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.
Question/option 5: The guitarist.
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
The Guitarist is a character sketch task that tests character observation, action, imagery. Reveal a musician’s history through gesture, sound and a small meaningful moment.
- character observation
- action
- imagery
- sentence variety
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: 5 (where the source offers alternatives, pupils answer the paper's specified number, not all)
Plan your response
- Reveal a musician’s history through gesture, sound and a small meaningful moment.
- 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
The old guitarist sat beneath the railway clock with a case open at his feet. His fingers were crooked, but they moved across the strings with extraordinary care. Commuters stepped around him, scarcely looking up. At half past six a little boy stopped, holding his mother's hand. 'My grandad used to play that,' he said. The guitarist smiled without breaking the tune. For the length of one song, the station seemed less hurried. When he finished, the boy placed a paper star in the case. The guitarist folded it carefully into his coat pocket.
Learn from the example
- Concrete details build an impression of the subject. Notice how those choices work together rather than reading as a list of general adjectives.
- The viewpoint controls what the reader notices. Choose details and an order that sustain the task's requested perspective and atmosphere.