Formal writing

• Formal writing is the act of making an argument or expressing an opinion in written form.
• There are many different types of formal writing to help you achieve this:
  • Articles
  • Opinion columns
  • Reports
  • Essays
  • Blogs (although be careful with the language you use)

• On the left here is the task for NCEA Level 1 formal writing. It is worth 3 credits and is INTERNALLY assessed.
• You need to read through this task and brainstorm some ideas that you could write about.
• You MUST complete all the learning exercises provided to ensure that you have a good understanding of how you can construct your writing.
• You MUST have contacted your teacher and discussed your writing plan before you start drafting.
• It must be a minimum of 350 words long (about 2/3 of a page).
• Always remember to be formal, see the editing page for more information on this

Exemplars:

• On the right here are the exemplars for this task that past students have written.
• They are NOT based on the same task that you will be doing.
• You need to make a bullet point list of what you need to do to get an Achieved, Merit and then Excellence.
• This will be something you can keep looking back at during the writing process to make sure you are on track for the grade that you want.

• Since the purpose of formal writing is to make a point, it is important that you write about something you have a strong opinion about.
• On the left here are some ideas for topics. Your mission is to:
  • Read through them and pick the 5 statements that you most strongly agree/disagree with.
  • Write them down and write your three reasons for EACH statement for either agreeing/disagreeing with them.
  • Pick the STRONGEST one to write your essay about OR make another plan with your teacher.

• After you have completed your draft, you edit your work. You read and reread it to improve and develop it further.
• Find out more about how to edit both creative and formal writing here.
• It is a good idea to be looking for a different thing each time you read it over, for example:
  • Punctuation
  • Sentence structure
  • Spelling
  • Formal wording
  • Development of ideas
  • Paragraphing
  • Deleting uneccessary words or sentences
• The above list is not definitive. It is a prompt to get you thinking about how to edit.