Forms and Features of Writing iGCSE First Language English - 0500
Formal letter
The greetings ( Dear Mr Sam,)
Your opening sentence should get to the point straight away- why are you writing the letter?
Avoid any language that seems as casual or chatty
Include all the relevant details
Each point is well developed and is given a separate paragraph
Have a clear structure is essential when writing a letter
Ending a letter:
o Before you sign off and end your letter, make sure that you provide a clear course of
action for the reader.
Making a complaint? Make it clear that you need a reply
o (If you used someone’s name, end with ‘Yours sincerely,’.
o If you didn't use their name, you used ‘Sir/Madam’ instead, so end with ‘Yours
faithfully)
Formal report
Formal reports are written to provide information, analyze an issue, or make recommendations.
Some examples of formal reports include:
Inspection Report
Safety Report
Compliance Report
Audit
Incident Report
Annual Report
Situational Report
The formal report should contain:
The company name
Name of company the report was prepared for
Name and title of the preparer
Date
The information that is being reported should be stated in the rest of the report
Interview
1. One person asks the questions and the other answers. Not an equal conversation
2. Answer need to be detailed; include lots of information that you have read in the passage
3. Purpose of the interview is to Inform and Persuade
4. Could lay it out like a script, using colon, stage directions in brackets, relying on punctuation
for effect.
5. You can also simply rewrite the question down and answer them but make sure to clearly
show that they are different questions.
6. Semi-formal language depending on the type of interview
Forms and Features of Writing iGCSE First Language English - 0500
Journal Entry
1. Write in first person
2. Date at the top
3. Give a clear sense of writer’s personality and explain their feelings
4. Focus on key moments or incidents in their world
5. Provide a sense of time
6. Varied Punctuation
7. Varied Sentence types
8. Focus more on external, objective and factual
Speech Script
1. Introduce yourself and know your audience
2. Make a great opening statement(use rhetorical question, surprising statement, famous quote etc.)
3. Structure your speech into introduction, main body and conclusion
4. Begin every paragraph with a topic sentence
5. Express your opinion
6. Write from the 1st person and engage your audience at all time
7. Use personal details and anecdotes, along with a variety of language features
8. Focus on the topic
Source-[Link]
gcse-exam
News Report
1. Headline (This will probably be given in the exam)
Should catch your attention
Sums up the story
2. Byline
Writer’s name
Writer’s Specialty, e.g. sports, food, crime
Current events
3. Placeline
Where the story begins / sets
4. Lead
The opening section
Gives the most important information
Should answer most of the 5W's
5. Body
Provides details on the event
More important details come first
Simple statements (should be true and not made up)
6. Quotation
Forms and Features of Writing iGCSE First Language English - 0500
Quote on quote what somebody actually said
Makes the report more accurate
Adds the feeling of being ‘at the scene’
Paragraph #1
Who, What , When, Where, Why
Should tell the reader the main events
Paragraph #2
Tell events in order from start to end
Factual (unbiased)
Include eye witness quote
Use time connectives as much as you can (after, later that day, at the same time).
Paragraph #3
End with a prediction (e.g 'police are now investigating’..etc )
Don’t: use personal opinion
Do: use informative and formal language
Magazine Article
Plan your content
Use a headline that grabs the reader’s attention
Introduction:
o Begin in an engaging way which doesn’t necessarily make the topic instantly clear
o An effective intro often starts with a question and uses the words in the title. It
encourages the readers to continue reading When we use a question, this is followed
by a transition sentence which prepares the reader for what the article is about
E.g. Will there ever be a day when we all become vegetarians? Perhaps, it’s
time to consider the possibility of changing your diet.
Main body:
o Explore the story in detail, exploring ideas and information on the topic which will
continue to keep the reader's attention throughout.
o Start of the body:
Begin with a general explanation of the problems of your question or topic.
Use adverbial time phrases - nowadays, recently, until now, previously
Conclusion:
o Finish the article with impact but also make your overall thoughts clear on the topic.
o The purpose for the ending is
To summarize the article
To express your own opinion
Use a variety types of sentences and sentence starters
Use complex sentences and relative clauses
Use different lengths for each paragraph
Use transitional sentences to link the paragraphs
Use secondary sources that suppose the writer’s view: interviews, opinions, statistics...
Do not write the article in a serious tone
