Writing Skills - Letters, Reports, Paragraphs and Essays
Writing Skills tests four formats you must produce from memory under time pressure: the formal letter (business enquiry, order, complaint, or letter to the editor), the report, the paragraph and the short essay. Marks are split between format, content and expression, so a well-argued letter that loses the subject line still loses marks.
Formats
- Letter: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, subject line, 'Dear Sir/Madam', three short body paragraphs (purpose, details, action expected), 'Yours faithfully' with your name below.
- Letter to the editor: address the newspaper only, state the problem, give two or three concrete suggestions, sign as a responsible citizen.
- Report: a headline in active past tense, a byline, an opening paragraph answering what, when, where and who, a middle paragraph of detail, and a closing quotation or outcome.
- Paragraph: one controlling idea, a topic sentence, four to six supporting sentences, a concluding sentence; never a second topic.
- Essay: introduction stating the stand, two body paragraphs of argument or example, conclusion returning to the stand.
Worked example
Task: a 100-word report on an inter-house debate. 'Inter-House Debate Stirs the Auditorium By a Staff Reporter The senior wing held its inter-house debate on 12 August on the motion "Social media does more harm than good". Six speakers represented the four houses before an audience of 300 students. The judges praised the third speaker's rebuttal on privacy. The trophy went to the Blue House.' Reasoning: headline plus byline establish report format; the opening sentence covers what, when, where; the close gives a result - all in past tense.
Traps
Mixing 'Yours faithfully' with a named addressee; forgetting the subject; writing a report in the present tense; adding a second idea to a paragraph; ignoring the word limit.