This module is about writing a whole composition in Chinese so that it holds together from the first paragraph to the last. It sits inside IGCSE Chinese and Mandarin pathways and follows first-language textual analysis, where you learn to read how published writers build a text. Here you use the same ideas as the writer.
Chinese examples stay in Simplified Chinese in every language version of this site. All essays, people and situations on these pages are invented for teaching.
What should you know before you start?
You should be able to write a clear paragraph of four or five sentences with correct punctuation. You should also know the difference between narrative (叙事), description (描写) and argument (议论), because each asks for different planning. Check your current Cambridge syllabus for the exact task types in your qualification.
One worked example to orient you
Suppose the title is 《雨夜的末班车》. A weak plan lists events: rain, bus late, bus arrives, go home. A stronger plan decides four things first.
| Decision | Choice for this title |
|---|---|
| Viewpoint | First person: “我” waits at the stop |
| Focal detail | The driver turning up the heater without a word |
| Movement | Anxious waiting, then small kindness |
| Ending | A new thought, not a summary |
Now every paragraph has a job. The viewpoint tells you what you may report (what 我 sees and guesses), the detail gives the middle its centre, and the ending has somewhere new to go.
In what order should you study the lessons?
- Plan a coherent narrative viewpoint. Decide whose eyes tell the story before you write a sentence.
- Develop description around a focal detail. One chosen detail beats a list of ten.
- Build an argument from supported reasons. A claim needs reasons, and each reason needs support.
- Control transitions across paragraphs. Linking sentences make separate paragraphs read as one text.
- Revise an ending that merely repeats the introduction. It shows how to close with something the reader has not yet heard.
Then try the module practice set, which mixes all five skills.
What are the common traps?
- Switching viewpoint without noticing. The narrator 我 suddenly knows what another person is thinking.
- Describing everything equally. Walls, windows and chairs get one line each, so nothing stands out.
- Asserting instead of arguing. “大家都知道” is a statement of opinion, not a reason.
- Using 首先、其次、最后 as the only glue. The words are present, but the ideas do not connect.
- Ending with the introduction in new clothes. The reader ends where they began.
How should you use the practice set?
Write each answer before opening the explanation, and speak your sentences aloud once to hear where they stumble. Put each repeated slip in the mistake log and retest queue. The writing revision compare view lets you set a first and a second version side by side and ask whether the second is clearer, not just longer.
If you would like a teacher to read your Chinese drafts with you live, see our online one-to-one Chinese tuition.