Wednesday, July 3, 2013

SWT-2 is online today

The second Special Writing Task goes online today, and you get to write a story about a folk tale, which is a traditional story, that you know.

To write a story, see page 21 in the workbook, where it advises:


  • using the past tenses (except in "direct speech") to show what order things happened
  • using time adverbs and phrases, like Long ago in the first line
  • using clauses that begin with before/after etc., like after the race had begun in line-10


Below is an example of a genuine Irish folk tale:

The Cat and the Dog: 
Long ago a dog lived outside in the wet and cold, while the cat lived inside, near the fire.  

One day, when he was terribly wet, the dog became angry and said to the cat, “You have a comfortable place, but you won’t have it for much longer.”

The cat said: “You are wrong. I´m going to stay beside the fire and you will stay outside.”

The man who lived in the house heard them arguing and he decided to organize a race between the dog and the cat to find out who would stay beside the fire.

He said: “Tomorrow, you will both take part in a race of 5 miles. The one who gets inside the house first will be able to stay beside the fire and the other can stay outside.”

The next morning, after the race had begun, the dog was winning. He had almost reached the house and was running extremely quickly with his mouth open. Suddenly he met an old man carrying a big, thick stick. The old man saw the dog´s sharp, white teeth and, thinking that the dog was going to bite him, he hit the dog with the stick.

The dog became extremely angry. He stopped running and started to bark at the old man and was trying to bite him in revenge.

Meanwhile, the cat ran towards the house, and she was licking herself near the fire and resting after the race when the dog arrived.

“Now,” said the cat when the dog ran in, “I have won the race and I will stay beside the fire for ever!” The sad, unlucky dog went back outside into the rain where he stayed.

Remember! Stories are always written using the past tenses!!!

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