Descriptive Composition: English – First Language 0500 (Cambridge O Level / IGCSE)

Write the opening paragraph (about 80–100 words) of a description titled "The Night Market", establishing atmosphere primarily through sound and smell rather than through what can be seen. [10]

Do not introduce a story, or any action beyond simple movement through the scene. This is a piece of description, not narrative.

The sentence below tells the reader the writer's feeling directly, rather than showing it through detail.

"Grandad's kitchen was cosy and made me feel safe."

Rewrite this as two or three sentences that show the same feeling, using sensory or physical detail, without using the words "cosy," "safe," or any other word that directly names the feeling. [4]

In the extract below, the writer has used the verb "went" three times. This flattens the description and misses a chance to add precise detail through verb choice alone.

"The old man went across the road, avoiding the puddles. At the corner, a stray dog went past him, its ribs visible beneath a matted coat. Overhead, the last of the starlings went towards the church tower, calling to each other in the fading light."

Suggest one precise verb to replace each instance of "went" (three verbs in total), and for each, explain briefly what effect your chosen verb has on the picture the reader forms. [6]

Which of these sentences shows, rather than tells, the reader that Priya is nervous while she waits outside the interview room? [1]

Write three or four sentences describing an abandoned seaside pier at dusk. Use exactly one simile and one instance of personification to build a single controlling mood of decay and abandonment, and no other figurative language beyond these two devices. [9]

A rusting bicycle has been left leaning against a fence in tall grass. Which of these sentences about it uses personification? [1]

A candidate is planning a description of an elderly flower-seller on a market corner and has brainstormed six possible details:

1. She had old hands.
2. Her fingers were stained a faint green from decades of trimming stems.
3. She wore a cardigan.
4. Every few minutes, she nudged one crooked stem back into line so the bucket looked symmetrical again.
5. She was probably in her seventies.
6. A cracked watch, stopped at some hour long past, hung loose on her wrist.

Select the three details that would make the strongest description, and for each of the three you reject, explain in one sentence why it is too generic to keep. [5]

Write a description (4–5 sentences, about 70–90 words) of a cluttered attic room. Organise it spatially: begin with a wide view of the whole space, then deliberately narrow in so that the final sentence focuses closely on a single specific object. Do not introduce a character or any action beyond simple movement of light or dust. [7]

The two sentences below are almost the same length, so the passage has no variation in rhythm and nothing lands with any particular impact.

"The sky went dark very quickly and the wind began to pick up speed across the open field. The first fat drops of rain landed on the dry earth and within moments the storm had fully arrived."

Rewrite this as three sentences describing the same moment, including at least one very short sentence (no more than five words) for impact and one longer, flowing sentence (at least twenty words) that builds atmosphere through accumulating detail. Then, in one sentence, explain the effect of your short sentence. [6]

The passage below is meant to be a pure description of a derelict greenhouse, but one sentence slips into narrative by introducing a character who performs a sequence of actions with a clear beginning, middle and end.

"The greenhouse stood at the far end of the garden, its glass panes furred with algae and cracked in three long fractures across the roof. Vines had pushed up through gaps in the paving and wound themselves around a rusted iron frame that no longer held any plants. A fox slipped in through a broken pane, sniffed at a shattered plant pot, then padded quickly back out into the evening, leaving a faint trail through the dust. Every surface was coated in a fine grey film, undisturbed except where light fell in broken shafts through the missing glass."

(a) Identify which sentence slips from description into narrative, and explain in one sentence why. [3]

(b) Rewrite that sentence so that it remains purely descriptive detail about the greenhouse, with no sequence of action performed by a character. [7]