- Home
- Lessons
- GCSE & IGCSE English Language
- Paper 2 Section B: imaginative writing
Paper 2 Section B: imaginative writing
๐ฌ The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.
Section B of Paper 2 asks you to write imaginatively. You choose one task from three, and it is worth 30 marks.
The facts
What examiners look for
Recent reports stress conscious crafting: deliberate choices of vocabulary, sentence structures and organisation, whatever the task.
They warn against pre-prepared stories that do not really fit the question. Adapt your ideas to the task in front of you.
They warn against pre-prepared stories that do not really fit the question. Adapt your ideas to the task in front of you.
A quick plan
Choose the task you can picture most clearly.
Plan a small plot: one setting, one key moment, a controlled ending.
Decide your narrative voice (first or third person) and keep the tense consistent.
Leave a few minutes to check spelling and punctuation for AO5.
Plan a small plot: one setting, one key moment, a controlled ending.
Decide your narrative voice (first or third person) and keep the tense consistent.
Leave a few minutes to check spelling and punctuation for AO5.
Task: 'Write a story with the title "The Visitor".' Give a quick plan.
- Setting: a remote farmhouse during a storm.
- Key moment: a knock at night; a stranger who knows the family's secret.
- Ending: the visitor leaves; one object stays behind, hinting at who they were.
- Voice: first person, past tense.
Answer: Farmhouse, storm, a late knock, a stranger with a secret, a quiet ending with a left-behind object; first person, past tense.
Paper 2 Section B: one task from three, 30 marks (AO4 18, AO5 12), about 45 minutes. Craft your writing deliberately, fit it to the task and check accuracy.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
Check you have got it
Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.