Assignment
Writing task
(20 marks)
French dictionary can be used
The Assignment-Writing task follows on from the National 5 Assignment. You and your class teacher will discuss possible topics. After that, you will create the writing scenario in English. You should use this as a guide for writing your first draft.
Process
- writing scenario unveiled on day of assessment
- prepare topic notes, grammar revision, lay out points in essay format ie intro/points 1-3, conclusion
- check genders of nouns, verbs and tenses (and where to find these in dictionary)
- check spelling of adjectives based on gender and number
- first draft version written in class
- teacher will have a conversation with you highlighting areas which need to be corrected - work remains in school
- write up final version using draft, correcting highlighted areas (usually the same week or following week
- final version marked externally
Structure and content
Your Assignment-Writing should be detailed and complex in nature and will be a discursive essay (an essay where you can discuss the pros and cons on a topic you are interested in) and should be 200-250 words in length in French. That’s roughly one full page of A4 depending on the size of your writing. (Remember, words such as j’ai will count as 2 words!)
Think about how you will structure your piece of discursive writing to ensure your essay has a balanced/persuasive approach – for instance, it would be good to provide an interesting introduction where you provide a clear indication of your position or your stance in relation to the topic. It would also look good if you show you can present your ideas neatly giving examples to back up and develop your essay in paragraphs. The number of paragraphs depends on what points you intend to make.
Think of good topics and themes which would lend themselves to this kind of a challenging essay to allow to develop your ideas.
Marking
The grades options are 20, 16, 12, 8, 4 and 0. The difference between a 20/20 and 0/20 stems from the ability to use detailed and complex written language and making sure the French is highly accurate. Make sure you can express ideas and opinions and that you can use content relevant to the task demonstrating a range of vocabulary, structures and where possible, an appropriate and suitable range of tenses:
- 20/20 - fully detailed and complex language, a wide range of adjectives and tenses and will be descriptive and elaborate
- 16/20 - mostly uses detailed and complex language
- 12/20 - will attempt to use detailed and complex language
- 8/20 - will have a limited amount of detailed and complex language
- 4/20 - will be very limited in the amount of detailed and complex language
- 0/20 - will have no detailed and complex language
