Planning and writing the written response (IA4): QCE Essential English Unit 4
“Create a written response for a particular purpose and audience that represents identities, places, events and/or concepts, using the patterns and conventions of the chosen genre, sequenced subject matter, cohesive devices and deliberate language choices”
For the Unit 4 written response, follow the conventions of the genre your school sets, decide the representation you want to build, sequence ideas with cohesive devices, and use deliberate language (show don't tell, sensory imagery, precise vocabulary, sentence variety) in the right register. Draft early, use feedback and edit carefully.
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What this dot point is asking
IA4 in Unit 4 is a written response. Schools choose the genre and focus, for example an imaginative short story or a feature article that represents Australian identities, places, events or concepts. You need to use the genre's conventions, sequence ideas clearly, link them with cohesive devices and make deliberate language choices. Your school's task sheet sets the genre, length and conditions.
The answer
Know your genre
| Genre | Key conventions |
|---|---|
| Short story | Orientation, complication, climax, resolution; characters; setting; dialogue; consistent point of view |
| Feature article | Headline and hook, a focus angle, quotes and anecdotes, subheadings, a strong conclusion |
| Review | Details of the text reviewed, evaluation with evidence, a recommendation |
| Blog or opinion piece | Personal voice, clear perspective, direct address, call to action |
Build the representation
Decide what you want readers to think about your identity, place, event or concept, then choose characters, settings, events, details and language that build it. Repeated images and motifs (the red dust, the shared thermos of tea) strengthen a representation.
Structure and cohesion
- Plan the sequence before writing (a story arc or a paragraph plan).
- Link ideas with cohesive devices: time connectives ("later that afternoon"), contrast ("however"), cause and effect ("as a result"), and clear pronoun reference.
- Use paragraphs for shifts in time, place, speaker or idea.
Language choices
- Show, don't tell: reveal emotions through actions and details.
- Sensory imagery: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste.
- Precise vocabulary: strong verbs and specific nouns.
- Figurative language: similes and metaphors that suit the setting.
- Sentence variety: short for impact, long for description.
- Register: match the genre and audience.
Draft, get feedback, edit
Write a draft early, use your teacher's feedback, then edit for structure, cohesion, language and accuracy.
Opening of a short story representing a coastal town in winter:
"By July, the caravan park emptied out like a tide going out. Only the regulars stayed: old Frank with his fishing rod, the Nguyen twins racing bikes past the shut kiosk, and me, counting the weeks until the summer crowds came back."
- Simile ("like a tide going out") links the emptiness to the coastal setting.
- Specific details (Frank's rod, the shut kiosk) show a small, familiar community.
- First-person narrator invites readers into a local's perspective, representing the town as quiet but close-knit.
- Ignoring the genre's conventions
- A feature article needs a headline and hook; a story needs a complication.
- Telling instead of showing
- "She was sad" is weaker than a revealing action.
- Leaving editing to the last night
- Draft early and use feedback.
Practice questions
Original practice questions graded from foundation to exam level, each with a full worked solution. Try them before revealing the solution.
foundation3 marksRewrite this sentence to 'show, not tell': 'Jess was nervous before the grand final.'Show worked solution →
Example: "Jess retied her laces for the third time, her fingers clumsy, as the roar from the grandstand rolled through the change-room wall."
The actions (retying laces, clumsy fingers) and sensory detail (the roar) show nervousness without naming it.
Marking guide: 1 mark for removing the direct statement, 1 mark for action or detail that implies the emotion, 1 mark for vivid, controlled expression.
core4 marksPlan a short story (in dot points) that represents an Australian country town as a place where people look after each other.Show worked solution →
- Orientation: Sam, 17, works at the town's only petrol station in a drought-hit town; opening image of dust and empty paddocks.
- Complication: a bushfire cuts the only road out, and an elderly neighbour, Mrs Nguyen, is missing.
- Rising action: Sam uses the station's radio to organise locals; the footy club and the café owner join the search.
- Climax: they find Mrs Nguyen sheltering in a dam with her dog as the fire front passes.
- Resolution: at the community hall, the town shares a meal; Sam realises the town's strength is its people.
- Representation: repeated images of shared tasks and first names used by everyone build a sense of community care.
Marking guide: 1 mark for a clear narrative structure, 1 mark for a relevant complication and climax, 1 mark for a resolution, 1 mark for explaining how the plan builds the representation.
exam6 marksExplain how you would edit a draft written response to improve its cohesion, language choices and conventions, giving examples of changes.Show worked solution →
- Cohesion
- Check that paragraphs follow a logical sequence and add linking words where ideas jump: change "The storm hit. We ran." to "When the storm hit, we ran for the shed." Use time connectives in narratives ("By midnight...") and pronouns that clearly refer back.
- Language choices
- Replace vague words with precise ones: "went" to "trudged"; "nice view" to "a sweep of gold paddocks under a bruised sky". Vary sentence length: short sentences for tension, longer ones for description.
- Genre conventions
- Check the structure matches the genre (orientation to resolution for a story; headline, hook and quotes for a feature article), and that the point of view and tense are consistent.
- Accuracy
- Read aloud to catch errors, check spelling of names and places, punctuation of dialogue, and paragraphing.
- Representation
- Confirm every section builds the intended representation and cut anything that does not.
Marking guide: 2 marks for cohesion edits with examples, 2 marks for language edits with examples, 1 mark for genre conventions, 1 mark for accuracy or representation checks.