Question 3 Skills: Extended Response to Reading | English Language for GCSE/IGCSE - Year 11 PDF Download

Introduction

In this assignment, you'll create a written piece based on the content of Text C. You'll be given a choice of six different writing styles or formats.

• A letter
• A report
• A journal entry
• A speech
• An interview
• An article

There are 25 marks available for this extended response: up to 15 marks are available for the content of your answer, and up to 10 marks are available for the quality of your writing. The following guide will cover the main skills you need to demonstrate in order to answer this question successfully:

• Selecting and developing details from a text
• Language and tone

Selecting and developing details from a text

This assignment demands the creation of a written composition using insights and specific elements extracted from Text C. However, it's not merely about recounting the text verbatim, quoting directly, or duplicating details. You're evaluated based on your aptitude to pick pertinent information from the text and then elaborate on these details in the specified writing style. Crucially, this involves utilizing hints and evidence in the text to aid in forming judgments about characters and situations, and subsequently expanding on the chosen details with creativity.
The initial step will consistently involve the bullet points provided in the question. These serve as directives, indicating what aspects to concentrate on and what to emphasize regarding Text C. Let's consider the given instance, which concerns a student excursion to the historic Greek location of Delphi.

In this instance, the assignment instructs you to adopt the perspective of a student participating in the tour. The first bullet point specifies the requirement to locate details regarding the excursion and the student's sentiments leading up to the visit to Delphi.
To uncover this information, we need to analyze the initial segment of the passage. Although the narrator is the teacher and not the student, we must employ inference to deduce details concerning the trip and the student's emotions regarding it.

Subsequently, our task is to "develop" the pertinent details within the confines of the passage, assuming the perspective of the "student."

Every development point extrapolates the pertinent details from the passage and employs logical inferences, grounded in the information provided, to elaborate on the concepts from the student's perspective. This notion of a narrative voice will be explored in greater detail in the subsequent section.

Language and Tone

To succeed in this task, it's crucial to utilize a register that suits the chosen format of writing. This entails adapting your tone, language, and expression to align with the intended context. It's important to identify the specific point of view from which you're writing and maintain it consistently throughout your response, even if it differs from the original "speaker" in the text.
This is referred to as your narrative voice. You're expected to mirror the attitude of the character in the text within your response and uphold this voice and style consistently. For instance, if you're writing as a student composing a letter to their parents, it would be appropriate to adopt a slightly less formal tone and incorporate some colloquialisms.
Your language and tone serve as the means to convey the format you've been tasked with writing in. In the exam, you might encounter six possible formats:

• A letter
• A report
• A journal entry
• A speech
• An interview
• An article

Since more marks are allocated for meeting the reading assessment objectives compared to the writing ones, it's not necessary to overly concern yourself with the layout details of the various writing styles. For instance, while it's customary to begin a letter with "Dear..." and sign off appropriately, and if you're tasked with writing an interview, using the bullet points as "questions" is advisable, you don't need to incorporate headings, taglines, or subheadings for other formats.
While your selection of register will primarily be influenced by the task and the character you're instructed to write as, the following guidelines are generally beneficial:

For exemplary responses in each format, refer to the respective guides:

• Letter: A model answer for Question 3 in a letter format.
• Report: A model answer for Question 3 in a report format.
• Journal: A model answer for Question 3 in a journal format.
• Speech: A model answer for Question 3 in a speech format.
• Interview: A model answer for Question 3 in an interview format.
• Article: A model answer for Question 3 in an article format.

Rewriting a Text

Using the Question tool from the Critical Reading Tools can indeed be helpful for clarifying the task at hand:

• Who are you writing as?: Determine the role you're assuming.
• What are you writing about?: Identify the subject matter.
• What are the key facts from the text and what is the purpose of the writing?: Pinpoint essential details from the text and understand the aim of the writing.
• Where has it taken place?: Envision the setting.
• When did it happen?: If the timeframe isn't explicit, you can extrapolate or invent it.
• Why is this being written?: Understand the motivation behind the writing and consider the intended audience.
• How should you format your answer?: Pay attention to the specified format or form of writing outlined in the question, ensuring your response adheres to it appropriately.