Further Practice
Paper 1 Question 5
Focus: Description / Narrative Marks: 40 Time: 45 mins
Click on a topic below:
How are you marked?
The marks are divided into two main skills: Content & Organisation and Technical Accuracy.
Content & Organisation (24 marks) includes:
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Overall communication
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Tone and register
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Vocabulary and language techniques
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Structure
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Ideas
Technical Accuracy (16 marks) includes:
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Accuracy of spelling
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Variety of punctuation
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Accuracy of grammar
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Variety of sentences
The examiner will read your answer THREE times.
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First they'll decide how successful your overall communication is and decide on a level (L1-L4).
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Then they'll read again (looking at tone, language, structure and ideas) and decide on a final mark for Content & Organisation.
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Then they'll read it a final time and award a mark for Technical Accuracy. The two marks are added together.
If you confuse the story and description (e.g. using the picture in the wrong task or writing a story about a given topic instead of a description etc.) it won't usually affect your marks. The examiner will focus on the quality of your writing.
Common mistakes
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Not planning.
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Having no structure to your writing.
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Telling the reader what's happening rather than showing them through description.
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Using simple, boring language and punctuation.
How to succeed
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Plan the beginning, middle and end.
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Keep it simple!
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Focus on emotions (anger, fear, excitement etc.)
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Use a variety of language devices, punctuation and sentence types.
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Read some marked answers to see what makes a good level 3 description/narrative.
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Go to the Paper 1 practice papers and write some answers to Q5.
