Writing in Context

1. Writing in Context Creating and Presenting

2. What you need to do: • Your task is to develop your writing skills so that you can create a number of short pieces. • You will be writing about ideas on ‘Family and Society’. • Your ideas should also be formed by how this context is explored through the novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”. • Your writing must respond to the written prompt provided. For your homework tasks, this prompt is: • A true family tries to make its members feel safe in a world that is often confusing.

3. What you need to do • You must write at least one piece in each of the following styles: • Imaginative Writing • Expository Writing • Persuasive Writing • You will be assessed on: • The quality of your ideas about “Family and Society” • The quality of your writing • How well you respond to the prompt.

4. Imaginative Writing • Purpose: • Imaginative writing is any writing where you develop and build on fictional ideas. • Imaginative writing aims to entertain, describe, reflect on and explore ideas. • (See p. 139 – 146 Insight)

5. Imaginative Writing • Forms include: • A short story / narrative • A scene or vignette that could add to the text you study. • A dialogue between two characters • A monologue (one character) • Diary entries • Letters • Prologue (before the story)/Epilogue (after) • Script • Interview (of fictional characters) • News report (of fictional events/people)

6. Imaginative Writing • Language and structure • The language you choose is greatly varied and depends on the form, structure and purpose. • If your writing has a direct link to the text, your language should reflect that used by the author and/or the characters. • Imaginative writing is descriptive and figurative (metaphor, simile, personification). • You must structure your piece to reflect the chosen form (e.g. Letter, diary entry) • plot conventions; dialogue; narrative viewpoint all need to be considered.

7. Imaginative Writing • Your writing could directly build on the text. Such as: • Additional diary entries written by Christopher (using language choices and structures similar to the novel). • Letters written by other characters (using similar language and structures) • A narrative told from another character’s perspective: His father, mother, neighbours, teachers, the policeman, an onlooker etc. • Gaps and Silences: what isn’t told in the story? What happened beforehand, afterwards, while other things were happening. • Other ideas?

8. Imaginative Writing • Your writing might also be an original piece that does not directly build on the novel (but makes a number of clear links and parallels): • Use a different setting, characters, plot • Tell a story of another individual whose point of view is not often heard or who struggles to fit into “normal” society, considering their family situation. • Tell the story of other ways a family might struggle to function in society. • Consider different forms of families. • This type of writing must not simply retell the same story in a different setting, it needs to have unique insights.

9. Responding to the Prompt • A true family tries to make its members feel safe in a world that is often confusing. • Break down the prompt • What is it asking? • Is there more than one part to the question? • What are the key terms? • What different ways could you respond? • What ideas about “Family and Society” does the prompt suggest you should discuss? • Concept Map

10. Form, Audience and Purpose • Before writing, you must decide the form, audience and purpose of your writing. (Insight p.133-136) • Form: You must decide the specific form your piece will take. (See p. 135-136) • Audience: who are you writing for? Describe your audience. (See p. 133-134) • Is it your peers or another age group? • Is it a similar audience to the set text? • Is it a specific audience or interest group? • The audience dictates your style of writing. E.g. Formal, informal, technical, simple, flowery etc.

11. Form, Audience and Purpose • Purpose: Why are you writing? • What do you want to achieve in this piece? • What effect do you want to have on your readers? • What do you want to communicate about yourself or your topic? • See page. 135

12. Persuasive Writing • Writing that persuades the reader to accept the writer’s viewpoint. • Purpose: to persuade; argue; rebut; encourage action; inspire; sell; • Form: argumentative essay; letter to the editor; dialogue between two opposing views; editorial; opinion article, speech etc • Language: tone can vary; identifiable arguments with evidence; clear contention; persuasive language and strategies.

13. Persuasive Writing • Structure - differs depending on form but for an essay, opinion article or speech: • Intro: grab the reader’s attention with a shock statement, anecdote, attack etc. • Intro: clearly state the contention in the introduction and signpost main arguments. • Body: one reason per paragraph to support your contention. Use a variety of persuasive language techniques. • Body: last body paragraph should be a rebuttal of opposing views. • Conclusion: strong restatement of argument. Challenge the audience. Suggest solutions.

14. Responding to the Prompt • A true family tries to make its members feel safe in a world that is often confusing. • Break down the prompt as previously done • How could you turn this prompt into a persuasive contention? • What reasons would you give for your contention?

15. Expository Writing • Expository writing explores different aspects of an idea. It “exposes” an idea. • Purpose: to explain; explore; analyse; compare; inform • Forms: • a standard essay; • news article; feature article; articles for magazines • research report; • Reflection, memoir, personal experiences. • Interview • Reviews • Blog entries/websites

16. Expository Writing • Language: • often formal; • third person, though first person could be used if it fits the purpose, • lots of detail • Uses anecdotes to engage the audience as well as facts, examples. • Draws on knowledge beyond the text. • Lively and varied to keep the reader’s interest.

17. Responding to the Prompt • A true family tries to make its members feel safe in a world that is often confusing. • Break down the prompt as previously done • What ideas from the text will you draw on? • What broader ideas about the context will you research and include in your writing? • How would you link these ideas together?