Saturday 15 March 2014

WRITING - Part 2 - A STORY

PART 2 - WRITING - Summary
Time allowed:1 hour 20 minutes
Number of parts:2
Number of questions:Part 1: one compulsory question
Part 2: one question from a choice of five
Marks:20% total
Types of task:Article, email, essay, letter, report, review,            story.


 SHORT STORY
 The FCE short story task probably poses two major problems. For some students who believe they lack creativity to invent stories, it is perhaps difficult to decide what to write about. For others, it is difficult to tell a story within the word limit. 
To begin with, let’s de-mystify the task. You are not expected to write a story with full development of setting, plot and characters. You should remember that the purpose of the text is to entertain the reader. You may imagine you are taking part in a writing context or that your story will be published in a magazine. An anecdote dealing with just one episode worth telling will do. Let’s see some guidelines:

What is the expected language here? It is important to have a good handling of tenses for the reader to follow the sequence of events. Try to vary your structures, you can use reported speech or quote some words from the characters to make it more vivid (Reported Speech) Sentence length and punctuation require some thought, too.
 Possible start & finish lines: The instructions for this task usually include a start or finishing line for your story. You must not alter it. This line could be in the first or third person.
How many words can I write? Between 120 to 180 words. Let’s say that 201 is too much! To keep within the range of the word limit, you will probably have to focus on some of the many things involved in writing a story.
How much to say about the place, time, characters and action? These are decisions you make at the planning stage. Choose what is more important to clearly picture the episode you want to narrate.

 Remember that you will not be tested on creativity. You should be able to clearly put forward a mini short story that can create interest and entertain.


 SOURCE:http://fceblog.blogspot.com.ar/2006/11/paper-2-short-story.html



5 comments:

  1. ANY DOUBTS? WRITE YOUR QUESTION HERE :-)

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  2. The doorbell rang. When I opened the door imagine my surprise... I had been waiting for a long time to see my grandmother again. She had died a year ago and I've never imagined that she would come back one day.
    I hugged her strongly and she smiled at me.
    'What are you doing here? I thought...' -I started saying, but she interrupted me.
    'I miss you as much as you miss me. So I came to spend a few hours with you, my beautiful granddaughter.'
    I hugged her again and we entered into the living room to talk about our lives.
    'Why did you go away, grandma?' -I asked her saddly.
    She looked at me sweetly and took my hand.
    'We all have a mission in the world. My mission was over, so God called me to go with him.'
    'How is the life there in heaven? Are there people you know? Did you meet God? How He looks like?' -I asked curiously.
    'Those answers you will get them one day, but I can't tell you that now, sweety.'
    Then I woke up. Everything had been a dream, but I was happy because I had spend a little time with my grandmother. Oh, how much I missed her! The doorbell rang. I ran full of hope to open the door, expecting to see my grandmother there, but when I opened it there was nobody.
    I looked in all directions, waiting for something to happen, but nothing. Casually, I looked down and there I saw a piece of paper. I looked down to pick it up and I got surprised when I read what was written on it:
    'I have spent a great time with you, dear granddaughter. I will visit you soon. Lots of love.'

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  4. What a nice story, Cami! I love it!

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  5. It was a trip I'll never forget. Delfi and I were so excited because it was the first time that we were going on holidays together. After too many hours of travelling, we finally got to Necochea.
    Once we were sunbathing, Delfina took her clothes off, showing up her new bikini.
    'Why don't you take off your t-shirt?', she asked me. 'It's too hot here!'
    When I realized how many people were there, I hesitated. I had always been so shy and unsure of my body, and I had never been brave enough to wear a bikini in front of anyone. Delfina got angry because she wanted me to love myself, not to be ashamed of myself. So she didn't talk to me for about two days.
    I was so rueful. I just wished things were solved and make up with Delfina. I didn't want to ruin our holidays, so I took a decision: I would face up to my fear of showing up in public.
    The next day, we went to the beach, as always, and I finally did it: I took off my clothes. When Delfina saw me, she couldn't believe it and neither did I.
    She flattered my bikini and congratulated me on my big attitude change. In conclusion, on this holidays I realized that you can not enjoy life unless you stop caring about what others think.

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