 So let's examine imaginative writing. Now, this question is important because it's worth half of the overall exams marks. Okay, it's worth 40 marks for this paper. Therefore, make sure you spend at least 45 minutes on this question. How to do this or how to manage this time is allocate around 10 minutes for planning your response. Okay, so pick one, don't do both questions. So pick one of the questions, spend around 10 minutes then planning that question and then 35 minutes actually writing out your response. So let's now look at how to write a model response to the imaginative writing section of this exam. Okay, so you always get a choice of two questions and you choose one, okay? So always pick one question, not both, okay? So in this case, we've got two options. Question number five, write about a time when you or someone you know felt positively about another person. And question number six is look at the images provided. So you're always given some images, okay? You pick one, write about your most treasured memory. Your response could be real imagined. You may wish to base your response on one of the images. And as you can see here, I decided to go for these images and more specifically, I decided to go for this image, okay? Now remember when answering this question, I'm gonna be writing it in a story format, okay? So I'm gonna write it as a story using the story mountain structure where you've got my beginning paragraph where I established a setting and character, my build up paragraph where I talk about what's happening, you know, the adventure that the character is going on, then my problem paragraph, which is the issue, then my resolution paragraph, which is how's the issue resolved before my ending paragraph where, you know, at the end, does it end in a cliffhanger or how is, you know, I guess what we call the denouement, okay? How does the action fall, okay? So I've decided to go for this image where you've got this kid, he seems really happy, he seems almost like in this jungle gym, right? So it's kind of this play area, it seems to be perhaps in the park. He's obviously around this swing, right? This rubber swing. So I've decided to go for this, okay? So let's have a look at how I structured my response based on this image. Here's my opening paragraph, my beginning paragraph. And of course, I've indicated the question I've decided to go for. I can still remember that date like it was yesterday. I'll start off with a simile. Remember, of course, also when you're answering this question, try to incorporate the techniques that writers tend to use, okay? Remember, this is a fiction paper, so of course, questions one to four, you're given an example, an extract taken from another writer who's also used metaphors, similes, and so on. But now this is your chance to be a wordsmith and to also use your own metaphors and similes, okay? And of course, not only metaphors and similes, all of that stuff, okay? To be honest, generally speaking, you want to use lots of language and lots of structural techniques, okay? Balance of different sentences and so on. So as I mentioned here, I'll start off with a really strong simile. I can still remember that day like it was yesterday. The stark winter had given way to a mild spring day, pathetic fallacy. A fresh morning sun shone through the vast cloudless sky. It's hazy golden rays illuminated the park. The shafts of light traveled across the park's emerald blades of gas, falling on tiny shoots of roses and lilies that were unfurling in the ground. The sun's rays shifted across the silent park and fell on the jungle gym, leaning on the rubber swing. I gazed at my mother in glee. So as you can see here, I'm building a really vivid image of this setting and I'm writing it from first person perspective, okay? It doesn't matter whether you go for first or third person, I tend to really like writing stories in first person almost as if I'm the one that's experiencing it all. Today was just another weekday and we were alone in this park. While she sat on an oak bench and watched me, I cheerfully clambered the obsidian, black swing, and looked back at her. I've given my reader a really strong sense of where I am, a strong sense of setting. I've also used pathetic fallacy to show that winter has now turned into spring. So there's this sense of promise and I've established exactly who I am and what I'm doing, okay? I'm leaning on the rubber swing. I'm firmly showing the examiner, this is me and this is exactly what I'm doing according to this image, okay? There's no misinterpretation. So let's have a look at my buildup paragraph. Giggling with glee, alliteration. I whipped my head back and peered up at the azure sky. One was the last time I had a day off primary school, rhetorical question. I couldn't remember. I asked a rhetorical question and immediately answer it and I'm using hyperforo here. My mother was strict about my attendance. Now here, I'm making it clear that I'm a toddler. I'm quite young or a little bit older than a toddler. My mom always takes me to school but today actually is different because this is such an exciting day. My mom has decided to let me off from school, okay? And as you can also see, I've got some long sentences juxtaposed with shorter, brief sentences to change the pace of the text. Yet today was different. She wanted us to go to the park alone just us two, brief simple sentence. I was elated, I was happy when she announced that I had a day off school. Instead, she led me to the park. Standing by the swing, my small hands clutched the rusty metal chain. So now I'm starting to create a buildup, right? So here, I'm making it clear to my reader, okay? I'm kind of starting to play. I'm mucking about in this park because obviously I've got this day off school. It's amazing, okay? Again, your buildup doesn't have to be dramatic. It can literally be as simple as this. A cool gentle breeze brush past me, causing my blonde curly hair to flutter and dance in the wind. Gripping the rubbery seat, I push myself back and forth in the swing. Wee, wee. So now here, I've got, and I've added one word sentences which are on a matter of peer, okay? So again, I'm really adding lots of color, lots of imagery. When somebody's reading this, I can almost hear me shouting as a kid really playing around. My gray collared shirt crinkled and my sleeves pushed back against my arms as a swing suede, a sibilance. Pulling myself up in the chain, I struggled to sit on the seat, yet it was in vain. It was, I was still too short to confidently sit on the swing. I would have to stay standing. Here, my buildup paragraph is just basically me saying, so I'm just swinging, having fun, you know, trying to sit up in the swing. I'm too short, so I just kind of sat back down. That's my buildup. Now let's move into the problem. What is the issue? What's the problem that I may face? Wee, wee. Turning my head round. So I'm playing around. Then I turned my head round. So turning my head round, I gaze at the ropes which formed a stairway to the other side of the jungle gym. So now I'm turning around. I contemplated leaving my swing to go and mount the bars and explore the rest of the play area. It was then that I heard a faint gasp. This is a good way to change the pace of the narrative. Rather than always using suddenly, you can say just then, it was then. So in this case, that's what I've decided to do. It was then that I heard a faint gasp. We put my head around. I stared at my mother. Her hazel eyes were wide. A brief look of fear crossed her face. Now I'm building up the problem. By the way, remember, the problem doesn't have to be anything super dramatic. Here, it's just literally my mom's facial expressions are changing. She's looking around. She looked at me with uncertainty before, swiftly turning and licking behind her. Following her gaze I noticed a shadowy burly figure approaching us. Now this is the problem. So the mom has a look of fear that crosses her face. Then she turns around and looks behind her. Then I look in her direction and I notice this big figure dressed in all black. His hoodie obscured his face that covered his face. My smile faded from my lips as I witnessed my mother shakily stand up from the bench and straighten her scarlet dress. So now my mom is shaking as she's standing up. I'm really scared. This is the problem. Looking back at me, I realized her face was drained of color. My stomach felt as heavy as lead. My eyes were wide-sources. Scanning the horizon, I could see no one else. And now here I'm describing how scared I am. I'm looking at this stranger. My mom is standing up. You know, I don't know what's happening but she looks scared and I don't know what to do. And this park is empty, right? So here, for your reader, your reader must be thinking, okay, is this guy gonna, you know, maybe rob them, et cetera, okay? I could see no one else. We were alone. Exposed, one word sentence. This towering figure continued advancing towards us, hyperbole, saying that this guy's like really massive, gigantic. As he drew nearer, I noticed he had a slight glimpse and I'm giving him a little bit of a character or rather a characteristic that's kind of unique to this person. His shoulders seemed hunched. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets. So there's this threatening figure that's coming towards me and my mom and I'm really, really scared. So let's have a look at the resolution. How does this, how does this get resolved? Yet rather than racing towards me, my mother went to him. She took one step, then another, then another repetition. He quickened his pace and they collided in an embrace. Now they hug. My mother gently pulled his hoodie back and I realized he had blonde curly hair just like me because when I look at this image, even if it's black and white, it seems like the little child seems to have like kind of this blonde curly hair. It's like a little bit curly, almost like Afro-ish, right? So I'm basically saying that this man, the stranger had similar colored hair. He shuffled towards me. His hands outstretched. So now this guy, this guy that initially was looking really scary, is now walking towards me and he's not walking kind of in a straight way. He's almost shuffling, right? Maybe a little bit sheepish, a little bit uncertain. So now there's a sudden shift. Leaning back in terror, I raised my hands up to stop him. So I'm like, I don't know who you are. I'm raising my hands. My heart raced as I gazed into his emerald eyes. His skin seemed tanned and weathered. His skin looks really old. A scarlet scar ran across his left cheek. My mother cut across him. Gently lifted me up from the swing. She set me down on my feet and looked into my eyes. So now my mom is setting me down, okay? So now this is the resolution. So let's have a look at the ending. I thought your father had died fighting as a British shoulder in the Syrian war. Dot, dot, dot, ellipsis. This is dialogue. She muttered shakily. This is when I was pregnant with you years ago. Yet I got a call a few weeks ago. He was held hostage for all these years and he was finally rescued, his back now. So this dialogue basically clears up who's a stranger, who's a scary person, right? And it turns out that is the speaker's dad. A rush of shock and confusion and a rush of shock, confusion and bewilderment, rule of three, flooded my heart hyperbole. This is why she's taking me out of school. Looking up at this stranger, I felt tears sting my eyes. My father was alive. Although our reunion at the park was over 10 years ago, I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I'm using the same words that I used at the beginning. So I've written in a circular way. This is a circular narrative, a circular structure. Because it starts, it ends at the same way as it starts. It is a memory that will forever treasure as it is the day my father walked back into my life and we're talking about it being a memory. Because this question is asking right about a most treasured memory, okay? So as I've mentioned, I decided to go for this image. And basically the story just boils down to me being taken out of school for just the day. I'm thinking, oh, it's such a great day at the park. And then my mom is just there kind of sitting with me. And you know, it's a little bit different because she doesn't usually take me out of school. She's actually quite strict about me going to school. But then it turns out that this stranger who at first looks really scary, who is he, turns out to be a father. And he was, you know, a British soldier. He'd been maybe imprisoned before and then now has come back, okay? And I'm being reintroduced back to him, okay? So that's the model response and a potential idea you can consider when writing about either this most treasured memory or you can take this answer and kind of change it a little bit for other stories, okay? Thanks so much for listening.