Free writing: arguing online about inventions and screens

Model post (about 12 lines)

Honestly, I could — and I nearly did last summer. Here is why I think a screen-free week is possible. First, most of what we use the internet for has an offline twin: a paper map, a phone call, a library. The week is hard for two days, then the habit breaks. Second, sleep changes. Without a bright machine at midnight I fell asleep an hour earlier and woke up before my alarm, which had not happened all year. Third, you find out how much of your day was not a choice: I counted forty pick-ups of my phone on the first morning alone. I will not pretend it is free of cost. I missed two messages that mattered and a friend thought I was angry with him. So do it, but tell people first — and keep one hour of digital time for the calls you cannot drop.

Task (3 marks). The post answers could you, gives three arguments in order, and adds a limit. It stays a reply to a friend: Honestly, you find out, tell people first.

Language (3 marks). A modal in the first sentence (could), past simple for the personal evidence, and technology vocabulary used naturally (screen, internet, machine, digital).

Mechanics (2 marks). No letter layout here — a post has no Dear friend and no signature. Capitals, full stops and paragraph unity are still counted.

Model paragraph (five lines)

Amel Zouari was born in Sfax in 1979 and works in medical robotics. She invented a low-cost robot arm that helps patients recover the use of a hand after a stroke. She began the project when her father had a stroke and no such machine was available in the region. Her invention is now used in forty hospitals in six countries. She has kept the design free to copy, so that any workshop can build it.

Prompts (2 marks). Birth date and city, field, invention, personal reason and present use: five rows, five pieces of information, none added.

Mechanics (2 marks). Capital letters on the name and the city, figures written consistently, and one full stop per sentence. Writing 40 hospitals or forty hospitals is both acceptable, mixing the two in one sentence is not.

Language note. The reason clause uses when plus a past simple, and the result uses so that: two structures that turn a table row into a sentence instead of a label.

Model post (about twelve lines)

A screen is a window, not a door

I have seen the pyramids and the streets of Tokyo — all from my bedroom. Still, I totally disagree with this quote. First, the internet shows places, but travel makes you live them: no video gives you the smell of a spice market or the fear of asking for directions in a language you barely speak. Second, travelling builds independence. When your train is cancelled at midnight in a foreign city, you learn to solve problems alone, and nobody can download that skill. Third, travel changes the way we see others. Sharing a meal with a family abroad breaks more prejudices than a thousand photos. Of course, a trip is expensive, and the internet is a great way to prepare one. But it should open the door to travel, not close it. What about you, friends: screen or suitcase?

Adherence to task and content adequacy (4 marks). Idea: three constraints are checked first — the genre (a Facebook post: a catchy first line and a closing question to the followers, no Dear …), the length (about twelve lines) and a clear position on this quote, found in the second sentence. The three arguments are distinct (experience, independence, tolerance) and each one is developed with a concrete example. On the Lettres paper this block is worth 4 marks instead of 3, which is why each argument needs its illustration, not just a topic sentence.

Language (4 marks). Ordering linkers (First, Second, Third), a concession introduced by Of course … But, a comparative (more prejudices than a thousand photos) and the vocabulary of the unit used in context (trip, abroad, foreign city, prejudices).

Mechanics of writing (2 marks). The title stands on its own line with capitals, every sentence ends with a full stop, the question to the followers ends with a question mark, and the quote is not copied again in full — it is referred to as this quote.

Model post (about twelve lines)

Hi everyone! I grew up in a small village near Béja, and I wish this statement were true, but I disagree with it. First, the jobs that can be done from home usually require a degree and experience, and those are still gained in cities, where the universities and the first internships are. Second, a career is also built on people. In a big city you meet employers, colleagues and clients face to face, and one conversation can open a door that a hundred e-mails never will. Third, the connection in many villages is still too slow and unreliable for video meetings, so remote workers often end up moving anyway. I admit that some freelancers succeed from their home village, and I admire them. However, they are exceptions, not the rule. What do you think, friends — have you managed it?

Adherence to task and content adequacy (3 marks). Idea: the forum post answers this statement with a stance in the first two lines (I disagree with it), three distinct arguments (where skills are gained, the role of personal contacts, the state of the connection) and a closing that invites other members to react. A partly-agree answer is also acceptable if the final position is clear and still carried by three arguments.

Language (3 marks). A wish about the present (I wish this statement were true), ordering linkers, a contrast (However), a concession (I admit that), and the vocabulary the statement calls for (remote workers, freelancers, internships, video meetings).

Mechanics of writing (2 marks). A post opens with a greeting to the forum, not with Dear Sir, and has no signature block; capital letters on place names (Béja), full stops, and a question mark on the final question.

Model article (about twelve lines)

Sixteen Is Not Too Late to Go Online

Parliament wants to keep social media away from anyone under sixteen, and many teenagers are furious. I am one of the few who support the new measure. First, apps are designed to keep us scrolling, and the youngest users are the least able to stop: sleep, homework and concentration are the first victims. Second, a ban would protect children from cyberbullying and from adults who hide behind fake profiles, dangers that a twelve-year-old cannot always recognise. Third, it would give young people back time for sport, reading and friends they can actually see. Critics say the law will be impossible to enforce, since anyone can lie about their age. That is partly true, but a rule does not have to be perfect to change habits. Rather than a punishment, the ban should be seen as a few more years of childhood.

Adherence to task and content adequacy (3 marks). Idea: the prompt asks for an opinion about the new measure, not about social media in general. The article therefore names the measure in its first sentence, takes a side in the second, and keeps every argument tied to the ban: what it would prevent (addiction, cyberbullying, predators) and what it would give back (time). It is an e-magazine article, so it has a title and addresses a general readership.

Language (3 marks). The conditional for a measure that is only being discussed (a ban would protect, it would give … back), a passive (are designed), a concession with That is partly true, but …, and Rather than in the closing sentence.

Mechanics of writing (2 marks). Capitals on each main word of the title, no letter layout, a full stop at the end of every sentence, and numbers written as words inside the text (sixteen, twelve-year-old).

Model article (about twelve lines)

Clean Oceans Before Space Selfies

Every few months, another billionaire spends a fortune on a ten-minute trip to space. I believe that money would do far more good under the waves. First, the oceans produce much of the oxygen we breathe and feed millions of people, yet they are choking on plastic. Second, cleaning beaches, protecting fish stocks and restoring coral are urgent tasks that are short of funds, while a seat in a rocket helps nobody but its passenger. Third, rich people are role models: when they invest in the planet, others follow. Some will answer that space tourism drives research and that inventions such as satellites began in space programmes. It is true that science benefits from space. However, those discoveries came from public research, not from joyrides for the rich, so they do not justify the rockets. The sea cannot wait.

Adherence to task and content adequacy (3 marks). Idea: the opinion is stated in the second sentence and carried by three arguments. The drill's focus is the concession and refutation: the article reports the best objection fairly (Some will answer that …), grants what is true in it (It is true that …) and shows why it does not change the position (However, … so …). The bac does not require this move, but it keeps a one-sided article from sounding like a slogan and it counts inside the twelve lines.

Language (3 marks). Ordering linkers, the reporting frame Some will answer that, the concession pair It is true that … However, the contrast while, and precise vocabulary (fish stocks, coral, public research).

Mechanics of writing (2 marks). A title with capitals, the blog genre respected (no Dear editor, no signature), and one idea per sentence with a full stop — the last sentence is short on purpose, not a fragment.