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Important things to look out for in narrative essay writing I am assuming that the student is able to construct basic

sentence and grammar structure (past & present tense etc.). If the student is unable to do so, he/she is in no condition to attempt essay writing. Please sign the student for basic language/ grammar classes instead. There is a limit to how much advice I can offer via text. So I will just offer two key points. (1) ESSAY FLOW (2) CHARACTERS EMOTIONS / FEELINGS * --------------------Point (1) - Essay flow means no break in the story plot. A disjointed narrative threatens a fiction essay, and as a side note, absolutely fatal in GP essays (Immediate failure). Common e.g (pri sch level): Annie was walking back home from school. Suddenly, she saw a cat stuck in the tree. (Lets just focus on the disrupted flow of plot and ignore the rest [vocab, sentence structure variation etc] it is not a great sentence for sure but I have seen this exact same sentence in my students work when she was writing a picture composition on some cat getting stuck in a tree.) As you can see, there is a break in the story flow no link between the two sentences. The student did not apply the 5Ws 1 H technique, with Why and How being the most essential. Why was Annies attention drawn to the cat? The cat was meowing loudly as it was stuck in the tree. Annie was walking home from school. Suddenly, she heard a loud meowing coming from the trees. Upon closer look, Annie found a cat stuck in the tree. (Remember primary school level. Secondary level has to be a lot more descriptive) It looks really easy, doesnt it? I had three Primary school and JC students (and a bunch of University peers) who had this chronic problem of disjointed narrative. Upon enquiry as to why they did not apply the 5Ws 1H technique and link the sentences together, the answer was It is commonsense. So why should I write it down? Common sense. Higher level studies call it logical thinking.

My students assumed that the examiners logic would conclude that Annies attention would have been caught by an incessant meowing. Annie would have shifted her gaze to the canopy above and spotted the ill-fated cat. So since this is common sense, practically duh(teen slang), why should they include it in their essay? In response, I have always told them to assume that examiners are stupid. They require students to express thoughts explicitly. In view of this problem, the obvious solution is to TRAIN YOUR CHILD TO EXPRESS COMMON SENSE ON PAPER. In severe cases, when this problem is so naturalized into your kid till he/she is unable explain why, in this case, Annies attention was drawn to the cat, you will have to first TEACH YOUR CHILD COMMON SENSE. I used to suffer greatly from this problem as well. Initially, I forced myself to employ the 5Ws and 1Hs technique with every, yes every, sentence I wrote. Right now, it is beyond a piece of cake. Logical flow of thinking is an essential skill to train. With that particular skill in their arsenal, students will be able to write or articulate clearly in future. ----------------Point (2) was the one that made me ace my O levels English (from a C6 / D7 to an A2 and fiction writing from then on was a breeze). What made it even more incredible was that I discovered point (2) only three months before O levels. I taught this trick to my primary school student three years ago and it worked, as expected. Examiners are looking out for three-dimensional characters. They do not want unfeeling robots who betrays no emotion as the poor cat is about to fall off the branch and break its back. Students fail to score in essays as their characters have no life. So what if Annie ran off to find help for the poor cut? She was neither anxious nor shocked. Examiners want characters to react emotively to the given situation. They like drama. **Character emotions form the crux to the climax (conflict) of the essay** The emotions: Happy - elated Excited brimming with excitment Sad - melancholy Angry enraged, inflamed Anxious dilated pupils, adrenaline rush Shock paralyzed with fear

The trick is to find synonyms and phrases that describe these six emotive states. Formulate these synonyms and phrases into your childs spelling list and lengthen the list over time. Thereafter, the magic begins. You would have to formulate templates for these six emotive states (1 paragraph for primary school, 2 paragraphs for secondary school students) for your child to remember, and cut and paste into their essays, before refining it over time. Why create templates of emotive states? In any fiction essay, it is definitely guaranteed that characters will be basking in one of these six emotive states. As simple as that. Point (2) works like a charm. But its complexity to express it in text has led me to merely summarise the workings of this extremely powerful concept. My apologies. If anyone is really interested in point (2), feel free to voice your request as well. Side note - Character emotions allowed me to predict essay questions easily for my O levelsThis comment is probably god sent to students who are desperate for some sort of miracle in the face of impending major examinations. As mentioned earlier, character emotions form the climax (conflict) of the essay and with only 6 different emotions, students can form essay templates with standardized introductions, essay settings, emotions etc. to memorise and regurgitate during exams. However, I am not going elaborate on this point. The major English exams have passed, so no one should be desperate for miracles. Teaching method counts So you know a couple of tricks to salvage your childs ailing essay grades. Unfortunately, thats half the battle won. The way you teach is crucial. The tricks are constant repetition for internalization and essay question standardization (there are other methods too, but it will probably kill me to list all). That sounds highly loaded, but I assure you it is pretty simple. Constant repetition Basically, by the tenth lesson, you should be repeating concepts taught for the past nine lessons before embarking on the tenth lesson plan. Same applies to vocabulary, with an ever lengthening vocab spelling list for every lesson. Essay question standardization - During the initial months, ensure that your child practices with only a couple of essay questions. If your child chooses a picture composition of the cat stuck in the tree and an open-ended essay on a surprise birthday party, do ensure that your child only practices those essay questions repeatedly during the initial months.

This is so that your child has a basis for comparison (IMPT). It is essentially a before and after comparison. Simple e.g. 1st essay lesson: Allowing your child to write her first essay Annie was walking back home from school. Suddenly, she saw a cat stuck in the tree. 2nd essay lesson: Teaching her essay flow, employing 5Ws and 1H technique Annie was walking home from school. Suddenly, she heard a loud meowing coming from the trees. Upon closer look, Annie found a cat stuck in the tree. 3rd essay lesson: Giving character more life Annie was walking home from school. She was thinking about her lesson earlier on. Suddenly, she heard a loud meowing coming from the trees. She snapped out of her thoughts. Annie went forward to check. Upon closer look, Annie found a cat stuck in the tree. The cat was not able to climb down the tree. 4th essay lesson: Vocab (advance level) Annie was walking home from school. Her thoughts were preoccupied with her lesson earlier on. Suddenly, a loud meowing from the trees snapped her out of her stupor. Annie went forward to investigate. Upon closer look, Annie found a cat perched precariously on a tree branch. The cat was not able to climb down the tree. 5th essay lesson: Sentence structure variation (advance level) Annie was walking home from school, her thoughts preoccupied with her lesson earlier on. Suddenly, a loud meowing from the trees snapped her out of her stupor. Upon closer examination, Annie found a cat perched precariously on a tree branch, making futile attempts to climb down the tree. By then, this child would have 5 similar essays to compare and boost his/her confidence the childs improvement in essay writing was clearly visible on paper. One of my tuition kids had a good laugh after comparing her third attempt with her shoddy first. It gave her the confidence to further improve her essay writing. Do not change a different essay question every time your child attempts to brush up his/her essay writing skills for your child will not be able to learn well. They need structure and time to tame a dangerous animal

called essay writing. As newcomers to the essay writing scene, they are pretty adverse to change. Just to demonstrate the effectiveness of essay question standardization: You have noticed that Ive only used one type of example throughout this entire entry the essay on the cat getting stuck in the tree. It gives you a clearer understanding of the concepts forwarded. Comparing and contrasting becomes easy. As a side note, if you do not have patience to explain a concept repeatedly, or pace yourself to accommodate your childs learning curve, things are going to get ugly if you really do attempt to teach. (My mom was not cut out to be an educator. So were my aunts, uncles, sister, cousins the list is never-ending) This brings me to the next section -> Set realistic expectations; let students learn at their own pace You cant expect your child to improve his grades within such a short period of time. My situation was different. With a couple months left before O levels, desperation spurred me to seek for a solution to my less than flattering essay grades. Your child probably does not have that sort of death sentence hanging over his/her head for motivation. Some students may show significant improvement within six months. Others might take years. It depends on the students English capability. When I teach, I usually give the students parents ample notice of how their kid(s) would fare in the coming exam. More often than not, I will tell them straight in their faces that their kid(s) are going to fail. I do not expect my tuition kids to produce miracles within months. In some cases, forecasted performances were set in terms of years. A P2 tuition kid of mine was so lacking in his English capability, I halted his P2 learning immediately and stuffed him almost entirely back into P1 syllabus, much to his chagrin (a pride issue for sure). His mother was initially uncertain but she was quickly won over (I was pretty lucky to have understanding parents). There is no way a student can proceed without solidifying their foundation / basics. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Essay writing is an art form that takes practice and wit to score. I was only able to provide the barest essentials of fiction writing in this entry. Should you have any question(s) on your childs inability to write essays, feel free to voice your concerns. It gives me no greater satisfaction than to witness the improvement of a student essay writing ability through my methodology.

Types of Papers: Narrative/Descriptive To write a narrative essay, youll need to tell a story (usually about something that happened to you) in such a way that he audience learns a lesson or gains insight. To write a descriptive essay, youll need to describe a person, object, or event so vividly that the reader feels like he/she could reach out and touch it. Tips for writing effective narrative and descriptive essays: Tell a story about a moment or event that means a lot to you--it will make it easier for you to tell the story in an interesting way! Get right to the action! Avoid long introductions and lengthy descriptions-especially at the beginning of your narrative. Make sure your story has a point! Describe what you learned from this experience. Use all five of your senses to describe the setting, characters, and the plot of your story. Don't be afraid to tell the story in your own voice. Nobody wants to read a story that sounds like a textbook! How to Write Vivid Descriptions Having trouble describing a person, object, or event for your narrative or descriptive essay? Try filling out this chart: What do What do What do What do What you you taste?you see? you hear? might you smell? touch or feel?

Remember: Avoid simply telling us what something looks like--tell us how it tastes, smells, sounds, or feels! Consider this Virginia rain smells different from a California drizzle. A mountain breeze feels different from a sea breeze. We hear different things in one spot, depending on the time of day. You can taste things youve never eaten: how would sunscreen taste? Using Concrete Details for Narratives Effective narrative essays allow readers to visualize everything that's happening, in their minds. One way to make sure that this occurs is to use concrete, rather than abstract, details.

Concrete Language makes the story or image seem clearer and more real to us. gives us information that we can easily grasp and perhaps empathize with.

Abstract Language ...makes the story or image difficult to visualize. leaves your reader feeling empty, disconnected, and possibly confused.

The word abstract might remind you of modern art. An abstract painting, for example, does not normally contain recognizable objects. In other words, we can't look at the painting and immediately say "that's a house" or "that's a bowl of fruit." To the untrained eye, abstract art looks a bit like a child's finger-painting--just brightly colored splotches on a canvas. Avoid abstract languageit wont help the reader understand what you're trying to say! Examples: Abstract: It was a nice day. Concrete: The sun was shining and a slight breeze blew across my face. Abstract: I liked writing poems, not essays. Concrete: I liked writing short, rhythmic poems and hated rambling on about my thoughts in those four-page essays. Abstract: Mr. Smith was a great teacher. Concrete: Mr. Smith really knew how to help us turn our thoughts into good stories and essays.

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