The example that never actually happened
Original practice source: a commentary about invented examples.
An imagined example can make a difficult idea easier to examine. Its conditions can be stated clearly, allowing people to ask what follows without first needing the history of a real case. It is useful partly because the speaker controls the arrangement.
That control is also a limitation. Imagined people may behave exactly as an argument requires, while a real situation contains details which resist the neat conclusion. An example should be labelled honestly and used for the question it can answer. Showing that an outcome is possible in a constructed case does not establish how often it happens outside it.
A national newspaper is running an essay competition on the statement: “An invented example is just as useful as a real one.”
Write an essay for the competition arguing your view. You may use ideas from the source and your own ideas.
60 exam-style questions on Oxford AQA IGCSE English Language 2.2 Section B: Directed writing, covering 2.2.1 Writing for audience and purpose, 2.2.2 Responding to multiple and diverse demands, and 2.2.3 Writing linked to the Section A sources. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.