For the rest of the term we will be focussing on how to
write a guide. You can use the guide below both as a guide on how to write
guides, but also as an example of what a guide should look like since it is, in
fact, a guide itself. I hope that isn’t too confusing!
HOW TO WRITE A GUIDE
One of the things you
might have to do in the exam is write a guide. You should be aiming for
somewhere between three and four hundred words and, broadly speaking, it will
either need to be:
Instructional
Guides
are usually instructional, meaning the purpose of them is give people
instructions about how to do something, for example, operate a PlayStation or
survive a zombie apocalypse. In this case, you need to use quite formal
language.
Or:
Persuasive
Sometimes,
however, they are persuasive, meaning the purpose of them is to try and
persuade people to do something, for example, visit your town. In this case,
you can use more informal language with lots of positive details and adjectives
(describing words).
Whether
your guide is instructional or persuasive, you must make sure it has the
following:
·
A
main title, e.g. ‘What to do in the event of a fire’ or ‘How to survive a Maths
lesson’
·
An
introductory paragraph giving an overview of whatever the guide is about
·
Subheadings,
e.g. ‘Call the fire brigade’ or ‘Weaponry’
·
Bullet
points
·
Short
sentences and paragraphs – remember: this is not an essay or a short story; your
text should be broken down into small, easy-to-read chunks
·
Some
bold text
·
Some
headings in capitals
Basically,
your guide should like this guide, that is, the one you have just read, because
it is a guide – a guide on how to write guides!
