1. IDENTIFY your point of response. 2. CLARIFY your response. 3. HOW will you respond? 4. WHICH techniques and conventions might you use?

Is there A CHOICE OF TEXTS to  respond to?

If yes – pick one. 

What is it?

  • image
  • photograph
  • artwork
  • passage of writing
  • a quote
  • a statement
  • a personal memory or reflection

What about this text interests you?

Choose a key word to respond, consider the main ideas you could focus on.

What are your FIRST IMPRESSIONS of the text? What emotions does it evoke?

Which CONCEPTS does the text deal with?

  • intertextual links
  • representations of characters, ideas, and ideologies
  • are you personally familiar with these?

Which FEATURES of the text are relevant?

  • do you know the context of production?
  • what setting/time is represented?
  • are any symbols inferred?
  • what stylistic conventions are used?

Imaginative texts are a practical demonstration of creative skills. They show our knowledge of the way in which creative language functions.

Consider the appropriate form and genre for your piece. Which form do you want to write in?

  • short story
  • creative non fiction
  • poetry

Will you write into a genre?

  • action
  • fantasy
  • comedy
  • character study
  • horror/ supernatural
  • science fiction
  • crime
  • folk tales and  fairy tales
 POETIC TECHNIQUES 

  • Sensory images – visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, kinaesthetic and organic.
  • Figurative Language – Simile (as if/ like);    Metaphor (direct comparison)
  • Alliteration – repetition of words starting with  consonant letters
  • Personification – giving human qualities to non-human things

NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS

  • Characters – protagonist/ antagonist
  • Setting – time/place
  • Point of View – First, (I/me/my); Second (you/your); Third (he/she)
  • Conflict – internal/ environmental/ social/ societal.
  • Theme – a key idea on a concept woven through the text.

CONVENTIONS OF GENRE

Adhering to rules – how does your piece conform to conventions of genre, how does it subvert them?

Adapted by Westerly from ‘Composing Pathway’ created by Hayley Wills, Leeming SHS, Teacher Development School for the Department of Education.

This article was reproduced with permission from Westerly. To learn more about Westerly visit our partners’ page.

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