English Language Paper 2: Section B (Writing)

Hi folks,

One left! If you stay calm, know what each question is asking you to do, and then do it, you'll nail it.

Here's a final post on writing.

Q5: Writing - 45 minutes

This one is more of a challenge than the writing task in Paper 1, for several reasons:

• You'll have to build an argument. Structure matters. Therefore...
• You'll have to plan carefully.
• You'll have to write in a very particular form for a very particular audience (e.g. a newsletter for parents or a speech to students in your year) 

Here are all of the writing tasks in the specimen materials released so far:

So, here is my advice for the writing question:

Planning

• Annotate the task. Make sure you know the audience, form and purpose.
• Think about whether you agree or disagree.
• Brainstorm arguments (spidergram) and then put them in a logical order by numbering them. Alternatively, do an intro, argument 1, 2, 3, conclusion.

Writing

• Signal that you understand the audience and purpose early on (e.g. if it's a magazine article, give it a title; if it's a speech, address your audience at the start).
• Remember my tip for introductions: DON'T BE BORING, DON'T BE OBVIOUS. Start with a question, or by painting a picture with words, or by telling a story. Finish your first paragraph by stating your argument.
• The DROP, SHIFT, ZOOM, ZOOM structure can work for this task. DROP us into a story, question, picture etc. SHIFT to the main argument. ZOOM IN on key arguments. ZOOM OUT to the big picture and conclude.
• Make sure your paragraphs link together well. Use words like 'Furthermore', 'Moreover', 'Consequently', 'As a result' at the start of paragraphs to signpost the direction of your argument. 
• Be ambitious in your vocab choices.
• Remember your rhetoric: think about ethos (your credibility), pathos (appealing to the emotions) and logos (appealing to reason). Use rhetorical devices to make your writing bold and persuasive (e.g. congeries, anaphora, metaphor to overwhelm and build a powerful picture; short sentences, epizeuxis, diacope to emphasise key points etc.)
• Remember the key elements of building a paragraph in argumentative writing. Remember this?

 

• End your piece by strongly stating your argument. A short sentence works well here. 
• Finally, be very careful about punctuation and make sure your writing is clear. Consider this stat:

Clearly, this doesn't mean that successful students just use short sentences. It means that they are in control of their sentences and vary their length, mixing longer descriptive sentences with short, impactful ones. This stat also shows you that the full stop is your friend! Students who get low grades tend to let their sentences run on forever.

That's it for now. If I think of anything else, I'll email you.


Good luck!


Mr M