Punctuation
1
90% of clauses make grammatical
sense
Words are not missed out or in the wrong order.
Writing makes sense
2
Sentences begin with capital letters
and end with full stops at least 50%
of the time
e.g. The old man walked unsteadily his eyes looked
tired. It needs a capital letter and full stop in the
middle. The old man walked unsteadily. His eyes
looked tired.
3
Sentences have capital letters and
full stops, question marks or
exclamation marks at least 75% of
the time
"Why did you do that" he asked. "Why did you do
that" he screamed. "Why did you do that?" he
asked. "Why did you do that!" he screamed.
4
Commas are used in lists
He bought a cake, a box of eggs, two rolls and
butter.
5
Sentence punctuation 90% correct
9 out of 10 sentences have capital letters and full
stops (or question marks, exclamation marks)
6
Commas are used to mark pauses in
the middle of sentences
She watched calmly, eating her sandwich. It needs
a short pause in the middle.
7
Speech marks are used to mark
speech
"Why did you do that?" he asked. "Why did you do
that!" he screamed.
8
95% of sentences are punctuated
correctly
19 out of 20 sentences have capital letters and full
stops (or question marks, exclamation marks)
9
Punctuation inside and outside
speech marks is correct 95% of the
time
"Why did you do that?" he said. "I thought we were
friends. How can you be so mean?"
10 Colons, brackets, semi-colons,
dashes, are used at times
Colons used to introduce lists. Semi-colons are
used to separate two very closely linked sentences;
they can sometimes replace a full stop.
11 A wide range of punctuation is used
to make the writing clear and easily
understood
All the above types of punctuation are used to make
the writing clear and easily understood.
Sentence structure
1 Short sentences with one
clause
The small dog ate the bone. The bone was very tasty.
2 1 or 2 pronouns instead of
nouns
The little girl ate the bun. It was very tasty and fruity. She
really liked it.
3 At least 1 question or
exclamation
The little girl ate the bun. It was very tasty and fruity. How do
you think she felt?
4 1 or 2 simple connectives
(and, but, so, then) Some
sentences have 1 or 2
subordinate clauses
The little girl ate the delicious fruity bun and licked her lips. She
felt full but guilty. Can you think why?.
5 Sentences are sometimes She stopped. What was that? A rustle in the bushes! She let
shorter and simple and
out one long hideous scream and ran, tripping over roots and
sometimes longer to create branches, not daring to look behind.
an effect
6 Sentence order changed
for effect (verb first,
subordinate clause first)
She stopped. What was that? A rustle in the bushes! Not
daring to look behind, she let out one long hideous scream
and ran, tripping over roots and branches. Or: She waited for
the pigs to come, rattling her bucket. This could change to:
She rattled her bucket impatiently, waiting for the pigs to
come. OR Impatiently she rattled her bucket, waiting for the
pigs to come.
Text structure
1 Some linked sentences and
clauses (when, because,
which, where, also, but,
however, nevertheless )
I felt hungry. Nevertheless I carried on playing football
because we were winning. However, I quite soon felt
exhausted.
2 Tenses of verbs appropriate
I am walking down the road and I ran into my old mate Ben.
These mix past and present tenses.
3 Sentences are grouped in
paragraphs to make the
meaning clearer
Paragraphs change when time or place changes. In a nonfiction text, each paragraph is about a different thing, and the
points or pieces of information are carefully grouped.
4 Paragraphs sometimes start
with words or phrases to
show links or a new
idea/time/mood
Paragraphs start with phrases such as: As a result, OR
Because of these facts OR Bearing this in mind OR It
is therefore clear that …. OR Now that the time for
hesitation was past, they sprang into action OR The
next task was not so easy. They needed to approach the
haunted castle at night.
5 Paragraph length and pace
are varied for effect
The paragraphs are different lengths and this fits in with the
reason that the writing has been organised into paragraphs.
This is especially easy in a story, because you can choose
how much action to put into each part. The paragraph may
end suddenly when there is a surprise.
Purpose and Audience (effect)
1
1 or 2 words or phrases which
make the audience or purpose
clear
Dear Sir, I am writing …, for a letter or Buy our
Bananas for an advert. Once upon a time for a fairy
tale. Starting with "Peoples' hatred of rats goes back
centuries." in a piece about why people hate rats.
2
3 or more words or phrases
which make it clear what the
audience or purpose is
Different parts of an argument start with connectives First of all, Next, Finally or Nevetheless, Additionally
linking the paragraphs
3
At least 3 adjectives and
adverbs chosen because they
fit the purpose of the text
The ones in the line above for an argument; Stories or
recounts - Next, later, subsequently, and descriptive
adjectives. Yesterday, Recent, in a newspaper report.
Precise adjectives describing a police suspect.
4
The purpose of the writing is
A story begins by setting the scene or using dialogue to
consistent - it doesn't change in help the reader understand the characters. A formal letter
different paragraphs
ends with Yours Sincerely
5
Dialogue uses less formal
language where appropriate
"Hello there Jim," I shouted. "What's up?" I could see
he was upset and I wondered why.
6
Formal or informal language is
used in the right places
Formal writing is used for: arguments, reports, formal
invitations and formal letters.
7
Addresses the reader directly
once
Use questions or comments to speak to the reader: "How
would you have felt?"
8
The common stylistic devices
of this kind of text are used at
least twice in each paragraph
Adverts address the audience or have jingles or catchy
phrases; Formal writing uses the passive voice and
formal vocab; Newspaper stories have brief summaries
and quotes from witnesses.
9
The pace of the writing is
altered to keep the reader's
attention
Short or long sentences are used to change the feel of the
text. A longer piece of description or explanation slows
the pace. A short question or brief bullet points can
increase it.
10 The audience is addressed
more than once or clearly
encouraged to take a point of
view
Surely no reasonable person can accept that! In an
argument. Or: You'll never guess what happened next
in a story
11 Some word-play, alliteration,
figurative language is used in a
controlled way appropriate to
the purpose
Dinah's Dolls Dress Daintily. The snake slithered
sinuously through the shrubbery. He leapt like a startled
gazelle. A kitten is a mischievous bundle of cotton wool.
12 Some adverbs, nouns or verbs
are chosen to express a more
precise meaning
She ran quickly to the phone and pressed the buttons.
Change to: She raced to the phone box, heart pounding,
and stabbed at the silver buttons, desperately dialling.