Tips on How to Pass English In WASSCE & NECO Examinations – Essay/Letter Writing (Part 1)
Tips on How to Pass English In WASSCE & NECO Examinations – Essay/Letter Writing
(Part 1)
This
special edition will be presented in three parts to help in passing the three
most difficult parts of the English Language subject, namely: (1) Essay/Letter
Writing, (2) Comprehension and (3) Summary.
Let us now start with the first part:
ESSAY/LETTER
WRITING OR COMPOSITION
Instructions:
Read the instruction(s) before you ever attempt any question. This section usually carries 50 marks.
- You will be asked to answer one
question out of five, in this section.
- You will be given the option of
writing an essay or a letter or an article or a debate or a speech or any other
type of composition.
- The length of writing required, is
usually 450 words.
Your write-up will be marked under the
following categorisations:
i.
Content – 10 marks.
Under content, the examiner will check whether your write-up is relevant
to the question asked or being attempted.
ii.
Organisation - 10
marks. Here, the examiner will check
for use of the right format, well-developed ideas/points, and properly linked
paragraphs.
iii.
Expression – 20 marks.
Here, the examiner will consider the use of appropriate style, choice of
right words, and sequential flow and linking of thoughts.
iv.
Mechanical Accuracy – 10 marks.
Under mechanical accuracy, the examiner will check for your mistakes in
grammar, mistakes in spelling, and mistakes in punctuation.
What You Should Do To Ensure Success:
Content:
-
Read
through the questions with concentration and select the one which you have
enough points to write on, bearing in
mind your limitation. If you have more
points to write on an essay question than on a letter, choose the essay
question, and vice-versa.
-
Whatever
question you choose to answer, first jot down the points you intend to
present, and develop them one after the
other.
-
The
content of your writing must be appropriate to the topic chosen. For example,
If you have chosen to write on a topic
like: The Importance of Water in the
Human Body, but wrote on Water generally
instead, you may have very little mark or even lose all the marks meant for
content. So, please take note, and
ensure that your write-up harmonises with your topic.
-
As
has been the requirement over the years, your composition should be 450
words long. To achieve that, you are advised to count the
words in the first three lines of your writing; divide them by 3; and use the
average to multiply and work out the total number of lines you need. Examples:
10 words per
line x 45 lines = 450 words
7
words per line x 65 lines = 450 words
5
words per line x 90 lines = 450 words.
Count 2 half lines as 1 line, and
calculate as explained above.
Organisation:
-
The
right format must be used for presentation of the write-up which you have
chosen, as you will lose marks if you
use a wrong format.
Letter
Writing:
-
If
you choose to write an informal letter, you must include the following aspects:
(i)
Address
of the writer (yourself);
(ii)
Date;
(iii) Salutation like, Dear Daddy, Dear Mummy,
Dear Joy, Dear Tom, etc;
(iv) The body of the letter (arranged in
paragraphs);
(v) Complimentary close, such as yours sincerely,
yours affectionately etc; and
(vi) Your first name.
-
If
you choose to write a formal or business letter, you must include the following
features:
(i) Address of the writer (as you cannot use a letter-headed paper with a printed address, in the examination);
(ii)
Date;
(iii)
Title/designation
and address of the addressee/recipient;
(iv)
Salutation,
such as, Dear Sir, Your Majesty, Your Lordship etc;
(v) Heading or subject-matter of the letter;
(vi)
The
body of the letter (arranged in paragraphs with linking ideas);
(vii) Complimentary close, such as yours faithfully, very truly yours, etc;
(viii)
Your
full name (first name and surname);
(ix)
Your
signature on top of your name (between the complimentary close and your name).
(Continued in Part 2)
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