How many
marks?
How long
to spend
on it?
What do
you get
marked
for?
Paper 1 Section B
Narrative and Descriptive Writing
What do you think are the most
important things to remember?
Aim for two sides of A4
Important to remember:
PLAN PLAN PLAN: know where you are going
Techniques
Vocabulary
Connections
Openings
Punctuation (and paragraphing!)
Sentence Structure
Make sure you check your SPAG!
When describing or narrating, you could
include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Time
Place
Weather
Sounds
Then narrow to
detail
Sights
Smells
Objects/People
Start ‘wide’ and establish
setting and atmosphere
Then narrow to
detail
Techniques
What
language
features shall
I use?
Simile
Metaphor
Plosives
Fricatives
Personification
Taboo
Anthropomorphism
Onomatopoeia
Sibilance
Alliteration
Archaic
Assonance
Verbs
Oxymorons
Consonance
Hyperbole
Nouns
Colloquialisms / slang
anaphora
Modifiers (Adjectives
and Adverbs)
Personal pronouns
Neologisms
Emotive language
Great vocabulary you know
from the poetry…
Vocabulary
Connections
How have you started each of your
paragraphs?
Do they connect with each other?
How does each paragraph end?
Openers
Do all your sentences start in different ways?
• And there it was. The willow tree emerged through the mist.
• But how could the river have changed colour so completely?
• Or perhaps we were in the wrong place?
•
•
•
•
Before the boat docked, I could already smell death.
Everywhere I looked, there were dead flies.
Because my clothes were sticking to me, I struggled to move.
Like deadly bullets, the rain peppered the boat.
• Stumbling forward, I tripped over another vine.
• Shouting in shock, I tried to call out to the figure ahead.
• Stopping the engine, I squinted blindly for a face
I recognised through the thick air.
Initial
position
conjunction
Starting
with an
adverbial
clause
Start with
a verb
Punctuation
What
punctuation
shall I use?
Exclamation mark: to express a strong emotion
Question mark: to challenge / or invite the reader’s point of view / to show
uncertainty
Dash: to create a more
dramatic / emphatic
pause
Inverted comma: to suggest sarcasm
or
to undermine a point of view
Semi-Colon: to link two related ideas
Parenthesis: to add extra information / commentary
Ellipsis: to create suspense / a cliffhanger
Colon: to set up a list or isolate a phrase for emphasis
Sentence Structure
Declarative sentence
What
sentence
structures /
types shall I
use?
Exclamative sentence
Fragmented sentence
Minor sentence
Imperative sentence
Interrogative sentence
compound sentence
Simple sentence
complex sentence
Multi-clausal sentence
Check your work thoroughly.
T
V
C
O
P
S
And don’t forget SPAG!
14/24
I reached up and grabbed the first branch. It
was slippery but I managed to get myself up
onto it. The wind was blowing and the tree
was rocking back in forth. I could already
feel the excitement as I started my journey.
The rain started up harder and I could feel
the weight of just a few drops. I reached the
part of the tree that had only a few branches
and it was a challenge.
18/24
I reached up to grab the first moist branch. It
was slippery but I managed to hoist myself
up onto it. The wind was blowing rapidly and
the tree was rocking back in forth but I didn’t
care. I could already feel the exhilaration as
I started my dangerous journey.
The rain started up harder and I could feel
the weight of just the few drops. I reached
the part of the tree that had only a few
branches. It was a challenge.
23/24
I regained consciousness, eyes still closed. My expectations of
what I was to visualise in a moment were limited to a remote,
unheard location amidst nowhere. A sudden thought of hope
gave me some optimism, as I finally decided to discover my
surroundings. I lifted my head, one eye opening at a time,
absolute beauty, by all the meaning of the word. My eyes
reached a point where they couldn’t open wider anymore,
signifying the magnificent sights ahead of them. There was
everything one would see in a dream, it defined nature.
My feet burned with new blisters as my wet boots crunched
through green and pine needles. A cold breeze rustled the trees
and raised goose bumps on my arm. Through the pain of the
cold, my eyes remained astonished as they filled up with tears
representing the awe- inspiring scenery.
Begin in action
• Speech/Movement/Danger/Peril
• Then move towards calmness/resolution
Sweeping dangerously through the dense
undergrowth, the behemoth raged round
perilous corners, freezing water crashing
against the lush, innocent landscape…
…Eventually, the water resided, slipping into
a calm slumber as it disappeared into the
hazy distance beyond the forest.
External scene to internal scene
Silently, the majestic birds strafed through
the lush canopy; the golden sun reflected
off their sweeping wings which flashed like
diamonds. Leaves rustled in the gentle
breeze…
…But below a river raged…
Internal scene to external scene
Underneath the surface of the raging water,
the current dragged helpless stones violently
along the bottom of the swollen riverbed.
Bouncing and smashing, these victims of the
powerful River God were quickly eroded, tiny
fragment by tiny fragment…
…Outside, the calming trees gently swayed
in the warm breeze, rustling occasionally only
when their dance was interrupted by the swift
movement of one of the forest’s inhabitants.
Mystery to resolution
• Begin with a problem
• Build to a conclusion/resolution
What was that noise? A low, dangerous
murmuring could be heard in the distance but it
seemed to be gaining in momentum. It rumbled
almost. And there was a smell… something had
changed in the forest…
…As I pushed the heavy, leathery leaf away, I
finally saw the monster and heard its terrifying
roar, more intensely now. The river raged before
me.
T
V
C
O
P
S
Preparation tonight …
Use your practice papers to find examples of
language to analyse, look for STOPSEC,
write on the left of each paragraph a focus
and a .
Remind yourself of the rubric for each
question: timings, order (if you are changing
it) and what you are being tested on.
Take any picture and practise writing the
opening using TVCOPS. When you have
finished, re-write it to make it PERFECT.