ESSAY WRITING LEARNING AND STUDY TECHNIQUES ( PART 1)

By : ABIDAH BT SARAJUL HAQ , English Language Master Teacher, Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman , Ipoh

Writing a way of communicating your ideas. The art of good essay writing is to have something to say and to express these ideas clearly and concisely. In Paper 2 of the PMR English Language examination , students are required to write one composition in not less than 120 words. The types of guided compositions are as follow : 1. Pictorial or route maps 2. Descriptive compositions 3. Narratives 4. Note expansion 5. Processes and procedures 6. Letters ( Formal or Informal) 7. Articles 8. Speeches and Talks 9. Giving opinions 10. Dialogues and conversations

Guidelines
You are advised to spend 40 minutes for section A , where you will have to write one guided composition. Read the instructions and question carefully so that you understand the requirements of the task. Underline or circle the keyword or main point to ensure that you are keeping track with the requirement of the question. Focus on the format that is required, for example whether it is a letter, aspeech or writing a story based on given pictures. Spend time to plan for your composition. Jot down important notes and ideas using a mind map. Present you ideas in sentences and later write them out into paragraphs. use clear and grammatically correct sentences. Use interesting expressions to arouse the readers interest. Finally, after you have completed your composition, read again and edit your work. Check for spelling errors, inappropriate tenses and incorret sentence structures.

THE BRAINSTORMING STAGE ( Time allotted : 3 minutes )

This is the first stage in any essay writing process. Brainstorming is writing down everything you can think of without considering whether it is good or useable. Brainstorming is usually a list of words and phrases. Just jot down ideas that seem related to the topic or question. Later on you can delete the ideas that are irrelevant.

THE PLANNING STAGE ( Time allotted : 32 minutes)

The second stage in this process is the planning stage. Every composition consists of an introduction , a body and a conclusion. Introduction Refers to your general overview of the topic or your comment INTRODUCTION regarding it. comment regarding it. An introduction should be short and clear and should inform the reader what you are writing about.

This is the main section of your composition. Write out each mainin BODY a paragraph you will main idea in a paragraph. Remember : in a paragraph you will have a topic sentence and supporting details (which include examples and further elaborations). TOPIC SENTENCE : to inform readers what the paragraph is about. SUPPORTING DETAILS: to explain, give reasons or examples that support and elaborate the topic sentence. An example is given below

A forest is a large are of land covered with trees. A forest is not only made up of trees. It also includes smaller plants such as mosses, shrubs and wild flowers. In addition many kinds of birds, insects and other animals make their home in the forest.

Topic sentence : A forest is a large are of land covered with trees. Supporting details : It include smaller plants for example mosses, shrubs and wild flowers. Many kinds of birds, insects and other animals make their home in the forest.

CONCLUSION conclusion to be effective,

This is the last paragraph of your writing. Here you are to summarise the main points which you have stated in the earlier paragraphs or to restate your opinion or stand on the topic.

THE EDITING STAGE ( Time allotted : 3 minutes)

This is the final and crucial stage of your writing process . But I find many students seem to ignore this last bit of effort before passing up their work. By editing , you are actually checking whether you have missed out any relevant information . You can also use the time left by checking for correct grammar ,sentence structures , spellings and tenses. Below is a checklist that I find helpful in monitoring the editing process.
NO ITEMS PLACE A ( / ) AFTER CHECKING

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Notes ( expanded) Relevant details (added ) Examples (given) Main ideas ( in sequence) Tenses( used correctly) Sentences ( grammatically correct) Paragraphs( organised) Spelling( without errors) Punctuation (correctly placed) Handwriting ( eligible)

I would advise students to take some time every week to practice your writing skills. Although some of you may feel it to be taxing at first but I can assure you that this exercise is most useful for an English Language student to do. And with constant and consistent effort , without giving up , you can eventually write better compositions in the PMR examination. Remember : We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough Helen Keller.