GCSE Exam Preparation

1. GCSE Exam Preparation Writing to describe

2. Descriptive writing- characters A voice came suddenly out of the darkness, a soft, misty sort of a voice. “Welcome,” it said, “How nice to see you in the physical world at last.” Harry’s immediate impression was of a large, glittering insect. Professor Trelawney moved into the firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. J.K. Rowling. “The Lord-a-Lord! Why, Tess Durbeyfield, if there isn’t thy father riding hwome (sic) in a carriage!” A young member of the band turned her head at the exclamation. She was a fine and handsome girl – not handsomer than some others, possibly, but her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape. She wore a red ribbon in her hair, and was the only one of the white company who could boast such a pronounced adornment. Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy. Sheet 1a

3. Descriptive writing- characters What features make these descriptions effective? Thick cloud had pressed down on Berlin all night, and now it was lingering into what passed for the morning. On the city’s western outskirts, plumes of rain drifted across the surface of lake Havel, like smoke. Sky and water merged into a sheet of grey, broken only by the dark line of the opposite bank. Nothing stirred there. No lights showed. Xavier March, homicide investigator with the Berlin Kriminalpolizei – the Kripo – climbed out of his Volkswagen and tilted his face into the rain. He knew the taste of it, the smell of it. It was Baltic rain, from the north, cold and sea-scented, tangy with salt. For an instant he was back twenty years, in the conning tower of a U-boat, slipping out of Wilhelmshaven, lights doused, into the darkness. He looked at his watch. It was just after seven in the morning. Fatherland, Robert Harris. Leigh Parker had joined the class at the beginning of the spring term. It’s never easy changing schools in the middle of the year but Leigh was better equipped than most. For a start, he was big for his age, with his crew cut and the scar which cut through his left eyebrow, he did not look like the kind of boy you’d want to mess with. Football Mad 2; Offside! Paul Stewart. Sheet 1b

4. Descriptive writing- settings What makes these descriptions effective? Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows: fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping, and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of the shivering little ‘prentice boy on deck. Bleak House, Charles Dickens They tracked out towards a shellhole, the sun bright, a lark above them. Blue sky, unseen by eyes trained on turned mud. They moved low towards a mine crater where bodies had lain for weeks uncollected. ‘Try to lift him.’ No sound of machine guns or snipers, though their ears were braced for noise. ‘Take his arms.’ The incomprehensible order through the gas mouthpiece. The arms came away softly. ‘Not like that, not take his arms away.’ On Weir's collar a large rat, trailing something red down his back. A crow disturbed, lifting its black body up suddenly, battering the air with its big wings. Coker, Barlow shaking their heads under the assault of risen flies coming up, transforming black skin into corpses of green by their absence. The roaring of Goddard’s vomit made them laugh, snorting private mirth into their masks.

5. Descriptive writing- settings Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road- a long, agonising wailing, as if from fear. The sound was taken up by another dog, and then another, then another, til, borne on the wind which now sighed softly through the pass, a wild howling began which seemed to come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the night. Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched over the roadway till we passed through a tunnel; and again great frowning rocks guarded us boldly on either side. Though we were in shelter, we could hear the rising wind, for it moaned and whistled through the rocks, and the branches of the trees crashed together as we swept along. It grew colder and colder still, and fine, powdery snow began to fall, so that soon we and all around us were covered in a white blanket. The keen wind still carried the howling of the dogs, though this grew fainter as we went on our way. Dracula, Bram Stoker As he walked through the swing doors into the bowling hall, Craig grinned. He loved everything about ten-pin bowling – the soft leather shoes he had to wear, the rumble of the heavy balls as they hurtled down the alleys, the clatter of the skittles this way and that . What was more, he was good at it. Football Mad 2; Offside! Paul Stewart.

6. Descriptive writing- settings Activity. Imagine you are at a gig, rock concert or rave. Write down the phrases you would use to describe the scene if you were part of the crowd. You must use your senses to describe the: • Sights • Smells • Tastes • Sounds • Things people touch. Use: • Adjectives (describing words) • Similes (comparisons using ‘like’ or ‘as’) • Adverbs Set out your ideas as a set of spidergrams, like this one shown underneath. Rock music SOUNDS Loud More! More!

7. Descriptive writing- settings Task. Write two descriptions: 1) a quiet place i.e. • a library • a church • your bedroom • a mountainside • a cemetery • a beach at dawn or sunset 2) a noisy or busy place i.e. • The school dining hall at lunchtime • The town centre on Saturday afternoon • A nightclub • The football stadium • A market When describing these places, use: • Your senses • Adjectives • Other ‘powerful’ vocabulary devices.

8. Assessment Write a report on a person of your choice as if you were a journalist. It can be someone: • you know • you have invented Make sure that your description is in two parts: • where the person lives • what he or she is like. Don’t forget to use: • adjectives • anecdotes • similes • adverbs • your senses. • To reach level 4 and above remember to: • Write in sentences • use accurate punctuation • make sure your grammar is accurate • use appropriate vocabulary • check you spelling carefully