writing in the style of an author?

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

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ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by ToadMum »

I'm a bit confused by the 'syllabus' bit, tbh. Do you mean, it is something that has appeared on a past entrance paper? Or some homework that your DC's English teacher at the school has given them?

I would approach writing 'in the style of the author' of a given passage that you have in front of you by looking at the salient points - phrasing / length of sentence etc and applying them to my piece. For example, if the passage is from a work by the author (whose name escapes me) who only uses lower case, be careful not to include any capital letters etc.

Eta: e.e.cummings (thank you, dh)
Last edited by ToadMum on Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
solimum
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Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by solimum »

And if it's Shakespeare everything should be
Iambic verse, so beautiful to see
piggys
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Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:29 am

Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by piggys »

schooling123 wrote:the syllabus if for an independent school, and yes it is in the style of the author. How to approach this question please? Thanks.
OP are you actually going to reveal the text and author to us? I suspect not. That means none of us can help you further. And not for lack of trying. Heads and brick walls come to mind.

In summary, the situation is as follows: You want people here to offer you detailed advice about how to tackle a specific English task on an exam paper BUT you aren't prepared to tell us what the text is, who the author is or which exam paper or school it is.

Clearly you don't want anyone else to know about this exam paper as you think it might help other dc's parents reading this discussion board. Presumably you don't want to help any other parents or allow them to benefit from any advice posted here (do correct me if I'm wrong) because you view them as competition.

There is such a thing as a give and take attitude and approach which you would do well to familiarise yourself with. I understand it can be mutually beneficial in many cases.
schooling123
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Re: writing in the style of the author?

Post by schooling123 »

the task/ requirement for English/ Comprehension paper is: "the candidate may be required to write a paragraph in the style of the author". There is no more specific information...
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: writing in the style of the author?

Post by ToadMum »

schooling123 wrote:the task/ requirement for English/ Comprehension paper is: "the candidate may be required to write a paragraph in the style of the author". There is no more specific information...
If this is for 11+ entry, however swish the school is / thinks it is, then I doubt that the 'style' that the candidate is being asked to emulate will be that subtle? So my advice, to look at what is most striking about the way the piece is written and apply that to their piece, still stands (I can't really think of any other way of going about it, tbh, but am happy for piggys to pop in with what a <expletive deleted> suggestion, given that English is her area of expertise).
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
exam2019
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Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:14 pm

Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by exam2019 »

No idea about OP, but here is a similar question that I haven't felt qualified to help my DS with!!
https://www.latymer.co.uk/user/pages/09 ... ooklet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Scroll to page 6 for the writing section instructions.

The children are instructed "You will be marked on how creative you have been and how well you have managed
to imitate the tone and style of the passage
"

Time allowed is 30 minutes. 10 marks for creativity. 5 marks for spelling/punctuation/grammar.

The original text (extract from the Hobbit) is in a separate document here:
https://www.latymer.co.uk/user/pages/09 ... xtract.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any suggestions on how to help my DS and also what sort of amount of writing might be expected in 30min (of which I think 5 minutes are set aside for planning before writing can begin)??

Thanks in advance!
Daogroupie
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Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by Daogroupie »

OP,

If you want to tap into the expertise available on this forum you really need to post a link to the paper or at the very least give some details about the text DG
yoyo123
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Location: East Kent

Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by yoyo123 »

So, you may be required to write a paragraph in the style which the author of the passage has used,

You will need to look at the way the passage has been written and write something in that style. It is self-explanatory.

I am not sure what more you expect from us!
hermanmunster
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Location: The Seaside

Re: writing in the style of an author?

Post by hermanmunster »

Post Locked. Plenty of people prepared to help the OP here but struggling in the task with the lack of further information about the subject, which despite several requests does not seem to be forthcoming.
Locked