find a light switch and so I felt scared and
alone in the dark.`
TEXT TYPES
Report
(This is different to a Newspaper Report)
Think about your style, often reports are quite formal and be aware
of the audience of the report.
Give a
heading:
Report to the
Marine Society about a recent expedition.
Use the bullet points as subheadings of your report:
How my companions and I fell
overboard and landed on a submarine.
How I feel about the discovery of the truth about the legendary
monster.
My concerns about the captain and the existence of a vessel such as
this.
Try and include as many factual details as you can from the text
(in your own words where appropriate).
Although you
would normally include solutions in a report, you should stick to what the
bullet points are asking you to write about.
News report
Give a
headline (often this will be provided for you) E.g. Horror Plague Overwhelms Village.
Give a sub
headline to show that you understand the overall content of the text E.g.
People of Maslam are in despair
over rodent invasion.
Newspaper
reports often have Who? What ? Where? When? at the start. E.g. The
Villagers of a place called Maslam have experienced a horrific plague of
mice this week.
You can use
subheadings (reword the bullet points in an exaggerated newspaper style).
If you choose not to then you should start each paragraph with a
re-wording of the bullet point.
Expert or eye
witness comments inside speech marks add detail E.g A
local villager Greta Marple (32) stated that: It s the worst thing that
has ever happened to us. We were afraid to leave our house.
Do not write in columns.
Articles
These are often more personal than news reports and
give the writer s view clearly.
Give the
article a title (often this will be given to you)
Make the topic
of the article clear in the opening sentence.
Use
subheadings (use the bullet points given to you).
Use your
imagination. Depending on the style of the magazine article and the detail
of the text.
LetterThere is no need to give an address. They will tell
you how to begin it but you should end it appropriately. Write in paragraphs
guided by the bullet points given to you.
Dear Mother, = Love, ..
Dear Mr Smith,
= Yours sincerely, .
Dear Sir, =Yours faithfully, .
Interview/dialogue:
Read the
question carefully to work out who is giving the interview and who is
answering the questions.
Try and write
in an appropriate tone for each person.
Use the bullet
points to structure your writing. You do not need subheadings but you
should keep track of how much you are writing. Remember that you should
write 1 to 2 pages and you should cover each bullet point evenly.
Therefore each bullet point should take up a third of your overall piece.
Don`t spend time counting the words to make sure you are within the word
count.
You should set
your interview out as shown below remembering to go on to a new line each
time. Use a capital letter after each colon and end your sentence with a
full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. E.g.
Reporter: How are you feeling
now?Ann s mother: We are just
relieved that she is safe.
Journal ( Diary)
Start with the
sentence which you are given.
Write in first
person.
Pay careful
attention (in the question) to when you are writing this journal. Is it a
long time afterwards or immediately?
Use your
inference to try and find out how the person who you are writing as is
feeling.
Structure your
writing in three sections (one for each bullet point).
Use a topic
sentence to show that you have understood what the bullet point is asking
you to write about.
Go into
detail- facts and figures from the text and then develop (attach an
emotion etc.)
Talk
(speech)
Start with the sentence which you are given. If you are not told
how to start it remember to greet your audience E.g. Good morning fellow Marine Scientists (this will show the
examiner that you know who you are speaking to).
Write in first
person.
Pay careful
attention (in the question) to the purpose of the talk and make sure you
address this. E.g. Is it persuasive/informative/formal?
Structure your
writing in three sections (one for each bullet point).
Use a topic
sentence to show that you have understood what the bullet point is asking
you to write about.
Go into
detail- facts and figures from the text and then develop (attach an
emotion etc.)
LeafletYou probably won t get this text type but there is a
small possibility that you could.
Think about your style, often leaflets are quite formal or
persuasive-who is the leaflet aimed at?
Give your
leaflet a heading:
Visit The
Delightful Dorset.
Use the bullet points as subheadings of your report:
Where you can stay in Dorset.
What you can do for entertainment in specific towns.
The sort of accommodation that people can choose.
Try and include as many factual details as you can from the text
(in your own words where appropriate).
You may want
to make up a website or phone number at the bottom to help guide people to
further information.Finally: relax, you are well prepared. Keep track
of your timings and remember that Q1 and 3 are worth twice as many points as
Q2. Good Luck! J
Question Two
It is
helpful to draw your answers in a PEE grid. You don`t get any marks for
writing in this question and it is only worth 10 marks so don`t spend too
much time on it.
Read
the question and annotate the correct paragraph with a square bracket and
what you are looking for in it. This will help keep you focused.
Make
sure that your point is a re-wording of the question with detail. E.g. in
the Mock where you were asked about the appearance of the beast you could have written The
Beast appears to be like a
large cat.
Choose
a phrase which has a few words in it. Don t try and explain quotes which
are a sentence or two long it is not effective time management. E.g. Startlingly large black feline .
Remember
that you get half marks (5) for explaining what the vocabulary means and
explaining a basic effect e.g. The
word feline means cat-like which suggests that the beast resembles a large
cat perhaps a jaguar. (Yes it really is that simple).
Better
answers develop explanations and use terminology E.g. the adjective large and the fact that it was startlingly so
suggests that Nicole was frightened by its size and the fact that it
wasn t a creature you would expect to see on the moor (could develop
further to explore the fact that she was remembering that image just
before she saw it).
Remember
that this question is only worth 10 marks and you should spend no more
than half an hour on it. In fact it is probably best to leave this
question till last.
Don t
worry too much about going over the page allowance on this question as the
nature of the chart means that this will happen. You should, however, try
and make your first two columns (P and E) really thin.
Be
careful about counting paragraphs in the text. Don t count the ones in
italics.
Include
three PEE s for A and 3 PEE s for B unless you are told a specific amount
of phrases to explore. It is better to do 2 for A and 2 for B than 4 for A
(if you don`t have time)
Remember
to write whether it is a point for A) or B) in the margin.
Remember
that your grid is a wonky donkey grid. Your explanations are where the
most amount of detail should be. Don t get worked up about drawing the
lines either- time is of the essence.
Question ThreeYou need 15 separate points in total for this question so you should be
looking for 15 separate ideas (hence the 15 in a circle).
Even
if you find more than 15 points you will not get more than 15 marks.
Read
the question carefully: what are you looking for?
You
will gain marks for your bullet points and these do
not need to be
written in your own words. They do need to be written in your own words
when you transfer them into the summary paragraph though.
Tick
your bullet points off as you include them in your summary paragraph.
Try
and group ideas. E.g. in the Bodmin Moor summary you could have grouped
ideas about the countryside together and then ideas about the remoteness
together. Some points will require inference and it is important that you
do not repeat points. E.g. in a question about the hazards of Everest the rain
making the rocks slippy and moss on the rocks amount to the same hazard
(moss which is slippy when wet by the rain).
Remember
that you should adhere to the word count required.
Remember
that you are not being asked to include everything you know, you are being
asked to s
ummarise. This means that you need to be succinct and say
a lot in not many words.
Give an overview at the start of each
paragraph that links to the question. E.g. Overall Bodmin Moor is a very bleak sounding place ..
Complex sentences and discourse markers/ connectives are your
friends in this type of question.
Use
your own words where possible. A window =A window but remote=not many
people live there/desolate.If you
finish early, check your work through carefully. Don t forget your
highlighters!!