Question 1: Conventions- what could I be asked to produce?

Convention

Exam

Why?

Checklist:

Letter

June
2014

Express a personal opinion- now

considered very old-fashioned!

Report

Journal/
diary

Speech/
talk

October
2013

October
2011

June
2013,
October
2014

Reports are usually informative

and tell the reader about
events that have taken place.
The writer may analyse or
observe these events, or offer
a more personal perspective.

A personal record of things

that have happened to the
writer and often include their
thoughts or feelings

Usually formal spoken

presentations for a particular
purpose- often to persuade an
audience to support an idea, or
to explain or describe an
interesting topic or past event.

Interview/
dialogue

Newspaper
Report

Magazine
Article

June
2011,
October
2012

June
2012

Be clear about the audience, as this will change your

style
Focus on the purpose, why exactly are you writing the
letter. State this is in your introduction
Match your style to both to decide how
informal/formal you should be
Clear opening greeting, develop and link ideas fluently
in a sequence of paragraphs

Stronger responses to this question selected and condensed the events in the passage
and modified the ideas to create a suitable style for a formal letter, and a highly
convincing voice for a loud, controlling mother whose outrage about the intolerably dirty
and badly run hostel she has discovered her daughter staying in is palpable in every line.
Weaker responses used the format of a letter correctly, but generally took the form of
giving an unselective narrative retelling Mrs Wilkies (or even Sachas) experiences at
the hostel.

Write a strong opening and powerful conclusion to

draw points together
Stick to formal standard English
Have clarity about who the report is for and what the
purpose of the report is
Take on the voice of the writer e.g. head teacher,
professor etc.

Stronger responses to this question selected and condensed the events in the passage
and modified the ideas to create a suitable style for a formal report, and a convincing
voice for a learned professor. Less successful responses had no sense of a report and
they generally took the form of giving an unselective narrative retelling of the story as
a response to the first bullet, rather than choosing only the details that would be
required for a formal report of the events.

Give a sense of the writers personality and explain

their feelings or changing emotions
Focus on key moments or incidents in their world
Usually provide a sense of time or sequence
Write in the first person, capturing their voice
Use tenses to move accurately between past, present
ad future

Some candidates wrote excellent journal entries. It was clear that they understood
the need to give James a convincing attitude, one of grudging tolerance and even
admiration for the scenery and his companion, and a suitable and plausible voice for a
reader and poet. The most successful responses were able to include subtlety, sarcasm
and humour, reflecting the tone of the passage and revealing an understanding of the
relationship. There were occasional examples of responses written in the wrong genre,
as monologues or third person accounts containing reported speech.

Personal viewpoint using I, if appropriate

Structure your speech to get your listeners attention
Speak directly to the audience by using you and we
Use emotive language
Rhetorical devices, humour, powerful ideas and
repetition to make your point
Range of sentence lengths for effect

Middle-range responses made reasonable use of the passage, with some attempt at own
words, but tended to stick closely to the events and ideas in the passage, and to
present them in the same order as in the passage = mix up the three bullet points
across your writing to give a more interesting structure
Although they used the format of a spoken address correctly, they generally took the
form of giving an unselective narrativesuch responses lacked a sense of purpose. =
remember the reason behind your talk/speech

Write the name of the interviewer/responder and the

question and answer they offer
Give each person a voice so that you would know who
was speaking without their names
If creating dialogue, make it convincing by creating
overlapping speech and other realistic elements

Weaker answers needed to focus on the set questions and the portrayal of Potter
rather than giving extra questions to Buchanan, making him obtrusive. = develop the
set questions into a more natural style of interviewing someone, by asking follow up
questions.

Most candidates wrote recognisable news reports and showed that they understood
the need to adopt an objective viewpoint. The character of Adam, and the attitude of
his family and ex-neighbours, were conveyed in the best responses by the use of short
quotations revealing his passion and their admiration or belief that Adam was mad.
Short quotations attributed to Adam when interviewed were an admissible device for
conveying his character and for giving authenticity to a news report style. Excessive
use of direct speech was less effective and became indistinguishable from a lack of
modification of the language of the passage.

Usually included to support a

dramatic event or create sense
of personal connection to a
story. Dialogue is transcribing
what is happening (think about
subtitles on TV/film)

Vital sources of information on

current events, Report main
facts or information about very
recent specific incidents.

Headlines or sub-headlines
Clear explanations about the incident
Expert comment with direct quotation
Who, what, where, when at the start
Written in the third person
Use of time connectives
Verbs about what happened are in the past tense with
headline and last paragraph in present tense

Usually based on an event or

series of events centred around
an individual or place. They

Often personal and sometimes written in the first

person
Offer a distinct viewpoint supported by facts

Tips from the Examiner: