13) SPM ENGLISH 1119 PAPER 1

12) REPORT

11) INFORMAL LETTER

10) DEAR MR KILMER: THE ENDING: QUESTION 33 PAPER 2:

QUESTION 33:

Dear Mr. Kilmer	-	Anne Schraff
Sing To The Dawn	-	Minfong Ho
Captain Nobody	-	Dean Pitchford

In the novel that you have studied, do you like its ending? Give reasons for your answer with close reference to the text.

[15 marks]

SAMPLE ANSWER

·         Name of novel ·         synopsis	The novel that I have studied is Dear Mr Kilmer by Anne Schraff. The novel is set during the World War I. It is about a boy named Richard Knight who lives in Turtle Lake, Iowa, in America. He lives with his father, Pa, his elder brother, Gus, and his sister, Angie. He goes to school there as well. Richard has a friend named Hannah Schermer, an American girl from German descent. She becomes a victim to the locals prejudice and discrimination because America was at war against Germany. Richard was also close to her family so he was criticised by his family and friends. Another reason Richard was criticised by his family and friends was his passion towards poetry. In an effort to pursue this passion, Richard made contacts with a poet, Mr Joyce Kilmer, through letters. Sadly, Mr Kilmer died while fighting in the war.
·         Do you like the ending? ·         Describe the ending	I really enjoy reading the ending of the story. In the novel, on a few occasions Pa and Gus criticised Richard for his deep interest towards poetry writing. However, at the end of the story Pa supported him. Richard’s poems have become a regular feature in ‘The Turtle Lake Weekly’. Pa helps Richard by correcting his poems or giving suggestions because Richard writes mainly about farm life. Richard reads his poems aloud to Pa after dinner beside the fire. Often, Pa praises his poems.
·         Reason 1	There are three reasons why I like the ending of this novel. First, it shows that poets have a role to play in the community. Richard’s success as a poetry writer in a regular column in the local newspaper proves that poetry writing is an acceptable hobby in the community unlike the claims made by the bullies from Richard’s classmates that poems are for ‘Sissies’.
·         Reason 2	Second, I like the ending because it patches the void in the relationship between a son and his father. Pa was initially cold and distant towards Richard although they always work together at the farm. However, this situation changed. Their relationship was strengthened after Mr Kilmer’s death in the war. The change happened after Richard wrote a poem to commemorate his death. In that poem, Richard used the same phrase that went through Pa’s mind during Uncle Roland’s funeral. The phrase was ‘A world is gone. A world is dead and gone’. The poem was published in ‘The Turtle Lake Weekly’ and Pa was very impressed of Richard.
·         Reason 3	Third, the ending in this novel has an important moral value which is perseverance. Richard was ridiculed by some of his classmates for his poetry writing. Pa also said that poetry has put crazy ideas in his mind. Despite all these objections, Richard found his strength to pursue his interest. He made contacts with Mr Kilmer who motivated him to write poetry. He also befriended the Schermers who supported him. Mr Schermer even persuaded him to send his poem about Mr Kilmer to be published in ‘The Turtle Lake Weekly’. Since then, he is a regular poetry writer. From this ending, it is clear that perseverance is important in achieving success.
·         Conclusion	I enjoyed reading the novel. Based upon the reasons stated above, I even enjoyed reading its ending. It ends well and this leaves a sweet memory to all the readers.

9) SPM ENGLISH: PAPER 1: SECTION B: DESCRIPTIVE WRITING: Describe a beautiful place that you have been to.

8) SPM: THE RIGHT FORMAT TO USE WHEN WRITING THE SECTION B ESSAYS (CONTINUOUS WRITING)

7) TYPES OF ESSAYS IN PAPER 1 SECTION B

6) SAMPLE: FORMAL LETTER OF COMPLAINT

5) THE TYPES OF ESSAYS FOR SPM ENGLISH 1119...make sure you master them all

1) DIRECTED WRITING

2) CONTINUOUS WRITING

4) FORMATS FOR SPM ENGLISH ESSAYS UNDER SECTION B PAPER 1

2 FORMATS FOR CONTINUOUS WRITING/ESSAYS UNDER SECTION B PAPER 1

1. THE BURGER FORMAT:

        

suitable for: Factual, Descriptive and Argumentative Essays

2. The Hill Format

suitable for: Narrative Essays

3) SAMPLE: A NARRATIVE ESSAY

A NARRATIVE ESSAY

Write a story about a secondary school student that begins with these words:

                ‘I yelled at a man outside the school gate……..”

AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING

THE PLOT	THE STORY
SETTING: ·         Time ·         Place ·         Characters	I yelled at a man outside the school gate,“Oi! What do you think you are doing?” I shouted at him again. From about 50 metres away, I could see him trying to pry open a red Myvi parked outside the school gate. He was holding a long metal object. As he turned towards me, I could see that he was a middle aged man with grey hair and dark skin. He was wearing filthy looking shirts and pants. From far I could see that he had evil eyes.
RISING ACTION: ·         He came after me	I was standing at the parking lot inside the school area. I quickly looked around and realised that no one else was around. I glanced at my watch and it showed 7.05 pm. My mind was telling me that other students must have gone home and that my brother was late again today. I frantically concluded that I was alone.                I swiftly turned towards the man by the red Myvi. He wasn’t there. To my horror, I saw him running very fast near the school entrance and heading towards the opened gate. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed. He was coming towards me.
CONFLICT: ·         I looked for help	My brain became chaotic. At the spur of the moment, I couldn’t think straight. “Get help, get help”, I murmured to myself. I ran towards the canteen but it was empty. Not a single soul was around. I was perspiring. “The guard”, I thought. I ran towards the guard post at the corner of the canteen. A security guard is normally stationed there at all times. As I was running, I saw that the guard's seat was empty. “Oh No.! What now?” I asked myself desperately. The office, my hope began to return.
CLIMAX: ·         He caught me and tried to kill me	I had to run about 100 metres away to get to the office. It was getting dark. By now, I can hear the man’s laboured breathing behind me. He was getting close. I forced my legs to run faster. My heart was beating real fast. I must get help. My ‘baju kurung’ did not permit me to run freely. “Am I going to die today?” the nasty thought rushed to my mind.                 As I got in front of the school office, in the dim light I saw a big padlock in front of the office. “Help me, God!” I exclaimed in a mixture of frustration and hope. The parking lot, I thought. May be a teacher was still in his car. I dashed towards the parking lot. As I was turning to my right, I felt a strong big hand grabbed me by the collar and pulled me. I can smell the man’s bad body odour as he held me by my neck. He was strangling me with both his hands. I was suffocated and gasping for air.
RESOLUTION: ·         Saved by someone	“Let go of her,” I heard out of nowhere. Almost instantly I heard a heavy blow landed on the man’s filthy face. I was pushed about 5 metres away. “Cikgu Azrul,” I screamed with a choked voice upon seeing my teacher’s face. At that moment, Cikgu Azrul gave another solid blow to the man’s face. The man fell to the ground and was unconscious. Like a skilled policeman, Cikgu Azrul held the man to the ground. Cikgu Azrul shouted at me, ”Get up and get a rope in my car.”                Without thinking, I obeyed him. Cikgu Azrul tied the man’s hands and called the police. In just 15 minutes, the police came and took the man away. I thanked Cikgu Azrul. It turned out that he forgot his wallet at the office and he turned back to fetch it.

 (598 words)

2) Leaving: Aloo's Mother As An Admirable Character

QUESTION

From the short story that you have studied, write about one character that you admire. Give reasons for your answer with close reference to the text.

Paragraph 1	i. State the name of the story ii. State the character that you have chosen.	The story that I have studied is Leaving by M.G. Vassanji. The character that I admire in the story is Aloo’s mother. There are several reasons why I think she is an admirable character.
Paragraph 2	Synopsis of the story	The story is about a family that lives in Tanzania. The family comprises of Mother and her five children, Firoz, the Narrator, Aloo, Razia and Mehroon. The main character, Aloo, has just completed his secondary studies. He obtained straight As in his examination and and he has a dream to study in America.  He applied to various universities there and he was offered a scholarship to further his studies in Medicine at the California Institute of Technology in America. Since Aloo’s mother is a poor single parent, she had to face some challenges in fulfilling her son’s dream.
Paragraph  3	· Reason 1 foresight	Aloo’s mother has foresight in raising her children well. She had a store at the busy Uhuru Street. She sold the store and moved to Upanga, a much quieter part of Dar es Salaams city. She did this to avoid her children spending time working in the family store. Instead, she wanted them to concentrate on her studies. Her plan has paid off when Aloo succeeded in obtaining straight As in his school’s final examination. This makes her an admirable character.
Paragraph 4	· Reason 2 selflessness	Another trait that is to be admired in Aloo’s mother is selflessness. She lost her husband when she was only 33 years old. Since then, she had a few marriage proposals but she turned all of them down. The tradition was that she would have to send her five children to a children’s home once she remarries. Aloo’s mother did not want to lose her children so she sacrificed her own happiness. Because of her selflessness, she was able to raise her children well. Aloo scored straight As in his final examination, the Narrator is studying at a university, Mehroon and Razia are already married, and her eldest son, Firoz, is working in the office in a big shop.
Paragraph 5	· Reason 3 overcome her inner fear	The last trait in Aloo’s mother that makes her admirable is her ability to overcome her inner fear. From the story, Mother was initially adamant not to let Aloo further his studies in America, a place which is very far from where they live.  As a single mother, she was scared that Aloo will leave and not to return. As they are poor, she also feared that she was unable to face the challenge of raising the money for Aloo’s ticket and some expenses for him to go to America. However, when she realised that Aloo was very determined with his plan, she managed to overcome her fear and changed her mind. As the result, she decided to let him go and helped him pursue his dreams. At the end of the story, Aloo was on his way to America.
Paragraph 6	Conclusion	From the reasons stated above, one cannot help but conclude that Aloo’s mother is a truly admirable character.

1) FACTUAL ESSAY: How The Internet Helps Students In Their Studies