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tips for EL paper 1
Saturday, May 2, 2009
I was going to print this for my classes, but then I had no way of giving it to everyone. Then I thought of emailing it, but I don't have everyone's email. So, here it is, free for everyone (even those I don't teach). Disclaimer: if your EL teacher has taught you other things, please follow what your other EL teacher has taught you. Particularly for P1S2 format; there are many acceptable versions out there, and I'm merely presenting the most basic ones.
Paper 1 Section 1: Free WritingThere are at least 4 types of question they can give:
1) Descriptive
2) Narrative
3) Expository
4) Argumentative
Descriptive essays require (a) strong vocabulary, esp use of adjectives (like "colourful" and "vibrant"), and (b) strong content knowledge. If you have only a little of (a) and you're not even sure what (b) is, it may be better that you don't write a descriptive essay.
Narrative essays are what most people try to write, but actually are not good at. The thing is, you have to remember that if EVERYONE writes narratives, your essay has to stand out in some way, and be original, in order to get better marks.
The structure of a narrative is as follows:
-> Orientation (who, when, where, what, why)
-> Complication (the problem your main character has that starts the whole story)
-> Series of Events (things that happen as result of the complication)
-> Climax (high point of the story; the point where the problem
has to be resolved)
-> Resolution (the solving of the problem and the close of the essay)
In some cases the Climax and Resolution are replaced with the Resolution and Coda, which is still okay because they end up fulfilling the same functions. Don't worry about the names of the parts too much; just make sure you know what is supposed to happen in each part. That's more important.
Expository essays are identified by the question ending, "What are your views?" or "Discuss" or "Comment". In an expository essay you have to present a balanced view of the topic at hand. You are
not required to take a stand. You may show that you are more inclined to one side than the other ("It is true to a certain extent that...") but it should not become a matter of you trying to convince the reader that only one side is correct. That's the task of the
Argumentative essay, which, by definition, is about arguing. Well not really, you're simply supposed to present a "for" or "against" stand on the topic at hand. Argumentative essays are different from expository essays in that they are
not balanced, because they have to answer the question "Do you agree?" For argumentative and expository essays, they always like to ask about topics like euthanasia, animal cruelty, abortion, and other socially relevant/controversial issues that require
content knowledge and
having a personal opinion. If you are not sure whether you know enough to answer the question, please please please DON'T write an argumentative/expository essay. But if you are sure, go right ahead.
Paper 1 Section 2: Situational WritingSituational writing is very straightforward. You are given a situation and asked to craft one of the following:
1) Informal Letter (to relatives or friends)
2) Formal Letter (to principal, chairman of residents' council, manager of company etc)
-> Proposal (to spend donated money, to upgrade facilities, to recommend someone for an award, to recommend a venue for a graduation party etc)
-> Complaint (about poor service, faulty product)
-> Report (police report, incident report)
Format for Informal Letter___________________________________________________________
Writer’s Address
Date
Salutation (Dear ______ )
Body of Text
Complimentary Close (Yours sincerely/truly/Love/Regards/etc)
Signature
Writer’s Name
___________________________________________________________
Format for Proposal/Complaint___________________________________________________________
Writer’s Address
Date
Rank/Title of Person-in-charge (eg. The Principal)
Company Name/School Name
Recipient’s Address
Salutation (Dear _______ )
Re: ________________________
Body of Text
Complimentary Close (Yours sincerely/faithfully)
Signature
Writer’s Name
___________________________________________________________
Format for Report___________________________________________________________
To: (Name of Recipient)
From: (Name of Writer)
Date
Title of Report
Body of Text
Statement written by:
Writer’s Name
___________________________________________________________
Note that:
=> the date has to be written as 1 May 2009, not 1st May 2009 or 01-05-09.
=> the complimentary closes for informal and formal letters are different. For informal letters there is a wider range that you can use. For formal letters, either "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully" is acceptable.
=> you should worry more about the actual content of the letter than the format. At the most you get 2 or 3 marks off for the wrong format, but if you're off-topic it's a much more serious thing.
Situational writing is much easier to score for than free writing (for many reasons). Since the weightage is 10m for Task Fulfilment and 20m for Language, you should aim to get at least 7 or 8 for the task fulfilment. Most people get between 10-12 for language anyway, but if you get another 7 or 8 for task fulfilment, you would get about 19 or 20 out of 30. That would help if you don't do particularly well for Section 1.
How to score for task fulfilment? Simple.
Fulfil the task. You do this by using the correct format and
answering the question. Don't just lift all the phrases and words that are in the question: any literate monkey can do that. You should think of things that the question does not mention, elaborate on what it DOES mention and basically show the marker that you have carefully thought through the question and whatever the question entails. The only thing I can think of that will help you here is
common sense, but no one can teach you common sense. Either you have it or you don't. Better go check that you have it.
Anyway, that's all I can think of for Paper 1. I may do another post for Paper 2 when the time comes, but in the meantime, please do yourselves a favour and
be prepared for Paper 1 on Monday (especially YOU,
3N4, 4E5 and 5N1). I know Social Studies is very important and you will kill yourselves trying to remember everything for the paper in the morning, but
ENGLISH IS MORE IMPORTANT! HOW TO PASS SOCIAL STUDIES IF YOU CAN'T DO ENGLISH!!!!!! Heh. Good luck for exams, everyone! :)
Labels: exams
and i'll return to you somehow: 09:56
