What, and for whom
Say what you are reviewing, and who it is for. Not "everybody" — name the kind of person who would like it.
One decision before you write.
1. A hundred and fifty words. How much of it should be plot?
A model, and the rubric
Model — 149 words
It is set in a small town on the coast, and it is about two sisters who have not spoken for years. The younger one turns up without warning and stays. Most of the film is the two of them in a very small flat, circling each other.
Almost nothing happens. That is deliberate, and it is either the best or the worst thing about it, depending on what you want. I found the first half hour slow, and I nearly stopped.
What makes it worth watching is a scene about halfway through, where one sister keeps washing the same plate rather than turn round. Nobody says anything for a long time. It is the most tense thing I have seen this year, and there is no music in it at all.
If you want something exciting, this is not it. If you can sit with something quiet, watch it. Do not read anything about the ending first.
The rubric — four criteria
| Criterion | What it means | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Persuasion | A reader can decide, from this, whether it is for them | 30% |
| Adjective accuracy | -ed and -ing in the right places | 25% |
| Balance | A third plot, a third what it is like, a third who it is for | 25% |
| Length | 140–160 words, counted and written at the bottom | 20% |
Compare the written review with Ines's spoken version in Lesson 5.
1. How much of the 149 words is plot?
2. The scene from the spoken version is here in two sentences instead of ten. What survived?
3. It says either the best or the worst thing about it, depending on what you want. What is that doing?
4. The last line is Do not read anything about the ending first. Why end there?
Spoken summary → written review
What changes
| Spoken | Written | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The summary… One scene… What it meant… | paragraph breaks | Paragraphs signal sections on a page |
| ninety seconds on one scene | two sentences | 150 words cannot carry a full scene |
| you know · sort of · I mean | — (cut) | Fillers do not survive writing |
| It was really really tense. | There is no music in it at all. | Intensity becomes a fact |
| I would not watch it twice. | If you can sit with something quiet, watch it. | Personal verdict becomes a match test |
| present tense for plot | present tense for plot | Unchanged — the convention holds in both |
Match each spoken feature to what happens to it in 150 written words.
A hundred and fifty words is about ten sentences. Roughly fifty on plot, fifty on what it is like, fifty on who it is for. Anything else has to displace one of those.
Tighten four sentences
Four sentences that state a verdict. Rewrite each as a fact or a match test.
1. It was really really tense.
2. The acting was amazing.
3. It is too slow.
4. Everybody should watch it.
One word per gap. This is the model's third and fourth paragraphs, gapped.
What makes it worth watching is a scene about halfway through. It is the most (tense) thing I have seen this year, and there is no music in it at all. I was completely (absorb). If you want something (excite), this is not it. If you can sit with something quiet, it. Do not anything about the ending first.
Write it, swap it, decide
Task card · Writing
A 150-word review. Then somebody reads it and decides whether to watch the thing.
Four paragraphs, 140–160 words, balanced a third each way. Then your reader says yes or no, and why.
- Write (12 min). Plot; what it is like; the one thing that makes it worth it; who it is for and who it is not.
- Proofread (3 min). Start with the one error you chose at the end of Lesson 6. Then count the words and write the number at the bottom.
- Swap (2 min). Read your partner's review once.
- Decide (3 min). Say whether you would watch it, and name the sentence that decided you. Then find out whether that was the sentence they expected.
Proofreading checklist. Answer about your own page.
1. Every -ed / -ing adjective — is it the right way round?
2. Is the plot paragraph about a third of the total?
3. Is there a sentence naming who it is NOT for?
The deciding sentence
Your reader named one sentence that decided them. Underline it on your page.
If it was in the plot paragraph, your review is a synopsis. If it was a fact or a match test, it is a review.
Answer from your reader's decision.
1. Would they watch it?
2. Which sentence decided them?
3. Was it the sentence you expected?
Before the unit task
One question.
1. What replaces it was really really tense?
Before Lesson 8. Keep your draft and the sentence your reader underlined. Do not rewrite it tonight.
Next lesson closes Term 2, so bring everything: the Unit 5 portrait, the Unit 6 recording and written piece, the Unit 7 role-play and email, and today's draft.