The Cambridge IGCSE First Language English Paper 2 is title Directed Writing and Composition. Section A tests both reading and writing skills. You can check out our previous post on genres to learn more about that. Section B, though, tests only the student’s writing skills.

Section B of Paper 2 gives the student four options to choose from: two descriptive prompts and two narrative prompts. This post will give some suggestions for succeeding in the descriptive writing.

Below are sample descriptive prompts:

• Write a description with the title ‘The playground.’
• Write a description with the title, ‘The factory’.
• Write a description of a place where animals are kept in captivity, such as a zoo, wildlife park or
  sea-life centre.
• Describe the inside of an interesting shop.
• Describe waking up to find the scene around you has changed.
• Describe a group of tourists outside an attraction.

Mark Scheme

24 marks are given for style and accuracy: Precise, well-chosen vocabulary and varied sentence structures, chosen for effect; consistent well-chosen register suitable for the context; spelling, punctuation, and grammar almost always accurate.

16 marks are given for content and structure: Many well-defined and developed ideas and images create a convincing overall picture with varieties of focus.

Descriptive Skills

• Metaphors: Compares two dissimilar things saying it is something else
  • “He was a beaten dog.”
• Similes: Directly compares two dissimilar things.
  • “He looked the way a beaten dog might look.”
• Sensory details: words that stir any of the five senses: touch, taste, sound, smell, and sight.
• Personification: Speaks of concepts or objects as if they had life or human characteristics.
  • “ I saw a crowd, / A host, of golden daffodils; / Beside the lake, beneath the trees, / Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” -“I Wandered Lonely….”, Wordsworth
  • “April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land” -The Waste Land, by Eliot
  • “Her heart was divided between concern for her sister, and resentment against all the others.” -Pride and Prejudice, Austen
• Adjectives: words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns (enormous, silly, yellow, fun, fast).
• Hyperbole: exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
• Juxtaposition: placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc.

Varied Sentence Structure

• Simple: has one independent clause.
  • I read the novel.
• Compound: has two independent clauses.
  • I read the novel, but I did not like it.
  • I read the novel because it was homework.
  • I read the novel; it was amazing.
• Complex: has one dependent clause joined to an independent clause.
  • Because I was lucky, I did not get caught.
  • Whenever I study, we don’t have a pop quiz.
• Compound-Complex: has two independent clauses joined to one or more dependent clauses.
  • While I was studying, Tom was gaming; however, he already knew the material.
• Variety of sentence openings:
  • The biggest coincidence that day happened when John and I ended up seeing each other.
  • Coincidentally, John and I ended up seeing each other that day.
  • In an amazing coincidence, John and I ended up seeing each other that day.
  • Guided by some bizarre coincidence, John and I ended up seeing each other that day.
• Short and long sentences

Some points to keep in mind

• Show don’t tell.
• Point of view movement; zoom in on different objects of focus.
• Think of a photograph.
• There will be some components of narration (action and movement), but avoid writing a narrative.
• Complex and effective, but not difficult for your reader; instead, it shows thought-out organization and progression.
• Engaging and interesting.