Writing task
Spend 15 minutes on Question 4 (creative writing), including the time you take to check your answer to ensure accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Question 4 Write a short description about a place which is busy and noisy, but becomes quiet and peaceful.
You should try to make it clear:
- where you are
- how the place changes
- how your feelings change
You might like to:
- use the senses
- use a simile or a metaphor
- use a range of sentence structures for effect
(10 marks for content, 5 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar.)
Practise this exact question with personalised feedback on your writing.
Understand the task
This contrasting setting description prompt chiefly tests sensory observation, atmosphere and imagery and controlled structure. Use a clearly marked transition in sound, light and mood rather than describing two unrelated places.
- sensory observation
- atmosphere and imagery
- controlled structure
- accurate language
Requirements to keep in mind
Writing time: 15 minutes; Marks available: 15
Plan your response
- Use a clearly marked transition in sound, light and mood rather than describing two unrelated places.
- Plan the response around the task’s specific instructions.
- Use deliberate paragraphing, sentence variety and concrete detail.
- Reserve time for spelling and punctuation checks.
- Compare with the official paper for any accompanying text or picture.
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
At four o’clock the market belonged to noise. Traders called across their stalls, baskets scraped on cobbles and bicycles rang their bells as they edged through the crowd. I stood beside the bakery, overwhelmed by the movement.
Then the shutters began to fall. One stallholder folded his striped awning; another swept stray leaves into a pile. The last customers disappeared beneath the railway bridge. Soon I could hear the tiny splash of water in the fountain, a sound that had been hidden all afternoon. Long shadows stretched across the empty square. I sat on a bench and watched a sparrow investigate a forgotten crumb. The market seemed to be breathing out, and so was I.
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.