Write the form you choose: Every Paper 1 task offers a few text types — a blog, an email, an article, a speech and so on — and you choose one and write that form, not a generic essay. Text types fall into three families: personal texts (a blog, a diary, an email to a friend), professional texts (a formal letter, a report, a proposal) and mass-media texts (an article, a review, an interview, a speech, a leaflet). Each family has its own conventions and typical tone, and getting them right protects Criterion C.
- text type
- the form you choose to write — a blog, an email, an article, a speech…
- personal texts
- private/informal forms: an email to a friend, a blog, a diary entry
- professional texts
- formal forms: a formal letter, a report, a proposal
- mass-media texts
- forms for a wide audience: an article, a review, an interview, a speech, a leaflet
- conventions
- the features that mark out a text type (a headline, a greeting, a sign-off…)
The options are printed — choose one: The text types are printed in the options below each task (blog, email, article, speech…). Choose the one you can handle best, then ask: what features does this form need? Writing the right form is the easiest way to bank Criterion C marks.
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Each form has its features: Each text type has key conventions — the features the examiner expects to see — and a typical tone. Learn the handful you're most likely to be asked for. The table below gives the must-haves for four common forms.
| Text type | Key conventions | Typical tone |
|---|---|---|
| Blog | catchy title + direct address to the reader + a sign-off | semi-formal, friendly |
| Formal letter / email | Dear Sir/Madam (or Dear Ms…) + clear paragraphs + Yours faithfully/sincerely | formal |
| Article | headline + subheadings + an opening hook + a conclusion | semi-formal |
| Speech | greeting to the audience + rhetorical questions + a call to action | depends on the audience |
All the Paper 1 text types: Paper 1 gives you 3 tasks and each one offers about 3 text types; you choose one and write it. Any of the forms below can appear — that's why Unit 2 teaches them all. The exam prints the options under each task, so pick one before you start.
| Family | Text type | Also appears as… (in real exams) | Unit 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | Email / informal letter | e-mail, message | 2.1.1 |
| Personal | Blog | blog post | 2.1.2 |
| Personal | Personal diary | diary, diary entry | 2.1.3 |
| Personal | Social-media post | post, forum comment | 2.1.4 |
| Professional | Formal letter | letter to the editor, formal correspondence, cover letter | 2.2.1 |
| Professional | Report | official report | 2.2.2 |
| Professional | Proposal | — | 2.2.3 |
| Professional | Instructions | guidelines, set of instructions, how-to guide | 2.2.4 |
| Mass-media | Article | — | 2.3.1 |
| Mass-media | Opinion column | editorial | 2.3.2 |
| Mass-media | Review | critique | 2.3.3 |
| Mass-media | Interview | — | 2.3.4 |
| Mass-media | Speech | presentation, talk, debate contribution | 2.3.5 |
| Mass-media | Leaflet | pamphlet, flyer, brochure | 2.3.6 |
| Mass-media | News report | news story | 2.3.7 |
| Mass-media | Essay | composition | 2.3.8 |
Three families to memorise: Personal → email, blog, diary, social-media · Professional → formal letter, report, proposal, instructions · Mass-media → article, column, review, interview, speech, leaflet, news report, essay. Same list at SL and HL — only the word count changes.
Features before sentences: Blog → title and address the reader · Formal letter → Dear… and Yours faithfully · Article → headline and hook · Speech → greeting to the audience and rhetorical questions. Sketch the features before you write a single sentence — they're the backbone the examiner looks for.
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Choose it, then serve it: Handling the text type is the same routine every time: choose a form from the options, recall its conventions, pick the tone, and frame the answer with the right opening and closing. Do this before you develop any content.
Choose and serve the text type
1
Choose a form from the options
Pick the text type you can handle best from the three offered — blog, email, article, speech. That choice fixes everything that follows.
2
Recall its conventions
Bring to mind the features that form needs — title, greeting, headline, rhetorical questions — so you can include them.
3
Pick the tone
Choose formal or informal based on the text type and its reader — a formal letter is formal, a blog is semi-formal.
4
Frame it (opening & closing)
Set up the opening (title or greeting) and the closing (sign-off or conclusion) before filling the body — the frame is what the examiner checks.
Choose → Recall → Tone → Frame
The frame protects Criterion C: Even a strong body scores poorly if the frame is missing — no title on a blog, no greeting on a letter. Set the opening and closing first: that frame is exactly what Criterion C rewards in the text type.
Serving the form, worked through: Here's an example task taken through the moves — choosing a text type and listing its must-have conventions before any writing.
Choosing a text type and its conventions
From the task to the form's features
- Task: “Your school assembly is about the importance of recycling. Write a text to encourage your classmates to act.” The options offered are a speech, an article and a blog — here you'd choose a speech.
- Text type = a speech. Because you've chosen this form, you use a speech's conventions, not a neutral essay about recycling.
- Must-have conventions: a greeting to the audience (“Good morning, everyone”), rhetorical questions to involve the listeners (“How much do we throw away each day?”), and a closing call to action. These features are exactly what Criterion C checks for.
- Tone: it depends on the audience — here it's your school, so it's correct but warm, addressed to the listeners. Decide the tone from who is listening.
- Quick plan: greeting → why recycling matters → two concrete actions → a final call to action. With the form and its conventions fixed, the structure is clear.
Conventions are non-negotiable: Once you've chosen the text type, its conventions are non-negotiable — a speech needs a greeting and rhetorical questions, a blog needs a title and a sign-off. List them in your plan and tick them off as you write to secure Criterion C.
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Right form vs costly mistakes: Marks lost on text type rarely come from weak English — they come from writing a generic essay, missing the conventions, or using the wrong tone for the form. Here's the contrast.
The right form
- Write the form you chose from the options.
- Include the text-type conventions.
- Use a headline in an article, a title in a blog.
- Match the tone to the text type.
Common mistakes
- Write a generic essay whatever the form.
- Miss the conventions — no title, no sign-off.
- Use the wrong tone for the type (too chatty in a formal letter).
- Start writing without framing the form.
A great essay can still score low: If the task offered a blog and you wrote a polished essay, Criterion C drops — the examiner can't see the form. Name the text type you've chosen in your head, then give it the features expected. That alone protects those marks.