IGCSE: DIRECTED WRITING TASKS
# Journal Entry / Diary
1 Background / Topic
Details w/ Thoughts and
2 Background
Feelings
Details w/ Thoughts and
3 Body
Feelings
Details w/ Thoughts and
4 Body
Feelings
5 Future
• Write in the first person 'I'
• Date at the top
• Use topic sentences to write
clear paragraphs
• Give a clear sense of the
writer's personality and
explain their feelings and
SUCCESS CRITERIA
changing emotions
• Focus on key moments or
incidents in their world
• Provide a sense of time and
sequence (use time
connectives: finally,
afterwards, earlier, later that
day...)
• Use varied punctuation
• Use varied sentence types
Informal Letter
Opening
Future wishes/action
• Add a few bits of personal
chat, usually at the start of
the letter, to make it seem
genuine.
• Make sure main part of letter
relates to task and that you
use appropriate tone (Don’t
be bright and cheerful if
writing to pass on bad news.)
• Do not use ‘text’ speech e.g.
”Hey Bobby! how r u?”
• Do not use slang e.g. ‘gonna’
or ‘cos’
• Use contracted verb forms
like we’ve, I’m, etc.
• Use short sentences and
active verb forms.
• Write the address and date
on the right.
Formal Letter
Opening
Introduction
Details of the Situation
Further Development
Future Action
• Clear Structure with topic
sentences
• Think about the purpose.
State it if necessary.
• Think about the audience as
this will affect the language
you choose.
• Think about the purpose (this
will affect your language -
e.g. if you are asked to
PERSUADE then use
PERFECT techniques).
• Varied punctuation
• Different sentence types
Dialogue / Interview
Dialogue: A dialogue is an
equal conversation between
two people (both should speak
for about the same amount of
time).
Interview: Instead of an evenly
balanced conversation between
two people, an interview will
have one person talking a lot
more than the other.
• Use stage directions given in
brackets (sometimes, for effect -
don't overuse)
• Rely on punctuation for effect.
Lay it out like a script, using colons.
• Use language that is appropriate
and realistic to the character. Create
a clear sense of voice - particularly
in the dialogue.
DIALOGUE:
• Equal conversation between two
people. Each character needs a clear
personality.
• Should NOT be one person asking and
the other answering; it MUST be both
ways. Mixture of long and shorter
paragraphs.
INTERVIEW:
• One person asks the questions and the
other answers. Not an equal
conversation.
• Answers need to be long / detailed;
include lots of information that you have
read in the passage.
• ON THE EXAM THE QUESTIONS
WILL BE GIVEN FOR YOU, in bullet
points – use them!

# Formal Report
1 Explanation of Situation
2 First phase or aspect
3 Second phase or aspect
4 Third phase or aspect
5 Conclusion
• Make points clear in
separate paragraphs with
topic sentences (use
subheadings if you want)
• Use time connectives
(Earlier, Later that day,
Afterwards). Reports of an
event would give information
about what happened
SUCCESS CRITERIA
in chronological (time) order.
i.e. FROM THE BEGINNING
TO THE END
• Stay objective - this isn't
descriptive writing - a clear
presentation of information.
You may come to a
conclusion but there should
be no exaggeration or
emotive language.
• Formal and Standard English
• Facts and Statistics
• Variety of sentence lengths
and punctuation
IGCSE: DIRECTED WRITING TASKS
News Report
LEAD – WH Questions
Background
Report of Actual News
Quotations
Future
• First paragraph 4 Ws
• Expert or witness comments
included to give weight to the
story
• Don't use 'I', stay objective
and unbiased. Just report the
facts.
• Given the events in order
(start to finish). Use time
connectives (first, later,
finally) to link
paragraphs/events.
Magazine Article
Topic
Background
Discussion
Prediction
Conclusion
• Have a clear viewpoint on
the issue, this is more
personal than a news report,
it's got an opinion
• A personal take on an issue
• use the first person 'I'
• Varied sentence types and
punctuation for effect
• Explores ideas deeply
Speech
Introduction
Alternative View
Criticism of Alternative View
Your View
Conclusion
• Write in the first person ‘I’
(but use ‘we’ to include the
audience!)
• Use direct address ‘How
would you feel?’
• Clear topic sentences, with
separate points/ideas for
each paragraph
• You don’t need speech
marks.
• Use some informal
language, shorter sentences
and questions to keep your
audience interested.
• Varied punctuation for effect
• Range of sentence lengths
Personal Pronouns
Present Tense
Rhetorical Devices (Alliteration,
Hyperbole, Metaphors, Repetition,
Rhetorical Question)
Rule of Three
Emotive Language
Powerful Words
Facts & Statistics