Y09W08WR What Stress Does to the Body
Part 1
How to Write
An informative piece shares knowledge or experience on a topic with readers who need clear, practical understanding. It is written for an audience who expects the writer to know the subject and present it helpfully. The tone is knowledgeable, direct and accessible — not academic or detached.
- Ideas & content: Choose what is most useful for your reader. If drawing on personal experience, focus on what is specific and real rather than general observations.
- Structure & cohesion: Organise ideas into a clear flow — an opening that establishes the topic, a middle that develops it with specific detail, and a close that leaves the reader with something useful.
- Voice & audience: Write as someone who genuinely knows this topic. Stay consistent in tone — confident but not preachy, clear but not simplistic.
- Language choices: Use vocabulary that is precise without being unnecessarily formal. Write in the present tense for ongoing truths and anchor abstract ideas with specific examples.
- Conventions: Spell key terms accurately. Use punctuation to control sentence rhythm — commas and full stops are your most useful tools.
Common pitfalls: Staying too general — specific detail is what makes an informative piece actually useful. Repeating the same point in different words rather than adding new information.
Part 2
Your Task Plan for Today
Question: Write a three-paragraph informative piece explaining what happens in the body when a person experiences stress, what the difference is between short-term and chronic stress and what the effects of sustained stress are. Select the most relevant material from the notes, organise it clearly and write entirely in your own words. You will need to decide what to leave out.
Stimulus: The following notes have been gathered from various sources about how stress affects the human body. They are unorganised and contain more information than you will need.
- Stress is the body’s response to a perceived threat or demand.
- The stress response evolved to help humans respond to immediate physical danger.
- When the brain perceives a threat it triggers the release of stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol.
- Adrenaline increases heart rate, raises blood pressure and boosts energy supplies.
- Cortisol increases blood sugar and suppresses non-essential functions such as digestion and immune response.
- This response is often called the fight-or-flight response.
- The amygdala is the part of the brain that triggers the stress response.
- The prefrontal cortex - involved in rational thinking - can be impaired during acute stress, which is why people sometimes make poor decisions under pressure.
- Chronic stress occurs when the stress response is activated repeatedly without adequate recovery.
- Chronic stress is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, weakened immune function, digestive problems, anxiety and depression.
- Sleep is significantly affected by stress - elevated cortisol levels can make it difficult to fall and stay asleep.
- The hippocampus, which is important for memory, can be physically affected by prolonged exposure to high cortisol levels.
- Exercise, sleep, social connection and mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce the physiological effects of stress.
- Adolescents are particularly affected by stress because the developing brain is more sensitive to stress hormones.
- Academic pressure, social relationships and uncertainty about the future are common sources of stress for teenagers.
Task Analysis: This task asks you to explain something genuinely — not a textbook summary, but what it actually is or how it genuinely works. Your explanation should be clear, well-organised and accessible to readers who want to understand the topic in depth.
Quick Plan
Before you write, plan:
- Your core explanation — what is the single most important thing readers need to understand?
- 2–3 key points that build on each other logically
- One specific example or case study that makes the explanation concrete
- Your closing synthesis — what readers should take away?
Angle / controlling idea
Decide what aspect of this topic genuinely interests you. An effective explanation has a clear focus — it does not try to cover everything, but instead explains one aspect deeply and clearly.
Paragraph focus
Organise your explanation into clear paragraphs, each with a single idea. Each paragraph should build logically on the one before — readers should be able to follow your thinking step by step.
Evidence & examples
Use specific, concrete detail to make your explanation clear. If you are explaining a concept, give a worked example. If you are explaining a process, walk through the actual steps. Make the abstract concrete.
Key terms
If you use technical terms, define them clearly the first time you use them. Your readers may not have background knowledge — explain as if writing for someone intelligent but unfamiliar with the topic.
Tone & voice
Write as a clear, knowledgeable explainer — someone who understands the topic and can make it accessible. Avoid sounding like a textbook or talking down to readers. Be genuine and direct.
Ending strategy
Close by returning to your core idea and showing how all the pieces fit together. Your final paragraph should give readers a sense of completion — they understand what you were explaining and why it matters.
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