Writing task
Write a story or descriptive composition on the theme “The Need to Slow Down”. Choose your own approach and spend some time planning.
Time: 45 minutes (as indicated for this published task).
Marks: 25.
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
The Need to Slow Down is a reflective narrative task that tests reflection, pacing, imagery. Use pace deliberately: hectic opening sentences can contrast with a calmer ending.
- reflection
- pacing
- imagery
- structure
Requirements to keep in mind
Recommended writing time: approximately 45 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
- Use pace deliberately: hectic opening sentences can contrast with a calmer ending.
- 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
I hurried through breakfast, hurried onto the train and hurried down the corridor towards my meeting. The city seemed to push everyone forward. When my phone died, I stopped beneath a tree to find a charger. Above me a blackbird was singing. A little girl nearby was showing her father a leaf whose veins shone in the sunlight. I had walked past this square for years without noticing it. There was nothing urgent I could do for the next few minutes. For once, I sat down and listened.
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.