Writing composition, Year 11: rhetorical devices, given information and timed writing

antithesis

提示Think of the device in which two balanced phrases pull in opposite directions.

为什么Antithesis puts opposites in matching grammar so that the contrast rings: 'best' against 'worst', in two clauses of the same shape. In an argument it makes a choice sound stark and memorable.

Parenthesis

提示The sentence would still make sense with it lifted out.

为什么'The council (as usual) said nothing.' The aside lets a writer slip in a comment, a fact or a joke without starting a new sentence. The plural is 'parentheses', which is also a name for round brackets.

The pair of dashes

提示Look at the punctuation inside the sentence that sets the aside apart, and name the marks used.

为什么The dashes mark a parenthesis. They are more emphatic than brackets, so the aside ('once the pride of this county') is thrown forward instead of tucked away, which sharpens the contrast with 'open sewers'.

One, at the turning point of the argument

提示Think about frequency: what happens to the effect of a technique when it appears constantly?

为什么A rhetorical device should strengthen a point, not decorate the page. One well-placed question makes the audience stop and think; eleven of them sound like a quiz.

Last

提示Think of the climactic position, where the audience's final impression forms.

为什么A group of three builds: the final item carries the stress of the sentence and stays in the listener's ear. Writers often make it the longest or the most serious of the three.

No: reorder and reword them for the new reader

提示Think about who reads a leaflet and whether the notes were drafted for that audience.

为什么Writing from given information means making it your own piece: choose what this reader needs, put the most useful things first, and say it in words that suit the new form.

The annual budget

提示Which fact would matter to adults and not to ten-year-olds?

为什么Selecting is the first step. Opening hours and the story club are things a ten-year-old can use; the budget matters to councillors, not to this audience.

plagiarism

提示The term for a serious academic offence in coursework; it comes from a Latin word for kidnapper.

为什么Using the facts you are given is the task; lifting the sentences they came in is plagiarism. Put the information in your own words, and use quotation marks for any phrase you keep.

B

提示Which version has been rewritten in plain words for the audience?

为什么Version B keeps the fact (25% is a quarter) and drops the official vocabulary. The information is the same; the words now suit pupils and parents.

plan; check

提示Name the stages that come either side of drafting.

为什么Both papers print the reminder in Section B: plan your answer, and leave enough time to read your work through at the end. A common split is about 5 minutes, 35 minutes and 5 minutes.

Technical accuracy

提示Think about which mark-scheme heading covers errors you could catch in a final read.

为什么Five minutes cannot rebuild an argument, but it can catch missing full stops, comma splices and misspellings. Those belong to the 16 marks for technical accuracy on each paper.

20

提示The specification fixes the same figure for every exam board.

为什么AO6 is worth 16 marks on each paper: 32 of 160. That makes accuracy worth more than any single reading question, and it is the same on every exam board.

Cross it through

提示Think of a simple mark that tells the examiner to disregard it.

为什么The papers tell you to do all rough work in the answer book and to cross out any of it that should not be marked. A plan left uncrossed can be confused with the answer itself.

Writing a short conclusion

提示Think about what gives a piece a sense of completeness when time is nearly gone.

为什么Organisation is part of the 24 marks for content and organisation, and a piece that simply stops has no shape. Two closing sentences that return to your main claim finish the structure.