Tips on How to Pass English In WASSCE & NECO Examinations – Essay/Letter Writing (Part 2)

 Tips on How to Pass English In WASSCE & NECO Examinations – Essay/Letter Writing                        (Part 2)

 Continued from Part 1

 

 Organisation (Continued)

 Essay Writing:

-         If you are writing an essay, you only need to write the topic boldly, and go

straight to present your points (as the body) taking note of the followings:

(i)                Each of your essay points or ideas should be presented in a paragraph;

(ii)             The paragraphs should link each other with conjunctions such as

‘but’, ‘also’, ‘however’, ‘furthermore’, moreover’, ‘finally’, etc, so that your write-up will flow logically and coherently.

Debate Writing:

-         If you choose to write on a debate topic, whether in support of a motion or 

against it, you should start with greetings to the officers in charge, using an 

expression like:

 ‘Good-day Mr. Chairman, Panel of Judges, Accurate Time-Keeper, Co-debaters and my audience’

-         Next, introduce yourself, mentioning your name and school.

-         Thereafter, mention the debate topic and state whether you are supporting

the motion or opposing it.

-         Then write out your points, one after the other, in a convincing manner.

-         At the end of your debate presentation, draw a conclusion on the position

you have taken on the motion/topic.

Note on Paragraphing:

(i)                Put each idea in a paragraph.  But two similar ideas could be put in two

different sentences, in one paragraph.

(ii)             Indent the beginning of each paragraph.  But as an exception, if you are

using the block style to write a formal or business letter, do not indent your paragraphs.

Expression:

-         In expressing yourself in your write-up, use appropriate words and

applicable terminologies or registers.

-         Avoid words which you are not sure of, or do not understand well.

-         Feel free to vary your sentences, some long, some short, depending on the

ideas you are marshalling out.

-         Reflect the mood of the situation surrounding your write-up in the words

you use.  Use joyous words for a happy situation, and sad words for a sad situation.

Mechanical Accuracy: 

-         Be mindful of the tenses you use.  Avoid using past tense in place of present

tense or past participle, and vice-versa.

-         Ensure that your singular verbs agree with your singular nouns, and vice

versa;

-         Ensure that the articles: a, an, the, are not misused or omitted;  that

pronouns are used with clarity; and that prepositions are used correctly.

-         Avoid using big English words which you cannot spell correctly or do not

understand well.  Instead, use simple English words which will help you to make your points understandable, to the satisfaction of your examiner.

-         Ensure you cross all your ‘t’s and dot all your ‘i’s clearly, as you will lose

marks if you fail to do so.

-         You should write spellings correctly, as errors in spellings lead to loss of

marks.

-         Use punctuations marks like full stop, question mark; inverted comma,

exclamation mark, hyphen, colon, semi colon etc, appropriately.  Using a comma in place of a full stop, or a semi colon in place of colon, will be penalised with loss of marks.

Note: Since British English is used in most parts of Anglophone (English-speaking) West Africa, it is recommended that you should use British English spellings in your write-up.  But if you must use American English spellings, especially if you are in Liberia, then you should be consistent, not mixing British spellings with American spellings in your work.

            Finally, when you have finished writing, please take few minutes to read through 

your work before moving to the next paper.