The Statement That Describes Instead of Argues
A student's 640-word practitioner's statement is grammatically clean and within the word limit. It contains: a 90-word plot of the narrative behind a book cover; a 150-word list of tools (Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, a Wacom tablet); a 200-word description of what is visible in the cover (a figure, a doorway, a gradient); a 120-word biography of the author; and an 80-word conclusion saying the design 'works well and meets the brief'. The cover itself is competent but generic. The marker must decide what level of achievement the statement demonstrates.
1. Categorise each section of the statement as description, recall, or argument, and explain the consequence for the mark.
Read the worked answer
| Section | Words | Category | Mark consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plot summary | 90 | Recall/description | No design value; the marker does not need the story |
| Tool list | 150 | Recall | Tools are means, not decisions; no reasoning about why |
| Visual description | 200 | Description | Repeats what the marker can see; consumes the largest block |
| Author biography | 120 | Recall | Irrelevant to design choices |
| Conclusion | 80 | Assertion without evidence | 'Works well' is unevaluated |
Roughly 560 of 640 words (about 88%) do no argumentative work. Only fragments imply choice, and none explains alternatives rejected, audience, format, typography, or production. The statement therefore demonstrates low achievement on the statement criterion regardless of its polish, because length and correctness are not the criteria - evidenced reasoning is. The generic cover is consistent with this: a statement that never argues a decision usually accompanies a product that never made one.
2. Rewrite the *plan* for the statement - not the prose - showing how the 640 words should be reallocated to earn marks.
Read the worked answer
Reallocate to argument, keeping within 600–700 words:
- Brief and audience (80 words): genre, reader, shelf context, and the one problem the cover must solve (e.g. signal literary thriller without revealing the twist).
- Influences and precedent (120 words): two named references and the specific principle borrowed from each (e.g. a particular approach to negative space or type pairing).
- Key decisions with rejected alternatives (200 words): the doorway motif, the gradient, the typeface - each with why this, not that.
- Production and format (100 words): trim size, stock, colour mode, how the gradient survives print, spine and thumbnail legibility.
- Evaluation (100 words): one success, one limitation, one change.
That is 600 words of argument. The plot, tool list, and biography are cut entirely; the visual description shrinks to whatever is needed to locate a decision. The teacher should mark the plan against the same criteria before the student writes, so the structure is validated first.