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ScotlandEnglishQuick questions
Portfolio: Writing
Quick questions on Drafting, redrafting and technical accuracy in the portfolio - SQA National 5 English
6short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is plan before you draft?Show answer
Begin with a plan: the form or mode, the purpose and audience, and the shape of the piece (the experience and reflections for a creative piece, or the line of argument and evidence for a discursive piece). A plan keeps the draft focused and saves you from a structureless first attempt that is hard to rescue. Planning is quick and pays off in every later stage.
What is redraft against the criteria?Show answer
Redrafting is purposeful, not a quick reread. Compare your draft against the four criteria, content, structure, style and accuracy, and make targeted changes: develop thin content, reorder a muddled structure, sharpen vague or repetitive language, and tighten the opening and close. Effective redrafting guided by the criteria is where a middling draft becomes a strong final piece.
What is proofread for technical accuracy?Show answer
The final stage is proofreading: a systematic check for spelling, punctuation, grammar and paragraphing. Read slowly, or aloud, to catch errors a quick read misses, and check sentences, punctuation and paragraph breaks deliberately. Errors that obscure meaning cost most, so prioritise clarity, but in a piece you have had time to polish, even minor slips are avoidable and worth removing.
What is q1?Show answer
Why is technical accuracy weighted more heavily in the portfolio than in an exam answer? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What is the difference between redrafting and proofreading? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Why is submitting an unrevised first draft a mistake? [1 mark]
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