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.
Sentences
Sentences are made up of units called clauses.
A clause has a subject, a verb and often an
object
Subject:
Verb:
Object:
a person, place or thing
an action,
Receives the verb
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence only has one clause
Eg
A book fell on John’s foot
Compound Sentences
A 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 sentences
A 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 foot
While 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 Persuade
Speeches 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.
P
A
F
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
• Although
Sentence 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 speech
What 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 ideas
OR / ALSO balanced argument- acknowledge some
bad points / barriers and overcome them
Summary and ‘hope to hear from you…’ and ‘yours
…’
Conclusion