Writing task
Write a story that begins with these exact words: “That annoying dog,” mother said without passion.
Time: 30 minutes (as indicated for this published task).
Marks: 25.
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
The Dog Who Ruined the Quiet Morning is a dialogue-led narrative task that tests dialogue, characterisation, story development. Explore why the dog is troublesome and lead to a believable change or revelation.
- dialogue
- characterisation
- story development
- punctuation
Requirements to keep in mind
Recommended writing time: approximately 30 minutes (as indicated in the paper/section); Writing marks: 25 (subject to separately awarded SPaG marks); Published task/option: 2 (where the source offers alternatives, pupils answer the paper's specified number, not all)
Plan your response
- Explore why the dog is troublesome and lead to a believable change or revelation.
- 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
'That annoying dog,' mother said without passion. Outside, Buster barked for the seventh time. I went to the window expecting another squirrel, but he was standing beside the shed, staring at the door. When I called him, he did not move. I opened the shed and heard a faint scratching from beneath the floorboards. A tiny kitten had fallen through a gap and could not climb out. We lifted the loose board together and carried the shivering creature inside. Mum looked down at Buster and sighed. 'Perhaps,' she said, 'he isn't quite so annoying after all.'
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.