Writing task
Composition (50 marks)
Write on one of the following in prose in either fiction or non-fictional form. Credit will be given for quality, not quantity.
You should aim to display imagination in your ideas as well as your use of English expression / imagery / style / variety.
Descriptive power and/or characterisation is rewarded more than complexity of plot.
Option 1: ‘When he looked in the mirror, he saw only the back of his own head.’
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
The Mirror That Showed the Back of His Head is a surreal narrative task that tests controlled imagination, plausible character responses, narrative unity. Develop one impossible idea convincingly, through character reactions and controlled imagery.
- controlled imagination
- plausible character responses
- narrative unity
- sentence control
Requirements to keep in mind
Recommended writing time: approximately 60 minutes (as indicated in the paper/section); Writing marks: 50 (subject to separately awarded SPaG marks); Published task/option: 1 (where the source offers alternatives, pupils answer the paper's specified number, not all)
Plan your response
- Develop one impossible idea convincingly, through character reactions and controlled imagery.
- Plan a clear beginning, development and ending within the time available.
- Use precise vocabulary and vary sentence lengths where appropriate.
- Proofread spelling, punctuation and paragraphing before finishing.
Check your response against the task requirements. Leave time to review sentence clarity, punctuation and spelling.
Short atoply teaching example
Written by atoply, not an official school answer or mark scheme. This short illustration shows selected techniques. It does not set a target length or expected mark for the timed task.
Reveal example and teaching notes
For three mornings, Daniel thought the mirror was playing tricks with the light. He stood before it, lifted his hand and watched the back of his own head turn away. There was his collar, his untidy hair, the tiny scar beneath his ear. Never his face. When he placed a second mirror behind him, both reflections vanished. He went downstairs and asked his wife whether he looked different. She studied him for a long moment before saying, 'You haven't looked at me properly in years.' He returned to the bathroom. For the first time, the mirror seemed less strange than his life.
Learn from the example
- The example focuses on one situation, keeping the action easy to follow. Notice how a detail, action or decision moves that situation forward.
- Use the task's requirements to plan the development and ending of your own response; an opening alone does not demonstrate a complete story arc.