assignment_3 solution

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

adtu / Assignment-3.py

• Download ZIP
• Star ( 0 ) 0 You must be signed in to star a gist
• Fork ( 0 ) 0 You must be signed in to fork a gist
• Embed Embed this gist in your website.
• Share Copy sharable link for this gist.
• Clone via HTTPS Clone using the web URL.
• Learn more about clone URLs
• Save adtu/5d580ef3bc92069fa0a5446f006fd3da to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Assignment 3: Narrative Writing ( Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Language )

Revision note.

English Content Creator

Assignment 3: Narrative Writing

Assignment 3 of your coursework portfolio is a piece of narrative writing. To reach the highest levels of the mark scheme you are required to create a developed, well-defined plot and include features of fiction writing, such as characterisation and setting.

In this assignment you are only examined on your writing skills, and your piece of writing should be between 500 and 800 words in length. There are 10 marks available for content and structure, and 15 marks available for style and accuracy, as follows:

Narratives may be written in any relevant form, such as the opening or closing chapter of a longer story, or a short story in itself, but features of fiction writing should be evident. Your ideas should be explored and developed imaginatively. Remember, a story that entertains is normally a successful one!

Assignment examples

You may be asked to write a story that creates suspense and atmosphere, or something that explores relationships and emotions. Alternatively, you may be asked to write about adventure, achievement or something that contains unexpected events. Any possibility that addresses specific readers and maintains the reader’s interest and engagement are valid. The best short stories are based on a single plot idea, have a maximum of two main characters and tend to be set in a place familiar to you.

How to write to narrate

Narrative story writing develops an idea to a conclusion. The way to achieve this in an exam is by planning an ending with a resolution (you should plan whether your story will end happily or not).

In order to adhere to the conventions of story writing, it is best to: 

Plan your writing in an order which takes your character (and reader) on a clear journey:

The best way to do this is to plan one main event

Ensure your plot is simple enough to be coherent and cohesive

Consider employing structural techniques, such as a flashback:

This can give background information to the reader and provide context

Ensure you use past-tense verbs for this

Develop your characters:

Consider essential narrative character archetypes, such as “villain”, “victim”, “hero”, etc.

Decide on how your characters fit these descriptions 

When describing people, focus on relevant details only:

You could focus on their body language or movements

If using dialogue, the verbs you use to describe how your characters speak can reveal more about them than what they say, e.g. “shrieked”, “mumbled”, “whispered”

It is effective to repeat ideas related to colour

You can repeat ideas for emphasis:

For example, black and grey or green and blue

Narrative writing responses should be structured into five or six paragraphs. You should plan your response carefully as you have limited time to create a cohesive plot. Writing a response which has not been planned is likely to have an abrupt ending, or no ending at all, which will not get you high marks.

There are lots of different narrative structures or arcs that you could use to plan your story. Bearing in mind you only have 15 minutes to plan, your story needs to be controlled and concise. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to consider a five-part narrative structure, such as Freytag’s Pyramid:

Remember, each paragraph does not have to be the same length. In fact, better answers vary the lengths of their paragraphs for effect. What is important is to develop separate ideas or points in each paragraph, and to avoid repeating the same descriptions throughout your response. 

Narrative writing techniques

Once you have planned out the structure of your narrative, it’s a good idea to consider how to incorporate methods and techniques into your response. Below we have included some guides to help you when thinking about setting, characterisation and other linguistic techniques to make your narrative as engrossing as possible.

As this task assesses the ability to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, it is important to consider how to use language constructively in a short story to convey an atmosphere or mood. Building an effective setting is key as it contributes to atmosphere and mood.

Your setting should reflect your main character’s mood:

You may know this as pathetic fallacy , which reflects the character’s mood in the environment, e.g., “the lonely road”

As your setting reflects your character’s mood, your setting may change as the story progresses:

Contrasting scenes is an effective way to convey ideas and to engage your reader:

For example, your story may have started on a sunny afternoon, but may end as the sun sets or as a storm approaches 

Whatever way you decide to contrast the scenes, ensure it reflects your character’s mood

The best answers build a clear setting before introducing other information, such as introducing character:

Describing setting is best done with sensory language as we experience places with all of our five senses

This means you could describe the dark, light, colours, sounds, smells and weather

The best way to clearly create setting is to allow an entire paragraph to describe the scene without confusing readers with other information like who is there

Ensure all of your descriptive language builds the same mood and avoid mixing ideas. For example: “The graveyard was dark, cold and smelled like fragrant flowers” is confusing for your reader

However, do not give too much away all at once!

Keep your reader guessing and asking questions, such as “What is going on?”, “Why is this like this?” and “Who is this?”

Think of establishing a setting a bit like the game “Taboo”, in which you have to describe something without stating explicitly what it is

Characterisation

This question asks you to create a short story and therefore you will need to build some elements of detailed characterisation. This means you need to consider what your character(s) represent. They may represent an idea, such as hope or strength or abandonment, or you could include a villain to represent injustice or evil. It is best to limit yourself to two characters in the time you have.

Well-rounded characters are taken on a journey: a character should undergo some form of development or change. The mark scheme rewards answers which clearly and effectively convey ideas, meaning that you need to consider the most effective ways of building a character in a short piece of writing. Ideally, you should focus more on indirect characterisation than direct characterisation:

Here, we will consider how to plan your character(s) effectively to engage your reader. This is what the examiner is looking for in your answer:

Linguistic devices

When considering your choice of language and the techniques you wish to employ, you must always remember that you are making deliberate choices for effect. It is important to consider the connotations of words and phrases, and how these may add depth to your writing. For example, do your word choices evoke certain emotions or feelings in the reader, or do they reveal aspects of a character’s personality, background or emotions? You should employ the principle of “show, not tell” in order to bring your writing to life in the reader’s mind.

Below you will find a brief explanation of some of the key techniques you could employ in your narrative (or descriptive) writing:

Ensure that your response is a well organised and thoughtful interpretation of your title

Demonstrate your ability to shape a narrative, including incorporating moments of tension and drama

Use characterisation to create believable protagonists and characters

Avoid cliches or over-used narratives, such as abandoned cabins in the woods

Do not just “tell” a series of events:

Consider imaginative ways to tell your story, apart from just a chronological account

Include your characters’ thoughts and feelings, not just what happens

Do not over-complicate your language unnecessarily:

Do not underestimate the power of simple words and sentences to create significant impact

Start at your story’s main setting, not in the journey or build up

Ensure that all of the words you choose contribute to the overall atmosphere and effect you want to create

Vary your sentence and paragraph lengths to keep the style and tone dynamic

Do not over-use dialogue:

Only use dialogue if it drives forward the plot and you are able to punctuate it correctly

Consider the “message” of your story and how your characters represent this

Consider the narrative perspective which will work most effectively for your story

You've read 0 of your 10 free revision notes

Unlock more, it's free, join the 100,000 + students that ❤️ save my exams.

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?

Author: Deb Orrock

Expertise: English Content Creator

Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into vocational curriculums. She most recently managed a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing educational content and resources.

• Solve equations and inequalities
• Simplify expressions
• Factor polynomials
• Graph equations and inequalities
• Advanced solvers
• All solvers
• Arithmetics
• Determinant
• Percentages
• Scientific Notation
• Inequalities

What can QuickMath do?

QuickMath will automatically answer the most common problems in algebra, equations and calculus faced by high-school and college students.

• The algebra section allows you to expand, factor or simplify virtually any expression you choose. It also has commands for splitting fractions into partial fractions, combining several fractions into one and cancelling common factors within a fraction.
• The equations section lets you solve an equation or system of equations. You can usually find the exact answer or, if necessary, a numerical answer to almost any accuracy you require.
• The inequalities section lets you solve an inequality or a system of inequalities for a single variable. You can also plot inequalities in two variables.
• The calculus section will carry out differentiation as well as definite and indefinite integration.
• The matrices section contains commands for the arithmetic manipulation of matrices.
• The graphs section contains commands for plotting equations and inequalities.
• The numbers section has a percentages command for explaining the most common types of percentage problems and a section for dealing with scientific notation.

Math Topics

More solvers.

• Add Fractions
• Simplify Fractions

CIV ENG 490 - Assignment 2 (Solution)

• Mathematics