Writing composition, Year 8: more practice

Nothing earlier in the story led to it

提示Ask what the reader was given to prepare for it.

为什么An earned ending follows from events and clues the reader has already seen. A surprise that comes from nowhere feels like a cheat, however dramatic it is.

Readers may stop early, so they get the key facts first

提示Think about a reader who only has a moment.

为什么Ordering by importance lets a reader leave at any point and still know the essentials. A story builds towards its best moment, but an information text does not.

Present

提示The process is happening in the world right now, as it always does.

为什么Explanations of how things work use the present tense: 'water evaporates, then it condenses'. The past tense is for telling what happened on one occasion.

'This essay will argue that school uniform should stay, because it is fair and practical.'

提示Which one tells the reader where the piece is heading?

为什么A good introduction states the position and hints at the reasons to come. The first sentence could open an essay on any side of the debate.

Sum up the argument and end with a final thought or judgement

提示The reader has travelled somewhere since the opening.

为什么A conclusion that only repeats feels like standing still. Pulling the points together and ending on a judgement gives the piece finality.

However

提示Is the second paragraph agreeing with the first or pushing against it?

为什么'However' signals a change of direction, which is what the cost point does here. 'Furthermore' would add another point on the same side.

It lists the points instead of connecting the ideas

提示Do these words say how one idea relates to the next?

为什么Numbering only tells the reader the order. A better link picks up an idea from the end of the last paragraph and builds on it.

'My back aches from hauling the lord's hay all day.'

提示Which sentence uses words and a world the peasant would know?

为什么A role's vocabulary and details come from its time and life. 'Shift' belongs to modern working life, and it breaks the illusion.

'She was exhausted.'

提示One precise word can do the job of a weak word plus an intensifier.

为什么Piling on 'very' only adds volume. A stronger single word, like exhausted, carries the strength itself.

alliteration

提示Think of 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers'.

为什么Here the repeated 's' sound is soft and hushing, which suits snow. Poets repeat sounds on purpose to create a mood.