| | The use of “epitome” is a sophisticated without being overly complicated |
The phrase “a shadow if its former glory” uses vocabulary successfully to develop the description | ||
| The image of the lively house is contrasted with the word ‘dead’ to add emphasis | |
The focus on time adverbials emphasise the change e.g. “now”, “no longer” and “once” |
Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation |
| | The separation of the clauses using a semi-colon in this long sentence is effective as the second phrase directly builds on the first |
Below is an example of a full-mark Level 4 model story:
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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.
Getting a good GCSE creative writing plot going can be difficult, here are some ideas to help you out.
Ahead of your exams, here are a selection of GCSE creative writing ideas and prompts to hopefully provide some inspiration.
Prompt: In an old, dusty attic, a teenager discovers a mysterious pocket watch that doesn’t seem to tell the correct time.
Potential Story Directions:
Prompt: Behind the overgrown ivy in the school's garden, a student finds a door that wasn't there before.
Prompt: A character receives a mysterious message in a bottle on the beach, written in a cryptic language.
Prompt: A night guard at a museum notices that the exhibits come to life after midnight.
Prompt: A pianist discovers an old, unplayed piano in a neglected music room that plays a melody no one seems to recognize.
Each of these prompts offers a starting point for creative exploration, allowing students to develop their storytelling skills in imaginative and engaging ways.
Prompt: Astronauts on a mission to a distant planet encounter a bizarre, otherworldly storm.
Prompt: A teenager suddenly discovers they have a supernatural ability.
Prompt: A story that mirrors a significant real-life experience involving friendship or a pet.
Prompt: A character discovers a way to travel through time.
Prompt: A natural disaster of unprecedented scale threatens humanity.
Prompt: A detective starts investigating a complex and mysterious murder.
Prompt: Modernize a classic fable or story, such as the Boy Who Cried Wolf, in a contemporary setting.
Prompt: Two characters from vastly different worlds fall in love, against all odds.
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To enhance your children's GCSE creative writing skills, allocate time for practice. Plan a structure for creative writing to guide children in organising their thoughts and managing time during the GCSE exam. Apply this structure to various exam questions, such as short stories or describing events.
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.
Lastly, it's important to stay calm and confident during your exam. Stress and anxiety can hinder your creativity and writing ability. Practice relaxation techniques and believe in your preparation to help you stay focused and composed during the exam. Remember, creative writing is an opportunity to express yourself and let your imagination run ...
Planning. By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. — Benjamin Franklin. A plan should help you focus on what you want to include in your writing. It should also be a way putting your ...
Narration - the voice that tells the story, either first person (I/me) or third person (he/him/she/her). This needs to have the effect of interesting your reader in the story with a warm and ...
Time constraints matter a lot when it comes to writing a plan. In an exam you will typically have about 45 minutes to plan and write your piece, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. You should spend 5-10 minutes planning, leaving you 35-40 minutes to write. This means your plan will necessarily be slightly less detailed than it might be if ...
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 ...
3) Using 'structural features' to hook the reader of your GCSE Creative Writing Task. Openings - you want to make sure the start of your text entices the reader, so you may want to start with a very developed complex sentence, with heaps of sensory imagery that immediately immerses the reader in the world of the piece; alternatively, or you may wish to grab their attention in a more ...
Narrator: Planning is an important part of the fiction writing process, you can draw a mind map, linking all your ideas together, or simply make bullet points, its much easier to write with a plan.
Don't just stick to full stops and commas in your writing. As long as you use it correctly, get creative with the types of punctuation you use in your answer for a higher AO6 mark. For example, exclamation marks and question marks to create a more conversational tone between the author and the reader. Hyphens, brackets and colons are just a ...
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.
In this case we will be looking at creative writing as an aspect of revision for your English GCSE exams. People tend to assume that creative writing is relatively easy. This, in many ways, isn't strictly true. It takes a certain amount of skill to be able to structure a good piece of creative writing that is both easy and enjoyable to read ...
Overview of Paper 1 Question 5. Paper 1 Question 5 is the writing question. It asks you to apply what you know about imaginative and creative fiction writing, such as in the text you read in Section A, and use these same techniques in your own writing. AO5 rewards you for your ideas, as well as the style and the fluency of your writing.
GCSE Creative Writing Tip 3: Ambitious Adjectives. Now, add some ambitious adjectives to add. further detail and information. e.g. Deafeningly, the large, boisterous crowd screamed Beyoncé's name. Why? This builds upon the image, adding extra information to help the reader imagine what is happening.
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 ...
The key components of a grade 9 creative writing answer. i. Descriptive Words…. ii. Action Words…. iii. Sensory Details…. Why Showing is Better Than Telling. Let's recap on what we mean by 'descriptive language'.
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.
GCSE; WJEC; Writing fiction - WJEC Planning a response. Writing fiction involves coming up with creative and original ideas to develop interesting pieces of writing. Find inspiration in your own ...
1. Give students the steps in the story. Sending students into an assessment or exam in which they have no idea what they're going to be faced with is counterproductive. As teachers, we know the structures required for success. In creative writing, the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful short story is a sense of a "complete ...
2 Grade 9 Creative Writing Examples. I recently asked my year 11s to pen a piece of description and/or narrative writing for their mini assessment. I gave them the following prompts: Your school wants you to contribute to a collection of creative writing. EITHER: Write a short story as suggested by this picture:
The style of the writing (sentence structure and overall structure) is dynamic and engaging; Below you will find a detailed creative writing model in response to an example of Paper 1 Question 5, under the following sub-headings (click to go straight to that sub-heading): Writing a GCSE English Language story; Structuring your story
3. Make sure to showcase your skills: ( this is your time to show off all the things you learned!) - use a variety of sentence types. - use precise and excellent vocabulary. - accurate punctuation. In narrative writing, - use similes, metaphors, alliteration as they can be very powerful and will help to create the atmosphere. Imagination is key!
Retold Fable. Prompt: Modernize a classic fable or story, such as the Boy Who Cried Wolf, in a contemporary setting. Potential Story Directions: The story could be set in a modern city, exploring current social issues. It might be told from a different perspective, offering a fresh take on the moral of the story.