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.
Setting
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:
Direct characterisation
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Indirect characterisation
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- The writer describes the character through narration
- The writer describes the character’s physical appearance, personality and the things that motivate them
- It is useful for giving broad details in a sentence or two, but if used too much direct characterisation will result in superficial characters that a reader is not able to relate to or engage with
- This is “telling”
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- The writer hints to the reader what the character is like
- An impression is formed of the character through their speech, thoughts and feelings, interactions with other characters and what other characters say or think about them
- It is useful for developing more complex, well-rounded characters that engage the reader
- This is “showing”
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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:
Characterisation
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Appearance (direct characterisation)
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Your character’s appearance may not always be relevant:
- It is worth considering if it is necessary to describe the colour of your characters’ hair, for example
- Usually appearance is important if your character represents something, for example, a king, a soldier or someone in trouble
- Facial expressions or descriptions can convey character effectively. For example, “her tear-stained face” or “he frowned”
- If you choose to write in first-person, remember that it is rare that we describe our own appearance
- Third-person perspective can describe appearance more effectively
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Movements and body language (indirect characterisation)
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One of the most effective ways to describe a character is through their movements:
- This is the way we judge people most accurately
- Consider how you can describe your characters’ emotions or circumstances using movements, e.g., “His head dropped”
- Verbs and adverbs can be used to effectively build characterisation
- If you are including dialogue, think about alternative verbs to “said”, such as “whispered” or “bellowed”
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Monologue (indirect characterisation)
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If you use the first-person perspective, a monologue helps readers engage with the character:
- This creates a personal tone and engagement with the character
- You can create a character’s “voice” using punctuation, such as short sentences or questions:
- A short sentence indicates your character may be nervous, for example
- Using emotive language will help your reader understand your character better
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Dialogue (direct and indirect characterisation)
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Dialogue can convey the relationships between your characters and provide insights into what other characters think about each other:
- It is best to limit dialogue in your story, especially if you are not absolutely certain how to punctuate it correctly
- Use speech marks and punctuation accurately
- Carefully consider how the dialogue conveys an idea:
- Do not include dialogue which does not progress the characterisation or plot
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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:
Device or technique
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Explanation
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Example
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Repetition
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Repeating a word, phrase, image or idea. This is much more effective if you think of repetition as a motif that you use throughout your piece of writing
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Throughout life, I have learnt never to give up: never give up on my dreams; never give up on my hopes and never give up on myself.
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Alliteration
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Remember, the words starting with the same consonant sound do not have to be consecutive. Consider the effect you are trying to achieve through the use of alliteration
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The swirling mist silently settled on the sleeping town.
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Metaphor
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Metaphors can be as simple as figures of speech, but are especially effective where they are extended and developed
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She was the chief lioness among us, fierce, determined and strong. It was she who brought us all together.
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Personification
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A great way to create atmosphere at the start of your writing is by personifying the setting to your story or description
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The weary old tree, its gnarled branches outstretched like weathered arms, whispered ancient wisdom to the breeze.
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Onomatopoeia
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The representation of sound on paper should be more sophisticated than comic-book terms such as “boom”. It is also not helpful to put onomatopoeic words all in capital letters. Consider sound as a way of evoking the senses in order to create atmosphere
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The crackling fire whispered its secrets along with the gentle pop and sizzle of the logs as they surrendered to the flames.
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Simile
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A simple comparison using “like” or “as” should be used sparingly, as this creates more impact
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Her smile was as radiant as the early morning sun on a summer’s day.
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Imagery
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Engages the reader’s senses by using vivid and detailed language to create an image in the reader’s mind
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The sun-kissed waves crashed against the golden shore, their frothy white caps glistening in the morning light.
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Juxtaposition
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Places two contrasting ideas, images or concepts side by side to highlight their differences or to create a striking effect
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Thе еlеgant ballroom was adornеd with еxquisitе chandеliеrs and finе artwork, whilе thе servants' quartеrs bеlow hеld nothing but barе walls.
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Emotive language
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Words or phrases that are intentionally used to evoke a strong emotional response in the reader
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The devastating aftermath left a trail of destruction, sorrow and misery.
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Power verbs
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Verbs are doing, action or being words. Power verbs are the deliberate, interesting choice of verb to help the reader picture what you are writing. They can be especially useful for characterisation
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The man stooped, bumbling slowly towards the entrance.
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Pathetic fallacy
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The ability to evoke a specific mood or feeling that reflects a character’s internal or emotional state
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The lonely road beckoned him onwards with no end in sight.
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