How to write an essay
1. Read and understand the question identify the format (eg: narrative/informal letter/speech/report) identify the tense (eg: present tense/past tense)
2. Construct sentences. Use notes given to construct sentence. Underline the words that you know. Use basic sentence pattern ( Subject + Verb + Elaboration )
Subject (Subjek) Verb (Kata kerja) Elaboration (Huraian) Nouns (kata nama)
eg: Abu, students, school,cat Pronouns (kata ganti nama)
Eg: He,she,I,you,we,they
Action (perbuatan) Eg: go,eat,study
Linking verb eg: am, are,Has,have,was,were
Use Wh questions to elaborate What (apa) Who (siapa) When (bila) Where ( di mana) Why (kenapa) How (bagaimana)
Ali goes to school everyday.My mother was happy because I passed in the
examination.
3. Write in paragraphs – Introduction, Content , Ending
LET’S TRY
Sample question
Look at the pictures. You may use the words given to write about a visit to a farm. You are advised
to spend about 35 minutes on this questions.
PAPER 2 : SECTION A (GUIDED WRITING)
holidays – stayed
– grandfather’s –
farm – rears –
chickens - ducks
helped – work – early
– picked
- fed
afternoon – eggs –
van – shops – learnt
- business
1. Read and understand the question identify the format : Narrative/story identify the tense : simple past tense ( stayed, helped, learnt )
2. Construct sentences Underline the words that you know. Try to write using the sentence table ( Subject / Verb / Elaboration)
INTRODUCTION ( 1st picture )
1. Write about the character ( girl, boy, man, woman…)a. Who ? – my cousin, neighbour or best friendb. What ? – how old, racec. Where? – he lives in ……d. What ? – give an adjective or two that are suitable to the story
SUBJECT VERB ELABORATION
Ali is my best friend.He is 12 years old.He lives in Taman Setia.He is kind and helpful.He stays with his grandfather in the village during the
school holidays.His grandfather has a farmHis grandfather rears some chickens and ducks in his farmAli likes to help his grandfather in the farm
holidays – stayed – grandfather’s - farm – rears –chickens - ducks
B CONTENT ( 2nd picture )
SUBJECT VERB ELABORATIONS
Ali went to the farm in Terengganu last holidays.He helped his grandfather in the farm.He picked the eggs.He fed the chickens and ducks.His grandfather took the eggs to the shop.
3. Closure ( 3rd picture )
helped – work – early – picked - fed
afternoon – eggs – van – shops – learnt - business
SUBJECT VERB ELABORATIONS
Ali sold the eggs in the afternoon.He went to the shops by van.He was very happy.He learnt doing business from his grandfather.
3. Join up sentences to form a paragraph. Write in paragraphs – Introduction, Content , Closure
Sample answer
Ali is my best friend. He is 12 years old. He lives in Taman Setia. He is kind and helpful. He likes
to stay with his grandfather in the village during the school holidays. His grandfather has a farm and he
rears some chickens and ducks in his farm. Ali likes to help his grandfather in his farm.
Last holidays, Ali went to his grandfather’s farm in Terengganu. His grandfather has many
chickens and ducks. Ali helped his grandfather in the farm. He picked the eggs and fed the chickens and
ducks.
Ali sold the eggs in the afternoon. He went to the shops by van. Ali was happy because he has
learnt doing business from his grandfather.
Exercise 1Look at the pictures carefully. You may use the words given to write a story.
WRITING A STORY
Write a story using ‘Mr. How and His 5 Wives Technique’ (Wh Questions)
PICTURE 1 - INTRODUCTION
Subject (Who/What) Verb Elaboration (What / Where / When / Who / Why/ How)
English Language
Society
organized a visit to ____________________ (where) last Saturday.
The children’s home is located in _________________________ (where).
We departed from school at ______________ (what time) by
__________ ( how did you go there)
We arrived there at ________________. (what time)
The children welcomed us happily.
PICTURE 2 - CONTENT
Subject (Who/What) Verb Elaboration (What / Where / When / Who / Why/ How)
We had breakfast with the children. (who)
We ate fried rice and bread. (what)
The food was _________________ (how its taste)
chatted about __________________________________ (what)
laughed because________________________________________
__________________________________________(why)
PICTURE 3 - CONTENT
Subject (Who/What) Verb Elaboration (What / Where / When / Who / Why/ How)
The society organised many activities there such as ‘gotong royong’.
Teacher Rina asked us to form groups.
She gave different tasks to different groups.
cleared grounds.
Ahmad, Siva and Ali painted _______________________ (what)
planted the flowers ______________________________(where)
We finished our ‘gotong- royong’ at ________________ (what time)
PICTURE 4 - CONTENT
Subject (Who/What) Verb Elaboration (What / Where / When / Who / Why/ How)
We collected the money at the school to give to the children. (what)
Teacher Rina gave donation to their teacher. (who)
We felt glad because our donation can reduce their burden.
(why)
We can see their happiness on their face.
Their teacher and the
children
thanked to us for our donation.
PICTURE 5 - CLOSURE
Subject (Who/What) Verb Elaboration (What / Where / When / Who / Why/ How)
The children send us to the bus.
We promised them to come again for the next time.
We returned back to school at ___________________ (what time)
The journey was long.
We were sleeping in the bus because ___________________________
__________________________________ (why).
We arrived at school at ________________ ( what time)
We were ________________ (how do you feel) because
_________________________________________ (why)
Rewrite your sentences in 5 paragraphs.
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