Continuous Writing – Past Years

FORMAT	QUESTION	YEAR
ARGUMENTATIVE	How can we help promote tourism in Malaysia?	2004
	How to keep oneself healthy?	2005
	How can television help students in their studies?	2006
	“Teenagers today are only interested in entertainment“ Do you agree?	2007
	Examinations – good or bad?	2008
	School children should not have long holidays. Do you agree?	2009
	‘The internet is mostly a good thing. “ Do you agree?	2010
	Should school students have part-time job? Discuss	2011
	Should parents give children more freedom? Discuss	2012
DESCRPTIVE	Describe a festival celebrated in your area.	2004
	Describe the biggest challenge in your life.	2005
	Describe an enjoyable weekend you have experienced.	2006
	Describe an embarrassing experience in your life.	2007
	Write about a person who has worked hard to succeed in life.	2008
	Describe an unforgettable incident that you saw on your way home from school.	2009
	Describe the most popular student in your school.	2010
	A famous person you admire.	2011
	Describe an outing with your friends	2012
NARRATIVE	Story completion: ..... “ We had never laughed so much in our lives”	2004
	An unexpected visitor.	2005
	Story completion: ..... “If only i had been more careful, that wouldn’t have happened.”	2006
	Story completion: ..... “Kim was nervous when the door opened .......”	2007
	Story completion: ..... “Now i realize the value of true friend.”	2008
	Story completion: ..... “We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.”	2009
	Story completion: ..... “It had been raining all day........”	2010
	Story completion: ..... “They looked at each other and smiled meaningfully.”	2011
	Story completion: .....”The teacher walked into the classroom. It was the first period..........”	2012
FACTUAL / EXPOSITORY	Clothes	2004
	Music	2005
	Food	2006
	Tomorrow	2007
	Stars	2008
	Beauty	2009
	Home	2010
	Peace	2011
	Cleanliness	2012
IMAGINATIVE	My ideal school	2004
	If you given a chance to be anybody who would you want to be and why?	2005
	What changes would you like to see in your life in the next ten years?	2006
	My early years.	2007
	My perfect future husband or wife.	2008
	My favourite day of the week.	2009
	What can we do to save the environment?	2010
	The best things in life are free.	2011
	Saving money for the future.	2012

ANALYSIS OF PAST YEAR EXAM PAPERS - DIRECTED WRITING

2003	Formal Letter	Write a letter informing the teacher on choice of class trip
2004	Report	Write a report about school cleanliness
2005	Informal letter	Write a letter to a friend about your experience at an outdoor activity camp
2006	Informal letter	Write a letter to your friend giving reasons why he/she would make a good Head Prefect
2007	Speech	You have been asked by your teacher to give a talk on a  science book that is useful for secondary students
2008	Article	At the camp, one of your friends was chosen as the best group leader under a leadership camp. Write an article about your friends for your magazine
2009	Report	Write a report to the principal regarding students ‘lack of interest’ in sports and provide suggestions to overcome the problem
2010	Informal Letter	Write a letter to your cousin encouraging her/him to take part in the National Service Programme
2011	Talk	Give a talk to the Red Crescent Society members in your school to upgrade their skills in giving first-aid treatment
2012	Informal Letter	Write a letter to your younger sister who is studying overseas to advise her on how to spend her money wisely

How about 2013??? An article or a report

Writing a Narrative Essay

There's nothing like reading a great narrative. Whether in novel or essay form, a narrative piece of writing transports readers into the time and space of the world portrayed by the writing.

There's also nothing like writing a great narrative. Through reflecting upon an event, and through recreating the experience for other readers, writing a narrative essay can enable you to develop new, subtle, and rewarding perspectives.

Basic qualities of a narrative essay:

• A narrative essay is a piece of writing that recreates an experience through time.
• A narrative essay can be based on one of your own experiences, either past or present, or it can be based on the experiences of someone else.
• In addition to telling a story, a narrative essay also communicates a main idea or a lesson learned.

First steps for writing a narrative essay:

• Identify the experience that you want to write about.
• Think about why the experience is significant.
• Spend a good deal of time drafting your recollections about the details of the experience.
• Create an outline of the basic parts of your narrative.

Writing about the experience:

• Using your outline, describe each part of your narrative.
• Rather than telling your readers what happened, use vivid details and descriptions to actually recreate the experience for your readers.
• Think like your readers. Try to remember that the information you present is the only information your readers have about the experiences.
• Always keep in mind that all of the small and seemingly unimportant details known to you are not necessarily known to your readers.

Communicating the significance of the experience:

• It's often effective to begin your narrative with a paragraph that introduces the experience and communicates the significance. This technique guarantees that your readers will understand the significance of the experience as they progess through the narrative.
• Another effective technique is to begin the essay by jumping directly into the narrative and then ending the essay with a paragraph communicating the significance of the experience. This approach allows your readers to develop their own understanding of the experience through the body of the essay and then more deeply connect to your expression of the significance at the end.
• You might also consider introducing the experience in the first paragraph but delaying your expression of the significance of the experience until the end of the essay. This approach heightens your readers' sensitivity to the significance of the narrative.

Revising your narrative essay:

• After spending time away from the draft of your narrative essay, read through the essay and think about whether the writing effectively recreates the experience for your readers.
• Ask other people to read through the essay and offer their impressions.
• Identify where more details and descriptions are needed.
• Identify and consider removing any information that seems to distract from the focus and main narrative of the essay.
• Think about whether you've presented information in the most effective order.

Potential prompts for your narrative essay:

If you're having trouble choosing an experience to write about, take a quick glance through these prompts. They might help you remember or identify a particularly interesting or significant experience to focus on.

• A childhood event. Think of an experience when you learned something for the first time, or when you realized how important someone was for you.
• Achieving a goal. Think about a particularly meaningful achievement in your life. This could be something as seemingly minor as achieving a good grade on a difficult assignment, or this could be something with more long-lasting effects, like getting the job you desired or getting into the best school to which you applied.
• A failure. Think about a time when you did not perform as well as you had wanted. Focusing on an experience like this can result in rewarding reflections about the positive emerging from the negative.
• A good or bad deed. Think about a time when you did or did not stand up for yourself or someone else in the face of adversity or challenge.
• A change in your life. Think about a time when something significant changed in your life. This could be anything from a move across town to a major change in a relationship to the birth or death of a loved one.
• A realization. Think about a time when you experienced a realization. This could be anything from understanding a complicated math equation to gaining a deeper understanding of a philosophical issue or life situation.