Writing Skills
Writing Skills tests controlled composition: a paragraph, a letter, an essay, and a précis, each judged on content, organisation, and accuracy.
Paragraph
One controlling idea, stated in a topic sentence; supporting sentences that develop it with reasons, examples, or detail; a closing sentence that rounds off. Use linkers such as however, therefore, and for instance to show relationships, not as decoration.
Letter
Formal letters need the sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, salutation, subject line, short body paragraphs, and subscription (Yours faithfully / Yours sincerely). Informal letters drop the subject line and use a friendly register. Do not mix the two.
Essay
Introduction states a thesis; body paragraphs each defend one point with evidence; conclusion evaluates rather than repeats. Keep the same stance throughout.
Précis
Reduce the passage to about one-third of its length, in your own words, in continuous prose. Retain the central argument, omit examples, repetition, and dialogue, use third person, and add no opinion or heading.
Worked example
Passage (52 words): Many students keep a notebook of errors. They write down each mistake, the correct form, and the reason. Over a term the notebook becomes a personal grammar. Teachers report that these students stop repeating the same errors because they recognise the pattern before they write. Précis (18 words): Students who record their mistakes with corrections and reasons build a personal grammar and repeat fewer errors. Reasoning: the central cause and effect are kept; over a term, teachers report, and the notebook example are dropped; no opinion is added.
Traps that cost marks
- Copying phrases in a précis.
- Omitting the subject line or using the wrong subscription.
- Putting two ideas in one paragraph.
- Writing an essay without a thesis.
- Exceeding word limits.
- Using slang in formal writing.