The document provides guidelines for writing narrative essays for the SPM English exam in Malaysia. It explains that narrative essays allow students to share experiences with readers. It recommends engaging the reader by bringing characters to life and using simple past tense. A sample narrative essay is also included, telling the story of a woman named Mary Anne who the narrator encounters years after she suddenly left school. Her difficult life is revealed, but the narrator recognizes her inner beauty.
The document provides guidelines for writing narrative essays for the SPM English exam in Malaysia. It explains that narrative essays allow students to share experiences with readers. It recommends engaging the reader by bringing characters to life and using simple past tense. A sample narrative essay is also included, telling the story of a woman named Mary Anne who the narrator encounters years after she suddenly left school. Her difficult life is revealed, but the narrator recognizes her inner beauty.
The document provides guidelines for writing narrative essays for the SPM English exam in Malaysia. It explains that narrative essays allow students to share experiences with readers. It recommends engaging the reader by bringing characters to life and using simple past tense. A sample narrative essay is also included, telling the story of a woman named Mary Anne who the narrator encounters years after she suddenly left school. Her difficult life is revealed, but the narrator recognizes her inner beauty.
SPM ENGLISH WRITING is a difcult skill. It is for this reason that continuous writing is the bane of many students. Unlike directed writing, the students hae to start from scratch and deal with content as well as language. They hae to think of what to write and how to write. The !uestion on directed writing gies them a conte"t within which to write, so they do not hae to worry about their roles as writers or who their audience is. With continuous writing, they hae to consider these two factors besides haing to e"#lore ideas and watch out for language. In continuous writing, candidates are gien $e to#ics, from which they select only one. The to#ics can be categorised as follows% Narrative &e.g. Write a story ending with% I neer saw her again after that.' Descriptive &e.g. (escribe a isit to a night market.' Factual/expository &e.g. National serice should be com#ulsory for all. (o you agree)' Aru!e"tative &e.g. It is better to study the science sub*ects than the arts. (o you agree)' O"e#$or% essays &e.g. +eauty.' Ge"eral ui%eli"es &or co"ti"uous $riti" Read all the !uestions gien. ,ome students make the mistake of selecting the $rst !uestion that they read, or -ooming in on a !uestion they think is manageable only to realise, later, that they could hae handled another !uestion with more ease . .hoose a to#ic you are familiar, or comfortable with, which is within your sco#e of e"#erience, so you do not hae to struggle with content . /#t for something that is within your linguistic ability. (o not select a to#ic *ust because you think it is challenging. This is not the time for e"#erimentation. 0s for weak students, it is generally adisable to write a narratie . 1lan your essay% the outline, #oints2ideas2thoughts and su##orting #oints &if you are writing an argumentatie or factual essay'. Remember to use a ariety of sentence structures &sim#le, com#ound and com#le"'. .om#etent candidates should use more of the latter as your com#etency will be made obious by your ability to use these structures accurately. (o not use too many sim#le sentences as, at ,13 leel, more is e"#ected of you. Use sentences of arying lengths. 0 short sentence can be ery e4ectie after seeral long sentences . .hoose words carefully. 5ou should be able to use words with di4erent nuances. 6or instance the word 7walked8 can be re#laced with synonyms such as ambled, strolled, sauntered, staggered, strode . Write out your essay in neat, legible handwriting. There is nothing more annoying than small or untidy handwriting, or a combination of both, as the reader has to s#end aluable time deci#hering what you hae written . Write in #aragra#hs. 5ou may leae a line between #aragra#hs as it is easy on the e"aminer9s eye . :dit and reise language if necessary. 0llocate ;< minutes for this and make sure s#elling and #unctuation are accurate . (o heed the length of the essay. 5ou are re!uired to write an essay of not less than =>< words. 0nything shorter would de$nitely be #enalised. +ut do not write too long an essay. ,ome students can easily write anything between ?<< and @<< words. Remember, the more you write, the more mistakes you may make. Weak students are strongly adised not to write a lengthy essay. Narrative essays Aet us begin with the narratie essay. Narratie essays are a faourite among students as they are easier to handle. This ty#e of essay enables the writer to use and share e"#eriences with the reader. Gui%eli"es to re!e!'er $(e" $riti" a "arrative essay 5ou hae to decide whether to write your essay from your own #ers#ectie or someone else9s. The $rst #erson or third #erson singular is the most #o#ular oice . If you choose to write from your own #ers#ectie, then use the $rst #erson singular, that is, 7I8. If you choose to write from someone else9s #ers#ectie, use third #erson #ronouns &he, she, it'. +e consistent in your choice of #ronouns. (o not switch #ers#ecties midBway through the essay. :ngage your reader. 3ake the story real for him. Get him inoled in your e"#erience . +ring your characters to life. 3ake them real. 3ake them memorable . It is always more interesting to read about Cawed characters. Dae a sim#le #lot. 5ou will be better o4 using chronological order. 6lashbacks are a wonderful deice but you should only engage in this if you can carry it o4 . Use the sim#le #ast tense if you cannot handle the #ast #erfect tense . Use erbs and ad*ecties to enable your reader to isualise things in his mind9s eye . 5ou may use dialogue but use it s#aringly and e4ectiely. Remember, you are writing a narratie, not a scri#t . 0oid using informal language . 0oid clichEs . Sa!ple essay Write a story ending with, 7I neer saw her again after that8. The gaunt $gure that inched its way slowly towards the medicine counter looked old and haggard. Der drearyBlooking out$t did nothing to conceal her bleak and de#ressing demeanour. 0nyone who looked at her would hae thought she carried the world9s burdens on her shoulders. Fuietly, she sat on one of the chairs and waited #atiently, like the rest of us, for her number to be Cashed on the digital screen. I was rattled. I knew I had seen her somewhere before G a younger, ha##ier ersion. There was no way I could be wrong. Aike an arrow released from its bow, the buried and forgotten memories #ierced my heart with an unknown intensity. It had to be 3ary 0nne, my best friend in secondary school. Then again, this #erson looked old, much too old to be HI. 0nyway, I summoned enough courage and went towards her. Dearing my footste#s, she looked u# slowly. The Cash of recognition in her eyes told me I was not wrong. 7It is you, 3ary 0nne (anker, is it not)8 ,he nodded her head silently as if embarrassed. 7Dello, John) 5ou are looking good.8 Der remarks reminded me of how beautiful she had been once. 3ary 0nne had been the school beauty. :eryone had admired her for her looks, her brains and her beautiful character. 3any had said, rather eniously, that God had worked oertime with her K making her one of his master#ieces. /ne day, 3ary 0nne had sto##ed coming to school. (eastated, I had gone to her house, only to $nd it all locked u#. .hecks with neighbours #roed futile. No one knew where the (anker family had gone and why they had left so suddenly. Taking a seat ne"t to her, I wondered what had ha##ened to the raishing beauty I had once known. 7Why did you leae so suddenly, 3ary 0nne) Why)8 ,he looked at me nerously, clas#ing and unclas#ing her hands in her la#. I could sense that she was rather reluctant to talk, reluctant to e"#ose a #art of her life which had #robably caused her a great deal of #ain and su4ering. 0 #rolonged silence ensued. 6inally, she inhaled dee#ly and started telling me her story. Der mother had been diagnosed with endstage cancer and there was nothing the doctors could do. They said that she had only three months to lie. Der father thought it best to return to their hometown, to let her lie in #eace in the surroundings she had grown u# in. Der father, deastated by his wife9s death, started to neglect his own health and three months later, he too died of a broken heart, leaing 3ary 0nne in the care of relaties. Tears rolled down 3ary 0nne9s cheeks as she related the difcult years with her aunt. The old widow treated her badly, forcing 3ary 0nne to !uit school and to work as a dishwasher in a restaurant. The cruel old lady often beat her, and her cousins, *ealous of her beauty, were more icious than their mother. Now that the aunt was old and su4ering from cancer, her $e children had deserted her when they realised that she needed s#ecial care. (es#ite her aunt9s ghastly treatment of her, 3ary 0nne felt sorry for her. 7I cannot leae her. ,he has no one else,8 she said. 7I hae #romised to take care of her till the end of her life.8 I looked at 3ary 0nne and saw her goodness. Instead of seeing a gaunt and weary $gure, I saw an ama-ingly beautiful human being. 3y heart went out to her. Just then her number was Cashed on the screen. ,he got u# and collected the medicine which, I understood, was for her aunt. Neer had I felt so hel#less and wretched. Der story reminded me of something my late grandfather used to say, 7Aife is like an onion% 5ou #eel it o4 one layer at a time, and sometimes you wee#.8 +efore leaing, 3ary 0nne turned and smiled sadly at me. I neer saw her again after that. &?LL words' Aet us analyse the elements in the sam#le essay. Si!ple plot The story reoles around 3ary 0nne who leaes town when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Der #arents die and she is treated cruelly by her aunt . 0 chance encounter at a #harmacy reeals this to the narrator. Setti" 3ost likely, a #harmacy2clinic . 0 #ast eent &no s#eci$c time entioned'. I!porta"t c(aracters 3ary 0nne . Narrator . The aunt . )o$ t(e essay see*s to e"ae t(e rea%er Miid #ortrayal of the character through the use of erbs, ad*ecties and aderbs. The gaunt fgure that inched its way slowly towards the medicine counter looked old and haggard. Her dreary-looking outft did nothing to conceal her bleak and depressing demeanour. Quietly, she sat on one of the chairs and waited patiently, like the rest of us, for her number to be fashed on the digital screen. Miid reminder of what the character had been like before. Mary nne had been the school beauty. !"eryone had admired her for her looks, her brains and her beautiful character. 6ocus shifts from loss of e"ternal to internal beauty. # wondered what had happened to the ra"ishing beauty # had once known. Then again, this person looked old, much too old to be $%. Narrator9s realisation that she is still beautiful G on the inside. # looked at Mary nne and saw her goodness. #nstead of seeing a gaunt and weary fgure, # saw an ama&ingly beautiful human being. Narrator9s thoughts and feelings. nyone who looked at her would ha"e thought she carried the world's burdens on her shoulders. # was rattled. # looked at Mary nne and saw her goodness. #nstead of seeing a gaunt and weary fgure, # saw an ama&ingly beautiful human being. My heart went out to her. E+ective use o& past a"% past per&ect te"se, Her remarks reminded me of how beautiful she had been once. Mary nne had been the school beauty. !"eryone had admired her for her looks, her brains and her beautiful character. Touc( o& (u!our, Many had said, rather en"iously, that (od had worked o"ertime with her ) making her one of his masterpieces. -(oice o& $or%s, 1recise2a#t K #itiable Not re#etitie, e.g. 7treated her badly8, 7ghastly treatment8. I"clusio" o& %ialoue, Gies oice to the narrator and 3ary 0nne. +reaks monotony of narration . Varie% se"te"ce structures, # was rattled. &sim#le sentence' Her mother had been diagnosed with end-stage cancer and there was nothing the doctors could do. *compound sentence+ ,ow that the aunt was old and su-ering from cancer, her f"e children had deserted her when they realised that she needed special care. &com#le" sentence' .se o& repetitio" &or e!p(asis, ./hy did you lea"e so suddenly, Mary nne0 /hy. ."expecte% e"%i", 3ary 0nne does not desert her aunt in her time of need. The beauty of her character shines through. ,ometimes, you can change a story to suit another to#ic. Why don9t you mani#ulate the sam#le essay to $t the to#ic 7+eauty8)
(Cambridge Studies in Linguistics) Barbara Dancygier-Conditionals and Prediction - Time, Knowledge and Causation in Conditional Constructions-Cambridge University Press (1999)