ESSAYS FOR WORK PORTFOLIO, 2022-32

Your Work Portfolio is to consist of eight pieces of written work from the year (the equivalent of at least 2 sides of A4 in length when handwritten). Included in it should be some pieces of writing from this list. After they have been marked, they should then be re-written and improved : this should not just be a response to corrections of technical errors, but may include radical changes, so you are advised that typing and saving your work is helpful for this revision process. The re-submitted pieces will be marked out of 25% of the final grade. Some of the best essays will be read at the TY English evening in the BSR on Tuesday 30 May. At least half of initial writing should be completed by the end of the Hilary Term.

DISCURSIVE WRITING

  • “Young people have more difficult problems than adults do.” Discuss this idea.
  • The satisfactions of reading.
  • Parents.
  • “Gap Years should always be spent in voluntary work”. Discuss this year.
  • How to combat boredom.
  • Argue for or against the idea that censorship of films, books and magazines is wrong in the 21st century.
  • Imagine it is your last day at school. You have been chosen to make a speech to all the pupils and teachers at Assembly. Write it down.
  • “At school, you learn more outside the classroom than inside.” Discuss this idea.
  • What makes a true friend?
  • Has the internet fundamentally improved our lives?

Narrative Writing

  • The end.
  • A story which includes at some point the sentence : “Never again would I be able to trust him/her.”
  • The watcher.
  • Shadows.
  • Facing reality.
  • The practical joke.
  • A story which starts “Suddenly there was no noise.”
  • Spying.
  • A new dawn.
  • A story told twice from the viewpoints of two different characters.

Descriptive/Personal Writing

  • Looking back over the past year, what particular event or experience do you remember most clearly, and why.
  • My first love.
  • You have one day left on earth : how are you going to spend it?
  • “The oldest person I know.”
  • A detailed review of a film or play you have seen this year (not one done for a class course).
  • Learning the hard way.
  • Being under water.
  • What makes me laugh.
  • First impressions.
  • My first home.

Additional Exercises

  • Tell a stranger about a beloved family tradition.
  • Choose an object which really matters to you, and write a letter to your future grandchild, explaining why you are leaving it to him/her.
  • Describe yourself in the third person (‘he’/’she’) as if you were a character in a book.
  • Two people who hate each other are stuck in a lift for some hours: describe what happens.
  • Write a short story in which you are a villain.
  • First sentence: “I didn’t know what was happening at the time.” Continue the piece.
  • Your city/town 100 years from now.
  • You are with a friend. He/she gets a telephone call in the middle of your chat, and answers it: write only what you hear as his/her part of the phone conversation.
  • The joy of a bad habit.
  • A story which starts: “When I confronted him, he denied he’d ever said it.” (or her/she)
  • A newly-invented product which will change your life
  • Your bedroom at home from the perspective of a stranger who moves into it for a week.
  • You are able to bring back from the dead one person: who, why, and what happens?
  • 20 years from now, you meet up with a friend from school you haven’t seen since. Describe the meeting.
  • Irresistible temptation.
  • Introduce your long-time imaginary friend.
  • You are a customer during a bank/shop robbery. You are made to lie face-down on the floor. Describe the robbery from this point of view.
  • The oldest item you own.
  • You can keep only one memory from your entire life. What will it be?
  • A story which ends with the sentence: “And this is the room where it happened.”
  • A day in the life of the person sitting beside you now.
  • A beginner’s guide to getting noticed.
  • Write a story based on the title of your favourite song.
  • Your sermon in Chapel.
  • Write about a topic you know nothing about. Make all of it up.
  • Your first time in a foreign country.
  • Suddenly, you can ‘hear’ everyone’s thoughts, and realise they are talking about you: write their thoughts.
  • Interview someone you admire.
  • Your earliest childhood memory.
  • James Joyce said that a man’s errors are his gates of discovery.
  • Where do you go to escape?
  • A conversation you regret never having.
  • You go to sleep in one place. You wake up in another. Write what happens next.
  • You lose one of your senses (sight/smell/touch/hearing/taste). Describe life now.
  • A day in the life of your pet, seen from its own perspective.
  • Remember a single moment in your life, imagine it in super-slow motion, and now describe your thoughts.
  • Only ten people will fit in the life-raft. Convince the captain that you should be one of them.
  • Write a message in a bottle, and drop it into the sea. 10 years later - write the thoughts of the person who finds it.
  • A love letter to ‘the one who got away.’
  • Losing your memory.
  • Your biggest secret is discovered.

Poetry

You may if you wish include one poem as one of your 10 pieces. Your piece might also be an entry for the Senior Poetry Prize (which will take place in the Trinity Term). Please bear the following in mind when you are writing and redrafting poetry:

- Good poetry is carefully crafted and should take time to complete.

- Your poem should be twenty lines or more.

- Poems do not need to rhyme, but sound is very important. Think about alliteration, assonance, sibilance, half-rhyme and onomatopoeia. You will be rewarded for rich use of sound.

- The mind's eye plays a role in poetry. Do try to form a central image or images.

- Give your poem a title.

- Show evidence of the changes and reworking of your poem/s to your teacher.

Marks out of 25 : sound (5), imagery (5), coherence (5), overall impression (10).