Writing question
Write about your first impressions of a house that you have visited. (This could be your own house, or that of a friend or family member.) [25]
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
First impressions of a house should emerge through a few defining sights, sounds and feelings. Contrast expectations with what the narrator discovers on entering.
- setting
- emotional response
- sensory detail
- personal voice
Requirements to keep in mind
Describe first impressions of a visited house; 25 marks.
Plan your response
- Describe your first moments at the house.
- Use several senses, not just sight.
- Pick distinctive objects or rooms.
- Explain how your first impression changes or stays the same.
Check your response against the task requirements. Leave time to review sentence clarity, punctuation and spelling.
Original atoply example response
Written by atoply, not an official school answer or mark scheme. Other successful responses are possible.
Reveal example and teaching notes
The first thing I noticed about my grandmother’s new house was the blue front door. Its paint was bright enough to look cheerful even beneath a rainy sky, and a brass knocker shaped like a lion guarded the centre.
Inside, the house felt wonderfully different from our flat. The hallway was narrow, but it smelled of warm bread and furniture polish. An old grandfather clock stood beside the stairs, ticking steadily as if it were counting every visitor. Colourful rugs softened the wooden floor, while photographs of relatives I barely recognised crowded the walls.
I followed Grandma into the sitting room. Sunlight fell across a faded green sofa, and an enormous bookshelf reached almost to the ceiling. Everywhere I looked, there was something interesting: a painted teapot, a model sailing ship or a vase filled with dried lavender. It was not perfectly tidy, yet it felt welcoming.
My favourite discovery was the little window seat overlooking the garden. Raindrops glittered on the leaves outside, and I could imagine reading there for hours.
At first, the house had seemed unfamiliar. By the time Grandma offered me a slice of freshly baked bread, however, I felt as though it had been waiting for me all along.
Learn from the example
- The voice connects experience with thoughts or feelings, making the response personal rather than a detached report.
- Develop the link between a particular detail and the narrator's reflection. Keep the requested diary, recount or monologue form in your own answer.