Essays : Past years' questions for your discussion.

Write a composition of about 350 words on one of the following topics.

2007 1 Describe an embarrassing experience of your life. 2 Teenagers today are only interested in entertainment. Do you agree? Support your opinion 3 My early years 4 Write a story beginning with: Kim was nervous when the door opened... 5 Tomorrow

2006 1 Describe an enjoyable weekend you have experienced 2 Write a story ending with: "If only I had been more careful, that wouldn't have happened." 3 What changes would you like to see in your life in the next ten years? 4 How can televsion help students in their studies? 5 Food 2005 1 Describe the biggest challenge in your life. 2 Write a story with the title: An Unexpected Visitor 3 How to keep oneself healthy 4 If you were given a chance to be anybody, who would you want to be and why? 5 Music 2004 1 Describe a festival celebrated in your area 2 End your story with: We had never laughed so much in our lives. 3 My ideal school 4 How to promote tourism in Malaysia? 5 Clothes 2003

1 A day you wished had never happened 2 You have been a chance to visit a country of your choice. Which country would you choose and why? 3 An invention you cannot live without 4 Friends 5 Write a story that ends with: "If only I had listened to his/her advice."

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Narrative Essay
GREETINGS EVERYONE! I have decided to create another blog just for SPM students. Some of the articles have been published in my previous blogs or from my books and articles. This week, I would like to look at writing stories.

Writing a narrative essay THE NARRATIVE COMPOSITION A narrative is a story with a sequence of connected events. It could be about a personal experience or an imagined event or events. Lets look at some typical exam questions: 1. Write a story of a man who returns to his home after many years. 2. The day I lost my temper. 3. Write a story ending with, I shall never forget this day for the rest of my life. 4. Write about an occasion when you got into trouble. 5. Write a story beginning with, I could not believe my eyes. How do I write a narrative essay for the exam?

ACTION PLAN: (1 hour) A. Planning = 15 minutes B. Writing = 35 minutes C. Checking = 10 minutes 2

This plan is for those who are quite weak in English. For those who are proficient, you may only need 10 minutes for planning. This is how we do it. A. PLANNING Lets say you have chosen question 3, - Write a story ending with, I shall never forget this day for the rest of my life. 1. Read the question carefully and underline important phrases. Pay particular attention to the ending. 2. Brainstorm for ideas and jot down notes. For exam purposes, the simplest way is to divide it into three parts: i. ii. iii.

B. WRITING THE ESSAY Now that you have got the skeleton of your story, it is time to begin writing. Use linkers and phrases which link the events to move your story in a chronological order. Some phrases that are suitable are: It was very dark. I will never forget .. A few minutes later. Suddenly, When the disaster happened, .. Use sensory details to reveal the events and to get the reader involved. Do not merely tell but show the events through words and phrases. Example: a. I went into the restaurant. b. I walked into the restaurant. c. I sauntered into the restaurant. Sentence a. merely states that I went into the restaurant and sentence b. gives a little more information as to how I went into the restaurant. Sentence c. uses a more specific word to show clearly the idea of how I went into the restaurant. Sentence c. allows the reader to see what I am doing. The word sauntered means to stroll. It gives the image of a person walking slowly into the restaurant. Thus, sentence c. is more effective in narrative and descriptive writing. C. Checking Read your essay once through and check for the following things: 3

 Is the spelling accurate? Is the punctuation appropriate? Did you use too many commas in a sentence? Did you vary the sentence structure? Are your sentences too long? Does one thought follow the next in a logical order? Did you stick to the topic? Did you use words so that your reader could experience the incident? Did you use the appropriate tense of the verb throughout? Make any corrections neatly. Posted by jennyho at Monday, April 28, 2008 Reactions: 4 comments:

cynthia said... This post has been removed by the author. December 10, 2008 12:57 AM

cynthia said...

hi~im a student that having spm tis year.. and i hav some question about my essay..hope u could help me with tis..
December 10, 2008 1:00 AM

Research Writer said...

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April 14, 2010 12:18 AM

cEkEtENG said...

nice blog and could be used as one of the source for my blog too... http://malaysian-english-for-dummies@blogspot.com
April 30, 2010 1:36 AM 4

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Descriptive essay
Describe an afternoon at the bus station (SPM 97) It was two oclock in the afternoon. I was heading towards the bus station with Mohan after Mrs Wongs extra class. The sun was beating mercilessly on my back and I could feel my sweat trickling down my spine. I have often wished that my mother would allow me to ride a motorcycle to school. She says that I am not ready but we both know that she is terrified that a car would knock me down. When I reached the bus station, it was nearly empty except for a handful of boys. Mohan and I strode to a bench near the stationmasters office. I could feel the tension on my shoulders as the straps of my school bag ate into my shoulder. Where is the bus? I sighed to myself. An elderly woman came and asked me where I was going. She started a conversation but gave up after my monosyllable answers. Suddenly, someone shouted and I saw a bus swerved into the station. I got up, thankful for the chance to escape from the woman. . It was Mohans bus. The group of boys were jostling each other to get into the bus. Masuk! Masuk! shouted the conductor but nobody seemed to be moving. The black fumes made me nauseous. All of a sudden, people started appearing from all directions to board their bus. In no time, the passengers were packed like sardines in the bus. It started to move, leaving some unfortunate passengers behind. I waved at Mohan when I noticed him dangling on the steps of the bus. The bus swerved out of the station again. It left another trail of black smoke. I decided to go to Panjangs ice stall. The iced sugar cane juice soothed my parched throat as I sipped slowly, all the while keeping an eye on the bus. Then I saw the bus heading towards the station. I paid for my drinks. See you tomorrow, I waved to Panjang. Once more, the crowd began to swell near the bus. I noticed that the elderly woman was being shoved around by the boys. She started hitting them with her umbrella. Then, I saw Raja, my classmate at the back of the bus. I hurled my bag through the window and he caught it. By the time I got into the bus, it had already started moving. I got into my seat and told myself that I must really try to convince my mother about the motorcycle again. (415 words) (SPM Essential English, Pearson by Jenny Tan)

DESCRIBING PLACES AND SCENES

SUGGESTED VOCABULARY 5

Apart from the common words such as nice and beautiful, there are other words which you can use to describe a place or scene.

Marvellous time Terrific place Exciting activities Breathtaking beach Magnificent buildings Fascinating sunset Spectacular view Picturesque beach Delightful play Inspiring show Thrilling performance Panoramic view Captivating sight Relaxing room Lively town Vibrant people Delicious food Mouth-watering desserts Unique

Unpleasant day Dull show Nerve-wrecking journey Awful time Dreadful room Depressing scene Disappointing show Miserable time Frustrating weather Upsetting news Tiring event Crowded room Chaotic roads Deserted town Crammed room Feel discontented Boring film 6

Posted by jennyho at Tuesday, July 07, 2009 Reactions: 0 comments:

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Directed Writing
You will be required to write the following: 1 Letters - Formal Informal 2 Report - for a survey, for a school magazine/newsletter 3 Articles 4 Speech 5 Description of an event/person/place 6 Recount (e.g. retelling of events in a diary) The first thing you need to know is the format for each of the above for they garner about 3 marks. Letter - the usual addresses, date, salutation, etc should be there. You should sign off with "Yours faithfully" for formal letters and not 'Yours sincerely'. Salutations: Dear Sir or Dear Madam or Dear Edmund For informal letters: Dear Susan, For report, follow the format given by the textbook. Title of the report End with: Reported by: Jenny Ho 7

Secretary English Society

For articles: Title of article By: Jenny Ho Posted by jennyho at Sunday, June 21, 2009 Reactions: 0 comments:

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Changes in the format of the English Lit Component in SPM 111/2

A friendly reminder to all the English Language teachers and students out there. Effective 2011, The Examination Board will make amendment to Section D (English Literature Component) in the SPM 1119/2 paper.

Recent Format Section D Poem : 5 marks (structured item) Short Story : 5 marks (structured item) Novel: 15 marks (open response) Total : 25 marks

New Format (2011) Section D Poem: 5 marks (structured item) Novel: 15 marks (open response)

Total: 20 marks

THE CURRENT ASSESSED GENRE One of the poems studied in Poem Form 4

THE ASSESSED GENRE EFFECTIVE 2011 Poem One of the poems studied in Form 4 or Form 5

Short Story Novel

One of the short stories studied in Form 4 Novel studied in Form 5

Short Story/Drama Novel

Wont be tested in SPM Novel studied in Form 5

The format for other sections in Paper 2 will remain unchanged. Despite the fact that short stories and drama will not be assessed in public examination, English Language teachers still need to teach the aforementioned genre in the classroom. This is in accordance to the circular No. 7/2009, The 2nd cycle of the Malay and English Literature Component for Secondary School (Form 1 to Form 5). I do wonder why short stories are not assessed any longer, it would be interesting to know the others' views pertaining to this matter. Addendum : For the circular, you can visit Kak Rahmah's blog.

ENGLISH ARTICLES
"A, An, The" definite and indefinite articles in English
Read the following description
I am from Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is a city in the United Kingdom. I live in a town called Taunton which is on the River Tone. I live in a house in a quiet street in the countryside. The street is called "Hudson Street" and the house is old - more than 100 years old! I am an English lecturer at a college near the centre of the town. I like books, music and taking photographs. I usually have lunch at college. I usually go home by car. We have all kinds of food in England. I like Polish food very much. Sometimes, I go to a Polish restaurant in Bath. The restaurant is called "Magda's". Polish food is delicious!

Here are the basic rules for when to use "A, An or The":

a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants Eric has a dog. Gregory works in a factory. an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels (a,e,i,o,u) Can I have an apple? Donata is an English teacher. the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know) The car over there is fast. The teacher is very good, isn't he? The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the". I live in a house. The house is quite old and has two bedrooms. I ate in a Vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant was not very clean. DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United

States". My uncle lives in Cumbria near Lake Windermere. They live in Bristol. Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas I live on a small island in the Baltic Sea. DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general I like Indian tea. Simon likes reading books about linguistics. DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport He has breakfast at home. I go to university. Magda comes to work by taxi.

EXERCISE 1 (Pre-Intermediate)
Fill in the gaps. Click on the arrow to see the answer. Don't look back at the original text!

I am from Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is city in United Kingdom. I live in town called Taunton which is on River Tone. I live in house in quiet street in the countryside. street is called "Hudson Street" and house is old - more than 100 years old! I am English lecturer at college near centre of town. I like books, music and taking photographs. I usually have lunch at college. I usually go home by car. We have all kinds of food in England. I like Polish food very much. Sometimes, I go to Polish restaurant in Bath. restaurant is called "Magda's". Polish food is delicious!

EXERCISE 2 (Elementary / Pre-Intermediate)

a, an, the, zero Click the answer button to see the correct answer.

1. Robert and Jessica went to ___ party last night.

2. Can you tell me how to get to ___ cinema from here?

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3. ___ college is closed today.

4. Gregory is one of ___ strangest people I know.

5. I recommend you try ___ tomato soup at this restaurant.

6. ___ beer is good for you.

7. Would you like to see ___ film?

8. ___ apple a day keeps ___ doctor away.

9. I can't believe I failed ___ yesterday's test!

10. Do you have ___ dictionary that I can borrow?

EXERCISE 3 (Elementary / Pre-Intermediate)

Click the answer button to see the correct answer.

1. There were many dogs in the park. One dog was ___ Dalmatian.

2. Pandas and ___ tigers are both endangered animals.

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3. Magda is wearing ___ blue dress with red shoes

4. Bornholm is ___ island in the Baltic Sea.

5. Christmas comes once ___ year.

6. ___ owl is __ bird.

7. The Severn is ___ river.

8. Jane went to the shop to buy ___ bread.

9. Hania broke ___ glass when she was washing-up.

10. Tom took ___ umbrella as it was raining heavilly.

EXERCISE 4 (Elementary / Pre-Intermediate)

Click the answer button to see the correct answer.

1. This is ___ easy question.

2. Stephen could you speak ___ little louder.

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3. May I have your ___ phone number?

4. I have never seen ___ UFO.

5. May I ask you ___ question?

6. Astrid is ___ best teacher in our school.

7. What is ___ name of the next station?

8. My girlfriend has ___ my car today.

9. I went to ___ sea during my summer holiday.

10. Is there ___ cash machine near here?

EXERCISE 5 (Elementary)
Click the answer button to see the answer.

1. This is Joanna. She's _____ doctor. a. a b. an

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2. Simon is ____ engineer. a. a b. an

3. That's Sandra. She's ___ hairdresser. a. a b. an

4. Sean Connery is ___ actor. a. a b. an

5. John is ____ electrician. a. a b. an

6. Mr. Sako is ___ teacher. a. a b. an

7. This is Shirley. She's ___ housewife. a. a b. an

8. That's Mark. He's ___ police officer. a. a b. an

9. I'm ____ student. a. a b. an

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10. Kate Winslet is ____ actress. a. a b. an

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