4.1.1

Overview - Section B

Test yourself

Paper 1, Section B: Creative or Descriptive Writing

In Section B of Paper 1, you will be given two questions - a written scenario and a picture stimulus - to choose from. You will select one thing to write about.

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Tips for answering Section B

  • Choose ONE task – do not do both!
  • Write in paragraphs.
  • Read the instructions very carefully – check if you are writing a description or a narrative piece.
    • A narrative piece follows a story line – it has action and tells the reader about some sort of experience that happened (either real or fake).
    • A descriptive piece uses more sensory detail (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to describe a place, person or feeling. There is no story line.
  • We will cover these two types of pieces in more detail later.
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Timings for Section B

  • Spend 10 minutes planning your ideas before you start writing your answer – this plan can take whatever form you like (spider diagram, bullet points, etc) because it will not be marked.
  • Spend 30 minutes writing your answer.
  • Spend 5 minutes checking – focus on spelling, punctuation, and whether or not your sentences make sense.
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Marks for Section B

  • Section B is worth 40 marks.
  • Spelling, punctuation and grammar is worth 16 marks.

Jump to other topics

1Key Terms

2Language Techniques

3Paper 1: Reading

4Paper 1: Writing

5Paper 2: Reading

6Paper 2: Writing

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