Imaginative writing 2012 tasks

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Imaginative writing

SECTION B – Imaginative Writing
TASK A: Personal and Imaginative Writing

1 What hopes and ambitions do you have for your future?
AND

Either

2 (a) Write the words of an interview with an older person about the ambitions they had whenyoung and how
far they have achieved them.
Or
(b) Write the words of a speech to your class describing your hopes for the world in ten years’time.
Or
(c) Write an extract from an autobiography in which the writer explores how a particular
experience influenced their ambitions.

TASK B: Prose Fiction
1 Write a story with the title ‘The Victims’.
AND
Either
2 (a) Write a newspaper obituary for one of the characters in your story.
Or
(b) Write a Wikipedia-style article about the incidents described in your story and their aftermath.
Or
(c) Write the words of an interview in which you answer questions on the composition and
creative process of your story.

Out of 30 in total.

Effective use of linguistic devices
Paragraphs varied for purpose and effect
Effects produced through structure, including:
o Confident opening
o Convincing ending
Precise, imaginative, ambitious vocabulary
Form and style suit the audience and purpose
Few Spelling Errors
Punctuation helps shape meaning
Wide range of sentence structures
Creative Writing Vocabulary

You must—Precise Precise, imaginative, ambitious vocabulary

A*-- uses precise vocabulary which is fully suited to the purpose of the writing, conveying subtlety of
thought and shades of meaning, and where appropriate is imaginative and ambitious in scope.

2

A-- uses imaginative vocabulary which is appropriate to the purpose of the writing, conveying some
subtlety of thought and shades of meaning, and where appropriate may show some ambition in
scope.

B-- uses varied vocabulary to create different effects which are mainly appropriate to the purpose of
the writing, conveying thought and meaning clearly.

C-- uses some variety of vocabulary to create different effects and to suit the purpose of the writing,
but which may be imprecise or fail to convey shades of meaning.

Candidate A

(a)
Write about a time when you faced a challenge in your life.

There comes a time in our lives where we all have to face important decisions and challenges maybe
taking examinations or starting a new job. For me, going to secondary school was my challenge.

This can be a stressful and nerve racking experience for any eleven year old, unlike most of the people
that started my school I didn’t know anyone from my previous primary school, so they already had
foundations and memories and did not really have to make new friends as importantly as I did.

Before I knew it the six weeks holiday was over and the morning arrived with the new shoes and the
shiny black blazer. Then I had to be walked to school by my Mum. I was reluctant to leave the comfort
of knowing somebody but somehow found that extra confidence to walk into the school hall full of
strangers. Luckily for me I attended a local dancing school on a Saturday morning and there was a girl
from there. I straight away went and sat next to her and was very relieved. Little did I know we were
sectioned off into four groups as they were the four houses our school put us in, Stratford, Coventry,
Kenilworth and Warwick, and I had humiliated myself by walking into Kenilworth’s turf instead of my
own heroic Stratford house.

After having a sixth form girl come show me the correct way in front of everyone and show me to my
rightful place, I found that people started to come and talk to me and one girl especially called Yasmin
who was also alone, started making conversation. I thought I would be able to stick with her the rest
of the day, especially when our names were called out together for being in the same form.

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We spent the morning meeting our tutors and taking part in activities and games in order to get to
know each other. As we were learning more and more about each other, I was fairly confident by
lunch time I had made a friend in Yasmin, and got over being alone on my first day. Although, as I
soon found out, Yasmin had got friends in other houses and forgetting me she soon ran off to go meet
and play with them. I was too shy to go after her and introduce myself to a whole new group of
people, instead I just stood against a wall by myself as I did not know what else to do or where to go.
Looking back on this now I would never just stand against a wall by myself watching everybody
making friends and enjoying their lunch time but at the time my shyness took over and that was it.
Time passed slowly and there was still half an hour to go before I could be in the comfort of the
classroom with the people I recognised again. Then a girl suddenly came over to me and confidently
said “Hi I’m Josie, do you want to play with us?” I was so relieved, and I imediately went with her and
made friends with the other girls she was with. I continued to spend the rest of the day with them,
and to this day I am still really good friends with all the girls I met. Standing against that wall for half
an hour by myself forced me to reflect on how you need to face your fears and challenges that
happen, and not to wait for other people to come to you to break the silence. In future I decided, I
would make the first move.

b ii) Write a report for a local newspaper about someone who faced a challenge in life.

School student gained new record from running!!

A local student from ___________ Secondary School in _____________ has succeeded in running
straight for 24 hours for charity.

Tom Williams, 16, ran around the town centre with only 10 minute breaks every hour. The chosen
charity cancer research, is personally important to Williams as his Mother died from breast cancer
only one year ago after years of battling against the disease. In a recent interview, Williams stated
th
“My mother died just after my 15 birthday, all our family knew there wasn’t much time left, and I just
wanted to do something to make her proud of me and show how much we all still care and miss her.”
th
The student set off at 12pm on Tuesday 15 August and finished 12pm Wednesday. To ensure his
safety a family member followed him around slightly behind him, also taking snippits of film and
photographs for proof and memory. His uncle said, “I am so proud of my nephew, my sister was very
special in my life, and we grew up together and were always very close. Tom is a good nephew and I
treat him like he was my own, we are just really proud of him today.”

Williams managed to raise £483.86p towards Cancer Research. Sponsers included family members,
door to door fundraising and friends. As well as this, Williams managed to gain 500 fans on Facebook,
and sold t-shirts being made from school friends for support.

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We asked Williams how he thought of this idea and how he found the challenge, “My mother used to
run as a young teenager my age so I thought it would be a good way to remember her by. I trained for
months to try and be fit enough for the challenge; I didn’t want to let anybody down after I had
promised, especially to the charity. It took a lot of organisation and I was really pleased with
everybody elses support at school and my football club, this spurred me on to succeed and to really
do well.” He continued to say, “Now that I have done this, I feel like I can face any challenge given to
me, and I definitely would like to push myself further and do another charity event, maybe some
swimming. It was hard work but the feeling afterwards felt really good and knowing that I had done
this for a benefishial course felt even more worth while.” After informing the charity of the
youngsters effort, they personally went to congratulate and thank him. They commented, “We are
very grateful that we have such a dedicated member to the cause, and this money will do a lot of
good towards finding a cure. I am very sorry for his loss especially as he is so young. This is what
makes this story even more amazing, to put him through that much extreme pain and pace at that
age is brilliant. We can’t thank him enough, he is a credit to his family and his mother would be
proud.” This is a touching story and when asked how he will celebrate Tom answered modestly “We
are having a family meal tonight and then back to school.” We are sure he will be a hero at his school
as well as in his family’s eyes. We wish him well and believe this is not the last we have heard of this
young man. CommentaryThe candidate is generally competent in controlling the material and its
effect on the audience. There is a sense of purpose and direction, with the opening, development and
end appropriate to the form and purpose, although the use of third person plural is a little out of
place. Paragraphs are used to organise ideas. Complex sentences are used and occasionally more
adventurous vocabulary. Spelling and sentence punctuation are generally accurate with some
inconsistency in the use of commas within sentences and apostrophes. A good middle response.

Candidate B

2 (a) Write a story entitled ‘Lost’

Lost

Lush hedges in front and beside me, azure sky above, and the gentle crunching of gravel beneath my
feet. I am alone, away from it all.

But to me it’s not the serenity it appears. I'm stuck here, and I'm wishing myself out of this world. It
was fun for a while, when I started, but now... I'm just tired. I know that if I put my hand on one side I
can find my way out, but I don't know which side. One will take me further into the maze, one will
take me out, but I can't quite remember which one will do which. Not knowing is frustrating and
frightening.

What is a person meant to do in this kind of situation? All I can think is that I have to take a chance. I
won't get out by standing still; you can only get through a door by trying to open it, after all.

It isn't clear whether I'm deep inside or close to the edge of the maze; I'm quite disoriented, to tell the
truth, and the sky is completely clear. No clouds to navigate by, no features in this bizarre prison of
conspicuously placed wicker chairs and walls of green. There seem to be dead ends everywhere, and I
have strange feelings of deja-vu every time I turn a corner. Is that the same seat I passed a minute
ago, offering brief respite in exchange for wasted time? Maybe. Maybe not.

Decision time, I suppose. If I go in one general direction and find a dead end, that's no problem. I can
always try another direction. It isn't time wasted if I've at least tried, surely?

Trudging on. Hedge after hedge. Dead end after dead end.

It's been a while since I struck out and I have to say I'm not exactly overjoyed to realize I have made it
to the middle! I passed a small group of people going in the opposite direction; they seemed to know
what direction they wanted to go. I've always found it hard to understand that, really; how do you

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know you want to go somewhere without having been there first? Why do other people seem so
purposeful?

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"What path do you choose if you don't know where any of them lead?" I ask a man I suddenly come
upon resting on one of the wicker chairs, a book open on his lap. He smiles faintly through a
weathered, wrinkled face. "The one you like the most, obviously." He said it with a look of someone
who had seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and I? realised that if he could see the light, it was
already there. He opened his book again, (there’s been a change of tense from present to past here –
is it deliberate?) apparently unconcerned about how far from the exit he was, so long as the sun
bathed the world in warmth, and so long as his book had more pages to turn. I think to him it is just a
ride. For him, coming across a dead end and a chair is an opportunity to rest, survey, read of other
worlds. Not that scary at all, really. Just another way of looking at things. The setting sun suddenly
seems to wrap me up in an orange glow and I am suffused with warmth, and a sudden understanding
of what is happening to me.

I round another corner, and another, and another. Not focusing on the end makes things different.
I've started to notice things I hadn’t noticed before; patterns in the wickerwork of the chairs, textures
in the plants, light rippling through gaps in the foliage, and the intimate kiss of the breeze on my face.

I'd like to get out in the end, but until then, I don't mind being here. If I'm trying to escape then that's
enough; just because I haven't managed it yet doesn't mean I never will. It doesn't mean that I can't
enjoy the ride, either.

2 b(i) Write a series of web pages that give visitors further information about the setting of the
story

The Midlands AMAZING Maze!

Welcome to our website! - Homepage - History - Events

Homepage

The famous Midlands Maze will be open from July 10 till September 9 in 2010! After an incredibly
successful year our gardeners are extending the maze to make it even more challenging to visit! We
are also planning a range of additional attractions and events to make your day at the Midlands Maze
complete.

Here are some comments from this year’s visitors:

“We had such a giggle running round the maze, and when we finally got out it was wonderful to be
greeted with refreshments and a barbecue! We certainly felt we had earned it!”

“Good fun for the kids, got rid of some of that surplus energy!”

“Made me reflect on life… great being outdoors..”

“I won free tickets to Alton Towers for escaping first!”

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Make a date in your diary to spend the day with us! You will want to come again and again when you
see the beautiful rolling hills, delightful gardens and the babbling brook, known locally as the ‘Bubble
Snake’, because of the way it twists around the grounds! The Midlands Maze was originally built
in 1859 when the estate was the location for Earlsworth House, home to Lord and Lady Earlsworth.
The designer, Harry Ziegfeld, was also an important philosopher in his day and believed that ‘one had
to lose oneself to find oneself’. His original Amazing Maze was the incorporation of that philosophy.
Certainly it created a challenge for its visitors and became part of the summer festivities for the local
gentry of the time. Unfortunately the house was burnt down at the turn of the century and since then
the estate has been used for the local community. The tradition of the annual maze has continued
and the addition and devoted upkeep of the beautiful gardens became an added bonus for its regular
visitors. After some neglect during World War II Birmingham City Council took over the site and since
then it has been cherished by locals and become a firm favourite with those further afield too. Today
the site hosts a number of activities through the year, many aimed at children and families. Schools
also appreciate the diversity of nature available here and our resident nature experts. Day trips can be
organized through our Education Officer. A number of events and special themed days take place
over the year. Events Fancy Dress Maze Event - Nature Afternoon - Bonfire Spectacular! 23 July 2010
– Celebrate the beginning of the school holidays with our Fancy Dress Maze Event! Our guides will be
dressed in Victorian clothing to get you in the mood and there will be various Victorian activities for
you to try! A coconut stall, donkey rides, as well as the more sedate opportunity to try flower pressing
and embroidery! Feel free to dress up yourself as there will be a prize for the best effort! 2 August
2010 – We have the nature expert Donald Steed with us to take small groups on rambles around the
grounds. Please remember to book first and to bring a glass jam jar and lid to store all your
discoveries! 31 August 2010 – Our family evening of fun Firework Extravaganza. Have a go round the
maze, try our Hog Roast and end the evening with a spectacular display of fireworks. Commentary

Writing is accurate and well-structured, using paragraphs effectively and appropriately in both tasks.
The writer shows confidence in controlling the material and the effect on the audience. Sometimes the
writing is less controlled in the first task, but there is a sense of creative purpose and expression is
coherent, with a very convincing and deliberate ending here. Some flair is shown in the use of
extended metaphor and vocabulary is ambitious and conveys subtlety at times. The writing
demonstrates some flair in style and form in the second task, with exc

Mark scheme: you are marked out of 20, and then 10, and the marks are added up:

To get a top mark, you must:

This is for 20, 19, 18 marks out of 20

In this band a candidate’s writing:
• shows sophisticated control of the material and makes effective use of linguistic devices.
• demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the task, addressing it with complete relevance and adapting
form and style with fl air to suit audience and purpose.
• uses precise vocabulary which is fully suited to the purpose of the writing, conveying subtlety of thought and
shades of meaning, and where appropriate is imaginative and ambitious in scope.
• uses structure to produce deliberate effects, developing the writing coherently and skilfully from a confi dent
opening which engages the reader to a very convincing and deliberate ending.
• is organised into coherent paragraphs which are clearly varied for effect and used confidently to enhance the
ideas and meaning.

This is for 10, 9 marks out of 10.

In this band a candidate’s writing:
• uses a wide range of sentence structures to ensure clarity and to achieve specific effects relevant to the task.
• uses ambitious vocabulary with very few spelling errors.

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• uses punctuation consciously and securely to shape meaning, with very few errors.

Imaginative writing 2012 tasks

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