Writing Skills 1

Sentences

Unit 2: The Writer’s Voice

This unit is assessed by a two part exam. In the first part you write on Of Mice and Men. In the second part you complete a writing task.

Section B

One writing task. You must demonstrate your skills in reflecting on ideas, issues, experiences and events. You will be asked to write in a particular form, such as a newspaper article, formal report or magazine review. You will also be given a specific target audience to write for. The task will be based on current issues, situations or problems that regularly affect young people.

Assessment Objectives

• Write to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively. Write using different forms and styles. Select vocabulary relevant to audience and purpose.

• Organise information and ideas clearly using paragraphs. Use linking devices in your writing so your answer is cohesive.

• Use a range of sentence structures for clarity and effect. Accurate punctuation and spelling.

Writing Sentences

There are several different types of sentences.

In your assessments you need to make sure you are using a variety of sentence structures.

This makes your writing more fluent and pleasant to read.

SentencesSentences are made up of units called clauses.

A clause has a subject, a verb and often an object

Subject: a person, place or thingVerb: an action, Object: Receives the verb

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence only has one clause

Eg

A book fell on John’s foot

Compound SentencesA compound sentence has two clauses

Eg

A book fell on John’s foot and a book fell on Mary’s foot.

The two clauses in a compound sentence can make sense on their own:

A book fell on John’s foot.A book fell on Mary’s foot.

Complex sentencesA complex sentence has more than one clause.

Eg

A book fell on John’s foot while he was writing.

In complex sentences, one of the clauses is subordinate- it doesn’t make sense on its own.

A book fell on John’s footWhile he was writing

We can’t start a sentence with ‘while’ – this is dependent on the first sentence

Connectives

Compound and complex sentences can be joined by connectives.

connectives

Punctuation

We can also use punctuation to join up clauses into sentences.

What types of punctuation can we use?

Commas ‘Semicolons ;

Commas

Commas are used for subordinate clauses:

While I was listening to the radio, my cat ate her dinner.

My brother, who is 20 next birthday, still can’t use a washing machine.

Semicolons

Semicolons are used to join together two simple sentences / clauses that make sense on their own that are related in theme

Miss Townsend left school for the day; she was very happy.

Now try writing:

• A simple sentence (one clause)• A compound sentence (two clauses which

both could make sense standing alone)• A complex sentence (includes one

subordinate clause)

Using different sentences

We went to the park. It was sunny. It was warm. We had fun. We flew kites. We ate snacks.

We can ask ourselves three things:• Does it make sense?• Is it grammatically correct?• Is it well-written?

How do we make our writing fluent?

Making your writing fluent means paying attention to how your sentences sound as well as whether they are grammatically correct.

We can make our writing more fluent by using a variety of sentence structures:• Short sentences for emphasis• Long, complex sentences to explain ideas or give

details• Varying the beginnings of sentences and using

connectors

For example….

We went to the park. It was sunny. It was warm. We had fun. We flew kites. We ate snacks.

OR

We spent a warm, sunny day at the park. When we got hungry we had a snack. Later on, we flew kites high in the sky. It was a great day!

Now try improving this paragraph:

The boy was alone in the cemetery. It was dark. It was gloomy. The boy saw something. He was scared. It was a vampire. The vampire was chasing him. He was scared. The vampire caught him. The vampire bit him. He was dead.

Writing Skills 2

PAF

Writing

All pieces of writing you do have:

P

A

F

Purposes:

Audiences:

Formats:

These affect other decisions you make

• Formal / Informal• Layout• Language

Can you think of any more?

What do we mean by Formal?

Situations….

Language…..

What do we mean by Informal?

Situations….

Language…..

Writing Skills 3

Writing to inform and Newspaper articles

Writing to inform

Newspaper articles are often used to tell people about events or other interesting information.

Task:

Write an informative article about the dangers of social networking for young people.

PAF!

First, make sure you are clear on your PAF.

Purpose: Inform

Audience: Young people

Format: Newspaper article

This piece of writing will be formal because it is a newspaper article about a serious issue, even if some of the language might be tailored for young people.

You should never use columns when writing an exam answer, but you should try and include a headline and if you want you could also have a subheading.

Informative writing should include:

• Clear introduction• Background information• A wide range of different aspects of the topic• Technical language, perhaps explained• Logical organisation• Clear links between paragraphs• Interviews • Facts / statistics

Plan

Headline:Subheading:Intro:Para 1:Para 2:Para 3:Para 4:Concluding paragraph:

Writing Skills 4

Writing to persuade and Speeches

Writing to PersuadeSpeeches are often delivered to persuade people about ideas or initiatives. When trying to persuade others, people often use persuasive language techniques in their speech and writing.

Have a look at the table of persuasive language techniques. Can you fill in the gaps? You need to use as many of these as possible so the examiner can give you credit for recognising the purpose of your task.

Imagine that St Cuthbert Mayne has decided to lengthen the school day by two hours. The new school day will start at 7.45 and end at 4.20. This is so students have time to fit in more lessons.You are the leader of a campaign against this change amongst students. You must write a speech to address the rest of your year group, persuading them that this is a terrible idea and encouraging them to join your ‘NO’ campaign.

PAF

Plan

What arguments / points will you make to win over the student body to your opinion?

Structure

Intro / Initial address

Para 1:

Para 2:

Para 3:

Concluding / summarising paragraph:

DON’T FORGET

You need to try and use as many of the persuasive features as possible! Try writing at least the following for your speech:• A rhetorical question• A rule of three• Alliteration• Fact / statistic• Simile

Writing Skills 5

Re-cap and Letters

Re-cap: Sentence structures

• Simple Sentences: Sentence with one clause• Compound sentences: two simple sentences joined by

a , ; or connective• Complex sentences: more than one clause, including a

subordinate clause• (Subordinate clause: dependent on the rest of the

sentence)

To join clauses and simple sentences, we can use CONNECTIVES or PUNCTUATION

Joining clauses and simple sentences

CONNECTIVES• But• However• Because• AlthoughSentence Starters:• Therefore• Furthermore

PUNCTUATION• ; to join two sentences

that would stand on their own (simple sentences) that are related

• , commas can be used for subordinate clauses

Improve this paragraph:

Joe looked at the sky. It was sunny. Joe decided to go to the park. He wanted to go with his friends. He called them. One of his friends couldn’t make it. The rest of them went to the park. They had a great time.

Writing Cohesively

In this part of the exam the examiner will also look at whether you can write cohesively. Is your writing organised and fluent?

• You must write in PARAGRAPHS.• When there is a change in the subject or a new

point within the same subject.• Also, try and link your paragraphs together as

you go along….

FORMAT

So far we have practised descriptive writing, a newspaper article, and a speechWhat other formats do you think you could be asked to write?• Reports• Letters• Emails

Letters

What are the features of letters?

• Address• Date• Yours faithfully- don’t know name• Yours sincerely- do know name

Writing a Letter

Here’s an example task:

Write a letter to your local council explaining why it is so important to have a Torbay Youth Advice Centre.

How to plan?Introduction Rephrase question – reference youth centre,

information – how it would be run

Para 1 Reasons why it would be a good idea (might be more than one paragraph)

Para 2 The effect it would have on the community

Para 3 Develop the centre- future ideasOR / ALSO balanced argument- acknowledge some bad points / barriers and overcome them

Conclusion Summary and ‘hope to hear from you…’ and ‘yours …’