Saturday, 8 October 2016
Friday, 7 October 2016
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
4) FORMATS FOR SPM ENGLISH ESSAYS UNDER SECTION B PAPER 1
2 FORMATS FOR CONTINUOUS WRITING/ESSAYS UNDER SECTION B PAPER 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:
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)
Monday, 3 October 2016
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.
|
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