Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences
Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion of texts
Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation
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It is important to remember that writers plan their texts deliberately to make the reader respond in certain ways, and think and feel certain things. This task in Question 5 asks you to think about how you can effectively engage your reader and produce a cohesive piece of creative writing.
When you reach Question 5, you will already have read an example of creative writing. You can use the ideas and structure to inform your answer. You should spend some time thinking about the question: not only the content, but also the order of your ideas. An effective piece of creative writing considers plot, setting and characterisation .
In your answer you must:
Question 5 tests your ability to create a text which is constructed in an appropriate manner.
The creative writing question assesses your skill in crafting a convincing piece of creative writing or short story. The question will be worded according to a specific task, for example:
It is worth remembering that you will be given a choice of two tasks in the exam: one will be a creative writing task, and the other will be a descriptive writing task. One will also give you a picture as a prompt for your piece of writing, but this could be to write a story or a description, so it is important that you read both options carefully.
Below are some points on how you might approach the task “Write a story with the title ‘Abandoned’”. It is divided into plot, setting and characterisation.
This task asks you to write a short story. This means you are required to plan your response carefully as you have limited time to create a cohesive plot. It is best to plan how your story will end before you begin writing so that you are in control of your story. Writing a response which has not been planned is likely to have an abrupt ending, or no ending at all, which does not satisfy readers or get you high marks. Your character development will lead the plot; you should decide if your story ends with a clear resolution or with a cliffhanger. Your resolution could be happy, or you can create a tragic ending.
There are lots of different narrative structures or arcs you could use to plan your story. Bearing in mind you only have 45 minutes, including planning time, your story needs to be controlled and concise. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to consider Freytag’s Pyramid:
| Stick to one main setting and start at the location: |
Hook your reader: | |
Decide which narrative perspective and tense you are going to write your story in: | |
Employ the five senses to create an atmosphere: | |
This paragraph could end with an “inciting incident”, which prompts the rising action and moves the story forward | |
| This paragraph should build tension, drama or interest: |
This paragraph should also develop your character(s): | |
This is the turning point of your story: | |
Your protagonist could face an external problem, or an internal choice or dilemma: | |
You should vary your sentence structure, length and language here for dramatic effect | |
What happens in this paragraph should be as a direct result of the climax paragraph: | |
It also should focus on your characters’ thoughts and feelings as a result of the climax of the story: | |
You can choose to resolve your story, or end on a cliff-hanger: | |
Your setting and atmosphere could reflect a change from the setting or atmosphere you established in your opening paragraph: |
As this task assesses the ability to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, it is important to consider how to use language constructively in a short story to convey an atmosphere or mood. Building an effective setting is key as it contributes to atmosphere and mood.
Remember, Question 5 requires an extended written response. Therefore, the most effective stories will demonstrate a well-planned response which has considered what information is relevant to the reader and the most effective way to order and structure the narrative.
This question asks you to create a short story and therefore you will need to build some elements of detailed characterisation. This means you need to consider what your character(s) represent. They may represent an idea, such as being the victim of abandonment, or as a villain to represent injustice or evil. It is best to limit yourself to two characters in the time you have.
Well-rounded characters are taken on a journey in which a character undergoes some form of development or change. The mark scheme rewards answers which clearly and effectively convey ideas, meaning that you need to consider the most effective ways of building a character in a short piece of writing. Ideally, you should focus more on indirect characterisation than direct characterisation:
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Here, we will consider how to effectively plan your character(s) to engage your reader. This is what the examiner is looking for in your answer:
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| Your character’s appearance may not always be relevant: , remember that it is rare we describe our own appearance perspective can describe appearance more effectively |
| One of the most effective ways to describe a character is through their movements: and can be used to effectively build characterisation |
| If you use the perspective, a monologue helps readers engage with the character: will help your reader understand your character better |
| Dialogue can convey the relationships between your characters and provide insights into what other characters think about each other: |
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Sam is a graduate in English Language and Literature, specialising in journalism and the history and varieties of English. Before teaching, Sam had a career in tourism in South Africa and Europe. After training to become a teacher, Sam taught English Language and Literature and Communication and Culture in three outstanding secondary schools across England. Her teaching experience began in nursery schools, where she achieved a qualification in Early Years Foundation education. Sam went on to train in the SEN department of a secondary school, working closely with visually impaired students. From there, she went on to manage KS3 and GCSE English language and literature, as well as leading the Sixth Form curriculum. During this time, Sam trained as an examiner in AQA and iGCSE and has marked GCSE English examinations across a range of specifications. She went on to tutor Business English, English as a Second Language and international GCSE English to students around the world, as well as tutoring A level, GCSE and KS3 students for educational provisions in England. Sam freelances as a ghostwriter on novels, business articles and reports, academic resources and non-fiction books.
Subject: English
Age range: 14-16
Resource type: Lesson (complete)
Last updated
27 August 2024
AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 The Grass Is Singing D. Lessing Creative reading & writing Q1-5 Grade 9 June 24
Full lesson on Paper 1 The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing looking at the AQA June 2024 paper with grade 9 model answers for the reading and writing sections. Achieve a grade 9 jam packed with plenaries, AfL, TLA activities and tasks.
51 slides of a breakdown of the reading and writing sections, with grade 9 model answers for each question and top tips to achieve a grade 9. Lesson focuses on exploding and developing inference. Starter task, discussion activity, build up tasks highlighting and analysing the text to draw out inference, review and self-assessment looking at EBI and WWW on a piece of grade 9 writing, with a self-assessment exit card activity. Colour images for writing task and structure cards to rearrange and add into the text.
Objectives/aims: • Solve the English related puzzles from The 1% Club • Consider the juxtaposition of the colours black and white and what they could symbolise • Define the word powerful and build a bank of synonyms • Deliberate how colour symbolism can foreshadow events to come • Analyse a section from The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing for Paper 1 • Identify and discuss the difference between language and structural techniques • Focus specifically on questions 2 to 4 in terms of developing detail and inference • Explode and develop interpretations for Q2 language analysis • Construct a flow chart for Q3 structure applying in structure cards • Develop and explain interpretation and impressions in Q4 • Review grade 9 model answers for Q1-4 looking at exploding inference using PEEL • Create a word bank and plan in preparation for the Q5 writing task • Read and review a piece of grade 9 descriptive writing • Complete the Q5 writing task applying AFORESTRIP and punctuation variety • Review your writing task, highlighting techniques • Complete self-assessment exit card
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READ MORE: > 10+ GCSE creative writing ideas, prompts and plot lines Mastering Narrative Structure. A good story has a clear structure - a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning should hook the reader, the middle should build the story, and the end should provide a satisfying conclusion.
Unit 2 Reading and Writing: Description, Narration and Exposition gives two prompts to choose between, for an account and an essay perhaps, and Unit 3: Reading and Writing: Argumentation, Persuasion and Instructional sets up a letter, or similar. Jump ahead to WJEC Eduqas non-fiction writing prompts from past GCSE papers.
Before embarking on your creative writing journey, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the assessment criteria is imperative. The evaluators of your English language GCSE creative writing piece will scrutinise several key areas: the coherence of your narrative structure, range of ideas you explore, the variety and complexity of your sentence structures, and the precision of your spelling ...
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Specific GCSE revision advice for Creative Writing. As with the rest of your GCSE revision, here are a few concepts to consider before you start: Make a timetable - so that you can plan all your work well in advance. Manage your time - make a schedule for your GCSE revision so you know where you are.
1. HAVE A BANK OF STORY PLOT LINES READY. One of our top tips for any creative writing exam, is to have a bank of easily adapted plot ideas up your sleeve. Time is precious in an exam and you need to spend minimal time thinking, leaving you with the maximum amount of time to crack on with your writing! 2.
First, draft a plan with main character(s), setting and the basic elements of the plot. Then think about the points in the Checklist below. • Reveal past and present information fluently by your use of tenses. • Hint or indicate mood or tone through your use of conjunctions or sentence order.
General Hints and Tips for Creative Writing at GCSE. A general piece of advice that I give to my students is to plan the structure of your answer. When you hear "creative writing", you may not think that a plan would be necessary. However, in the mark schemes of all exam boards, the phrase "well controlled paragraphs", and "well ...
In Paper 1 Question 5 you will be presented with a choice of two writing tasks and a stimulus image. One task will ask you to write descriptively, most likely based on the image, and the other question will ask you to write a story, based on a statement or title. The task requires you to write for a specific purpose and in a specific form.
Your creative writing component will be judged on spelling, grammar and punctuation, so make sure that you read your work once you're done to iron out any potential mistakes. If you want a little bit more help, Tutor House offers world-class English GCSE tutors. To find out more, or to book your tutor today, call 0203 9500 320. Alex is the ...
Break down GCSE English Language Creative Writing into an accessible format with our series of dedicated lessons, beginning with Lesson 1 on structure. The key focus of this lesson is to explore how students can structure a narrative for maximum effect. After completing this GCSE English Language Creative Writing lesson, students will be able to: Understand the different stages of a story ...
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This is a Practice Exam Paper: GCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing made from scratch. A lesson plan (including Mock Paper 1, Insert and Mark Scheme) for teachers and 3 comprehensive PDFs aimed at helping students taking GCSE English Language Paper 1 to analyse the literary techniques, language features, themes, structural tools and characters in the ...
AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 The Grass Is Singing D. Lessing Creative reading & writing Q1-5 Grade 9 June 24. Full lesson on Paper 1 The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing looking at the AQA June 2024 paper with grade 9 model answers for the reading and writing sections. Achieve a grade 9 jam packed with plenaries, AfL, TLA activities and ...