AQ CA Practice

2015 SA/2011 A Levels

City Parks and Green Spaces

AQ Criteria
Responses to the AQ will be marked based on
Relevance to the REQUIREMENTS of the question in a
balanced way.
EXPLANATION adequate understanding of the terms and
issues, including elaboration and support through personal
insight and apt illustration.
EVALUATION making judgements and decisions leading to a
logical conclusion (i.e. the argument must be reasonable enough
to support the stand taken).
COHERENCE organization of thoughts and linkages within and
between paragraphs as well as consistency in the stand taken.

Criteria 1: Relevance to the REQUIREMENTS

of the question in a balanced way.
Highlight overall stand in the introduction or focus
paragraph.
Thomas draws a glowing appreciation of parks and their
relevance to modernising and urbanising societies. These
arguments are indeed relevant to my society and
Singaporeans, reflecting the various policies and practices
that our urban planners have developed over the past 40
years to cultivate and develop our reputation as a garden city.
Nevertheless recent global developments have eroded our
previous successes in embedding parks into the urban
landscape, invalidating or rendering less viable several of
Thomas observations.

Criteria 1: Relevance to the REQUIREMENTS

of the question in a balanced way.
Identifying the authors arguments and
providing your stand in relation to the
point
- Select opinions and NOT facts or examples.
- Consider the context of Singapore society
and/or your personal experience
- State your stand on the argument
(relevant? applicable? agree? convincing?
Important?)

Criteria 1: Relevance to the REQUIREMENTS

of the question in a balanced way.
Incorporates a balanced discussion
- Acknowledging BOTH the strengths and
limitations of the authors arguments
- Consider the quality of the argument
hasty generalisations? Fallacious? Outdated?
Appeal to emotion? Assumptions? Bias?
- Use language indicators that show
concession (Yesbut)

Criteria 2: EXPLANATION

adequate
understanding of the terms and issues, including elaboration
and support through personal insight and apt illustration.

Explaining relevant aspects of the

context of Singapore
- Support your stand with clear reasons,
anchored or linked to context.
- Political? Economic? Social? Cultural?
Religious? Aesthetic? Moral? Legal?
- Beliefs? Values? Practices?
- Policies? Initiatives? Laws? Moral obligation?

Criteria 2: EXPLANATION

adequate
understanding of the terms and issues, including elaboration and
support through personal insight and apt illustration.

Choice of examples + contextualisation

- What aspects of the Singapore society
should I consider for this topic/issue?
- Perspectives: Who are the parties involved in
this issue?
- What case studies/concrete examples can be
used to support your observation of the
differences between your society and the
authors?

Criteria 3: EVALUATION making judgements

and decisions leading to a logical conclusion

Evaluation for context + logic

-

Fallacious?
Hasty generalisation?
Appeal to Emotion?
Red herring (misleading/distracting from
the main point)

Eg: Daughter: "I'm so hurt that Todd broke up with me, Mom."
Mother: "Just think of all the starving children in Africa, honey.
Your problems will seem pretty insignificant then.

- Non Sequitur (Weak logic)

Criteria 3: EVALUATION making judgements

and decisions leading to a logical conclusion
Evaluation for context + logic
-

Short term vs. Long term

Ideal vs. Reality
Positive vs. Negative impact
Compare and contrast: Underlying beliefs, values and practices
Themes how do these factors influence or determine the response of
Singaporeans/Singapore society to the issues raised by the author?
-

Desire for change or progress

Modernity vs. Tradition
Drive for equality
Drive for freedom
Interconnectedness
Search for identity
Power and control
Technologically driven world

Criteria 4: Coherence - organization of thoughts

and linkages within and between paragraphs as well
as consistency in the stand taken.

Logical links and connections

- Link details of the example(s) to
show how it is aligned/ differs from
the authors claim that youve
chosen
- Reiterate the argument/stance taken
and conclude

Argument 1: City parks and public spaces play a

very important role in bringing people together
and encouraging group bonding, as well as the
pursuit of individual pleasures.
RELEVANT:
Singaporeans increasingly value their leisure time and
opportunities to spend quality time with their family and friends,
largely due to the long hours spent at work.
EX: Parks and gardens such as Labrador Park, Bishan Park and
the Botanic Gardens, which are very well maintained and
centrally located, are thus attractive and pleasant places for
Singaporeans to bond with their loved ones over activities that
they enjoy.
These parks, with their wide open spaces, enable Singaporeans
to unwind after a long day or week at work

Argument 1: City parks and public spaces play a

very important role in bringing people together
and encouraging group bonding, as well as the
pursuit of individual pleasures.

IRRELEVANT:
- Many Singaporeans lead a sedentary
lifestyle and would rather spend time with
their family and friends in a cafe or shopping
mall -- any space that is air-conditioned and
enclosed -- than to be subjected to the
vagaries of the weather in an open-air space,
no matter how pleasant the park may be.

Argument 2: Parks & green spaces provide a vital

counterbalance to the perceived debilitating impact
cities have on the environment.
RELEVANT:
- Singapore is, due to our limited land mass, a city-state, with no
sub-urban or rural areas to speak of, and Thomas claims about
cities being heat islands is exacerbated in Singapores case.
- Singapore has realised the potential debilitating impacts that
cramming 5 million people into such a small area could have on
the environment, and much of our urban design factors in some
form of greenery or foliage interspersed with the glass and steel of
our high rise buildings.
- Our wetlands and water catchment areas are protected as State
land, and seeing how these catchment areas are scattered all over
the island, the cooling and filtering effects of these green
spaces can be felt by almost all residents in Singapore.

Argument 2: Parks & green spaces provide a vital

counterbalance to the perceived debilitating impact
cities have on the environment.

IRRELEVANT:
- Singapores limited land space means that there
is a constant struggle between development and
preservation.
- Shrinking of natural/green spaces to give way to
urban development
- Token attempts to build green spaces in the form
of rooftop gardens in city buildings or
skyscrapers.