Task
A magazine wants to include contributions from its readers for an article called ‘The book that influenced me most’.
Write a letter to the editor of the magazine about the book that influenced you most. In your letter
- describe what this book was about
- explain how this book influenced you
- say whether this book would be likely to influence other people
Candidate’s Answer
This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 7.0 score.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing you in response to the article ‘the book that influenced me most’ printed in the last issue of your magazine, as it was stated there that you would be waiting for readers’ contributions. Having noticed this, I couldn’t have failed taking an opportunity to share my experience.
So, the book that literally turned my world upside down is called “Nina”, by an Italian author writing under the pen name of Moony Witcher. The book was about a girl who suddenly found out that her grandfather had not only been a great alchemist but had also kept saving the world from an evil mage. And it was her turn to take up his task and save all the children’s dreams and fantasies from complete extinction.
I was twelve when I cracked this book open and I was completely lost in an interesting plot and a breathtaking philosophy concerning Good and Evil, Creation and Destruction, Everything and Nothing. This book had a great influence on me as a writer, it encouraged me to try writing fantasy stories and made me a person that I am now.
I would advise reading this book to everyone from age 8 to 100, as it is sure to be very beneficial for children’s upbringing and to teach them some good things in a very interesting way.
Best regards,
Examiner’s Comment
This response addresses all the requirements of the question. There is a good description of what the book was about and a clear idea of how it influenced the writer. To improve the score, more detail could be added to the final bullet point. The response is organised clearly into paragraphs and the cohesive devices make it easy to follow.
Vocabulary is strong, there are some colloquial [cracked… open] and higher-level items [alchemist | fantasies | philosophy]. There are also some good examples of complex grammatical structures but a few errors remain [writing you / writing to you | a person / the person].
