I know I haven't talked much about what makes a good style model. And I also know that people want to start thinking about it so here are a few thoughts.
To get an A or B, the text forms have to be 'ambitious' i.e. difficult to write in (e.g. difficult to get the conventions/voice/tone/lexis/structure right). They also have to show you can write for audiences other than just teenagers. Each text must be for a different APF. IT should also be of a suitable length that you can use in your coursework. The pieces should be (word-counts combined) between 1500 and 2500 words and neither piece should be shorter than 750.
The audience challenge means reading things you don't normally read - things that are not aimed at you.
You have to write your piece for the same APF/GAP as the piece you have chosen as your style model and use quite a few techniques from the style model (so you can't write your piece first and choose your style model afterwards!) so that you can explain how you were inspired by the style model and how you adapted the techniques to deal with very different content.
As I was saying last lesson, you can't, for instance, take a Guardian article about drugs and then write about drugs. You can use your reading as research of course, so if you are using a Guardian article about a flu pandemic as your style model and are writing about drugs, you can use all the research material, including Guardian articles about drugs, that you can lay your hands on to help you get your facts right! These articles (or textbooks, or whatever) mst be cited in your bibliography and you must ensure that you don't plagiarise any sources you have used for research (we will be working on that skill soon). So, your style model is not your source for research, it is good writing that you want to learn techniques from that will be suitable for your APF, because it will be for the same APF. It will teach you how to write your piece successfully.
You can start collecting possible style models now and then we can be discussing the portfolio of texts that you have collected so we can decide what you will write for your two pieces. We need to decide this in the next couple of weeks. You must find your own style models. Happy hunting!
P.S. Having said to you not to write reviews (it's film reviews that tend to be done really badly, but all reviews are a danger zone), here is one I enjoyed recently that is clever, about the right length, reasonably (but not hugely) challenging and quite accessible. Humour that works for the target audience is allowed!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/10261852/The-bear-facts-about-The-Great-British-Bake-Off.html
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