The Sunday News
Highway to success, Charles Dube
It is better late than never. These days we are concentrating on giving revision tips to English Language and Literature in English examination candidates. It might appear late though. But I believe students who go through these tips make the best use of them. Reading through a book from CGP on English Writing Skills, I got the following points which are very relevant to students about to sit their English Language examinations.
Students are advised to watch out for the six big blunders. Many people go terribly wrong with written English because they keep making these six big blunders. They should not make the big hash of it on the day of writing the examination. Following are the six big horrible “No-Nos”. 1 Not reading the question properly. If they do not read the question properly, they will not answer it properly either. 2 Not reading the instructions — if they do not read all the instructions; they will do the wrong thing and get no marks.
3 Not planning their answers. If students do not plan their answers before they start writing, they will waste loads of time writing rubbish. 4 Not writing in paragraphs. They need to write in proper paragraphs and write in a nice style too, with plenty of interesting words. Remember one definition of a paragraph is a group of sentences that develop or explain an idea or topic. Each sentence in a paragraph is about the same idea or topic. If the sentences are not about the same idea, they are not a paragraph.
5 Not writing properly.
Students should make sure they write proper spelling and proper grammar if they can manage it. 6 Another weakness is about not answering the question. They are advised not to ramble on about all sorts of other rubbish as that will not get them any marks at all. They should just answer the given question only. Always work out what the question means and think of a theme.
If you can think of more than one theme go for it. Extra themes can improve an answer.
However, do not have more than three or four for your answer might sound muddled. Use elegant language meaning simple and effective language. When answering essay questions keep it impersonal — do not use the word “I” or say things like, “In my opinion”. If your essay is about two bits of writing, you are always comparing them. Whenever you make a point, you should make it about both of them — it will either be a similarity or a difference. Do not just write about one piece without linking them.
The last thing after going over all the basic steps for essay writing which are: working out what the question means making notes, thinking of a theme and making a plan is the actual writing of an essay. Here is a reminder of the three parts to an essay — the introduction, the main bit, and then the conclusion: the introduction should one paragraph. Remember these two things: if it is not obvious from the title, say what the essay is about and say what the theme is.
Main bit — this is the area where you make all your points. This should be much longer than the introduction and conclusion.
Make each point in a separate paragraph. Back up each point with at least one example. The ending should be one paragraph and is a summary of what the student has written. Summarise main arguments in the conclusion and state what your theme is about again. Read the examination paper through. Read every question properly, and work out exactly what it is you supposed to do. Start by reading instructions on the paper. It looks stupid to do till you have blundered and lost marks unnecessarily. It is easy to forget the simple things and rush into the questions without thinking. That is the quick route to failing the examinations. Here is a typical example of instructions: Answer one question from Section A and one question from Section B. There is no way around this except to follow it and many instructions like this. The instruction goes on — Spend about one hour on this section. This is a helpful tip from an examination paper. Such a tip is there to make sure you do not waste all your time on one part of the paper and forget the rest.
Students remember you will get more marks by reading the instructions and doing what they say. This is an easy way to improve grades. If the question tells you to do something, you have got to do it. Going against instructions means you are throwing marks away and you cannot afford that. The main thing about English questions is working out what they are testing you on.
There is only one way students can prepare fully for their English examinations is practice. They should get into the habit of doing exactly what the question tells them to do. Start by following all the instructions and using tips in the question to help them. Always check how many marks you get for each question too.
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