KS3 Writing Revision Sheet
Types of sentences
Simple sentence:
contains only one piece of information …
e.g.
‘The cat sat on the mat.’
Top tip: these can be very dramatic and build suspense. Fragments or minor sentences can also be used for this
purpose, e.g. Stop!
Compound sentences:
contain more than one piece of information. The words ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘or’ are used to join two simple sentences
together.
e.g.
‘The cat sat on the mat and licked his paw.’
Complex sentences:
also contain more than one piece of information. They are made up of several parts or clauses. At least one of these
will be a main clause, which contains the main information of the sentence. There will also be one or more
subordinate clauses which give extra information about what is happening. The subordinate clause cannot make
sense on its own. There are numerous ways of making complex sentences – some are listed below:
An embedded subordinate clause (this is sometimes called a parachute clause):
e.g.
The cat, who was eyeing my goldfish hungrily, needed lots of food.
Beginning with a subordinate clause:
e.g. Eyeing my goldfish hungrily, the cat paced back and forth beside the
fish bowl.
Surrounding the main clause with subordinate clauses:
e.g. Even though he had just eaten half a tin of cat food, Felix paced back and forth beside the fish bowl, eyeing my
goldfish hungrily,
Conjunctions
WAASSABIE conjunctions can be used to make complex sentences. Conjunctions are a bit like connectives but they
don't usually need commas after them.
When(ever)
While
Although
After
Since
As
Because
If
Even though
Using Commas
Here are the rules for using commas:
• to separate a sub clause from a main clause (if the sub-clause is at the start or in the middle)
• to separate items in a list;
• to separate the speech from the tag in direct speech;
• to separate transition connectives from the rest of the sentence;
• before FANBOYS in compound sentences
Magic Words / Wow Words
Adding powerful vocabulary, particularly adverbs and verbs to your description will help to bring it to life in your
reader's imagination:
Distant figures delicately stumble forward, thawing in the morning glow.
Descriptive Writing Devices
The following devices can be used to help make your descriptive writing more powerful. Learn the acronym SOAP
AMAZES and what the terms mean. You should look up how they can be used. You should have some examples of
these in your exercise book but you might need to use Google to help you with others.
Similes - try to create imagery by comparing your images to something else using the words 'as' or 'like'. For example,'
as cold as ice'.
Onomatopoeia - include sound effects like 'crash'.
Alliteration - try to use words that start with the same sounding letter near to each other to create effects. For
example, 'the sun scorched my skin'.
Personification - like a metaphor but describes an object as if it was human.
Active nouns - make nouns actually do something, e.g. 'It was raining' could become 'Rain splashed down'
Metaphors - try to create imagery by comparing your images to something else. For example,' the wind was a slap in
the face'.
Adverbs - use powerful words to describe how something is done (see below)
Zoom in and out of images to pick up on fine detail or to put an image in a wider perspective.
Expanded noun phrases - add lots of adjectives and adverbs to a noun to create a clearer picture.
Senses - include descriptions of the sounds, the smells, the sights, the feel and maybe even the tastes of your scene.
AFORESTER Devices
Language feature
Definition
Anecdote
A description of an event
used as evidence to back up a
point.
Facts
A statement that sounds like
it can be proven.
Opinions
A statement that might sound
like a fact but is only one
person’s point of view.
Rhetorical Question A question that forces the
reader to think of an idea.
Exaggeration
An over-the-top statement
that helps to emphasise an
opinion.
Second Person.
When the writer sounds like
they are talking directly to
the reader.
Statistics
A fact that uses numbers and
figures to back it up.
Triples / Tricolons
A group of three words or
phrases – used to emphasise
a point.
Words and phrases that make
Emotive Language
make the reader feel
emotions such as joy, shock,
worry or nostalgia.
Repetition /
Words or phrases that are
Repeated sentence repeated to drill home a
openings
point.
Example
Just the other day, I was getting ready for school and I realised
that I hadn't been keeping track of the time and ended up
arriving late. I thought to myself: "If only I had a watch."
The concept of time has been part of society for millions of years.
Personally, I think it is irresponsible to go through a day without
keeping track of time.
Am I the only one that feels the need to keep track of time?
Nobody wears watches nowadays and that's why everybody is
always late.
Don't tell me, you aren't thinking the same. You know you need it
in your life.
It's hard to believe but, according to research, only 35% of
teenagers actually own a watch.
It's classy, stylish and reliable.
My grandfather used wear a watch every day of his life. It was
buried with him when he died.
This is a watch that will make everyone around you jealous. This
is a watch that will help you to keep on top of life's demands. This
is a watch that will change your life forever.
Paragraphs
Paragraphs should be structured using the traffic light system:
Green: Go. This means write a topic sentence that introduces the topic you will explore in your paragraph.
Make sure you start a new paragraph if you change topic.
Amber: Keep the engine going. This means back up your point in your topic sentence. Develop this idea,
offer some explanations or give some evidence to prove your point.
Red: Stop. This means write a sentence that clearly shows the paragraph has come to an end. Try to make
links back to the topic sentence or offer a kind of conclusion to your point. You might also make links to
another paragraph.
PAF
When you are given a test question, you need to decode it. That means, work out what it is really asking you. For
writing questions, this means working out the:
Purpose: What are you trying to achieve with your piece of writing? Are you trying to persuade your audience to do
something? Are you trying to advise them on how to behave in a situation? It might be that you are just trying to
entertain them.
Audience: Who are you aiming your writing towards? You should change your style of writing to suit your audience?
For example, if you are writing to the head teacher, you should write formally; if you're writing to your friends, you
writing would be chatty and it might use some humour. If you can't work out who your audience is, just assume it's
your teacher.
Format: This means what kind of style is your writing? For example, is it a letter, leaflet, speech, story or magazine
article? You must make sure you think about the features of these formats before you start writing.