A Strange Holiday Encounter - Highgate School 11+
Imagine you have travelled to a strange new place on holiday. Write a short diary entry describing your destination and a person whom you encounter. (15 marks total: 10 marks for content, 5 marks for spelling, punctuation, and grammar)
You should try to make it clear:
- What the place is like
- What the person is like
- How you feel about them
You might like to:
- Use the senses
- Use a simile or a metaphor
💡 Writing Tips
- •
- Use a clear diary voice with first-person feelings.
- •
- Describe both the unusual destination and the person met.
- •
- Use sensory details and one striking comparison.
- •
- Show how your opinion of the person develops.
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- Finish with a personal thought suited to a diary.
📝 Sample Answer
Tuesday, 12 August
Dear Diary,
Today I arrived in the strangest village I have ever seen. Its white houses cling to the side of a steep cliff, and narrow staircases twist between them like ribbons. The sea below is such a brilliant blue that it almost hurts to look at it. Everywhere, I can smell salt, warm bread and the sweet perfume of unfamiliar flowers.
While exploring the harbour, I met an old woman who was repairing colourful fishing nets. She wore enormous round spectacles and had a laugh as bright as the bells on the boats. When I asked why there were little wooden birds hanging above every doorway, she told me that the villagers believed they guided lost travellers home.
At first, I thought she was teasing me, but then she pressed a tiny carved bird into my hand. 'For when you forget which way to go,' she said with a mysterious smile.
I liked her immediately. She seemed kind, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she knew something I didn't. I've put the little bird on my bedside table. Every time the wind blows, it turns towards the window.
I wonder why.
Did You Know?
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