DIRECTED 35 marks

CONTINUOUS - 50

ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
To test the candidates ability to:

PRODUCE A PIECE OF DIRECTED

ESSAY IN ACCURATE STANDARD
ENGLISH
RESPOND RELEVANTLY AND
CREATIVELY TO A TASK CHOSEN.

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS:

Task 1

PLAN / OUTLINE
YOUR ESSAY

COMPLAINTS

BUSY

STRESS

A LOT OF
CLIENTS

PEAK
HOURS

WORKERS ON
HOLIDAY

NO
SECRETARY

FATHER

CAN KEEP
SECRETS

WHICH
PERSON/
WHO
40 YEARS

A DOCTOR

UNDERSTANDING

WHY
GIVES
GOOD
ADVICE

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS:

Task 2

DECIDE ON THE
TENSE TO BE
USED

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS:

Task 3

WRITE GOOD
OPENING
PARAGRAPH

OPENING PARAGRAPH COULD BE

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

GENERAL STATEMENT
DIALOGUE/ MONOLOGUE
QUESTIONS
LISTING
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
IDIOMS/PROVERBS
OPINION
QUOTATION

MONOLOGUE

Omar, make sure youre

wearing your sweater. Its
cold out there. I could
hear my father even
though I was already out
of the gate.

LISTING

Kind, caring, attentive and,

not to forget, as handsome
as a movie star thats my
father. His name is Patrick.

QUESTION

Whos the man in your

life? The man in my life is
about 42 years old. He
doesnt look it though.
Hes very energetic

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I had been looking forward to Britney
Spears concert all month long. My
best friend, Justin, said he would get
the tickets for us. Unfortunately, they
were sold out. I cried. Suddenly, my
father smiled and took out two pieces
of paper from his wallet. They were
tickets to Britney Spears concert.

QUOTATION

A father is like a tree that

gives shelter to all his
children. I read that once
in an old Readers Digest
magazine.

GENERAL STATEMENT

Every child in the world

needs a father. Fathers are
there to help and guide us
as we grow older and wiser
each day.

OPINION

My Father is the best father

in the world. I say that not
because he is my father but
because of what he has
done for my family.

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS:

Task 4

WRITE USING CLEAR,

ACCURATE ENGLISH

STANDARD ENGLISH
Should have the following qualities:
1. Communicates clearly
2. Obeys the rules of spelling, punctuation
and grammar
3. Vocabulary is suitable
4. English used should be formal. It should
not contain
(a.) slang e.g. chicks are cool
(b.) expressions which are accepted in
the conversation between friends, but
are out of place in a piece of writing
e.g. gonna, swing, crap, SMS language

STEP 5: DIRECTED WRITING

STICK TO YOUR PLAN
DONT WASTE TIME COUNTING THE
WORDS OR WORRYING ABOUT THE
EXACT LENGTH OF YOUR ESSAY
DONT DEVIATE FROM THE TOPIC
(WRITING SHOULD BE RELEVANT)

Structures: Middles
Middle section needs about 5
paragraphs
Develop ideas that you included on
planning sheet
Start a new paragraph when you start a
new point
In the question, there may be prompts
suggesting what you can include

Paragraphs:
New paragraph - each time you start
a new topic in or when a new
speaker says something.
Vary your sentence length

A Good Paragraph
Is complete in itself.
Must not stand alone.
Must be linked by bridges
Has variety in length

Structures: Endings
DO

DONT

Sum up your ideas, Leave it hanging the

End confidently
Make your ending
striking and give it
impact

reader needs to make

up their mind about
things

Fizzle out
End with death and
destruction or
then I woke up


Try to start your conclusion
Conclusion
with one of these words: In
conclusion, In a nutshell,
So, Personally, To sum
up.

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS:

Task 6

EDITING

READ THE FOLLOWING

Last week, we went to

Frasers hill. Our group was
made up of three guys and
three gals. All of us looked
very cute and cool. We
wanna have fun becoz the
PMR exams were over.

ANSWER

Last week, we went to Frasers

Hill. Our group was made up of 3
boys and 3 girls. We all looked
attractive and fashionable. We
were going to enjoy ourselves
and relax because the PMR
examination was over.

WHAT IS AN A PAPER?
LANGUAGE IS ENTIRELY ACCURATE
SENTENCE STRUCTURES ARE VARIED IN
LENGTH AND TYPE.
VOCABULARY IS WIDE AND USED WITH
PRECISION
SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION ARE
ACCURATE
PARAGRAPHS ARE WELL-PLANNED AND
LINKED
TOPIC IS CONSISTENTLY RELEVANT

Examples of Sentences of Various Length and Types

Born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I

always had a life a life most would have
killed to get. Even when I started working in
daddys company, life was a breeze.
To be quite frank, I knew my sons and
daughters, and their sons and daughters
would be set for life. I also had a ruggedly
handsome boyfriend and was to be engaged
soon. Friends swarmed around me like bees
to honey and his family adored me. I knew
life was good.

USE THE CORRECT WORD

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:
1. The man ..around the park for his
exercise.
2. The 100 metre runner..to the finish
line in 10.1 seconds.
3. He ..to the phone because he
expects an important phone call.
4. The horse ..around the track.

ANSWER

Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4

1. JOGS
2. SPRINTS
3. RUSHES/
DASHES
4. TROTS/
GALLOPS/
CANTERS

Use a thesaurus
1. The soldier ..across the parade ground.
2. The couple .along the beach.
3. The baby ...across the room.
4. The injured footballer .. off the pitch.
5. The old man .into his house.
6. The student ..to catch his bus.
7. The drunkard .along the street.
* Strolled / marched/ limped/ rushed/ toddled/
hobbled / staggered

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS

SPELL
CORRECTLY

CHECK YOUR SPELLING

After school, I returned home. I
had to cook my own meel. Once
in the kitcen, I was shoked. I saw
foot on the table ready to be
eaten. Somebody must have
preparred it for me. I was so
hungri and the food looked
delicios.

ANSWER
After school, I returned home. I had
to cook my own meal. Once in the
kitchen, I was shocked. I saw
food on the table ready to be
eaten. Somebody must have
prepared it for me. I was so
hungry and the food looked
delicious.

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS

USE CORRECT
PUNTUATION

PUNCTUATE CORRECTLY
PUT THE CORRECT PUNCTUATION:

she looked at the cookie container

in surprise the tarts were all
gone how could this have
happened she had just baked
them for her party wahidah
glared at her daughter why did
you finish all the tarts she asked

ANSWER

She looked at the cookie

container in surprise. The tarts
were all gone. How could this
have happened? She had just
baked them for her tea party.
Wahidah glared at her daughter.
Why did you finish all the
tart? she asked.

COMPARE THIS WITH SAMPLE B?

It was a Thursday in October. It

was late in the afternoon. The
school was quiet. No one had
arrived yet. Today was an
exciting day. We were going
camping in Kuala Selangor
beach. I had waited for this day
since June. I was so excited. I
was not able to sleep the whole
night.

COMPARE THIS WITH THE FIRST ONE?

It was late on Thursday

afternoon in October. As no
one had arrived yet, the school
was extremely quiet and
deserted. Today would be an
exciting day as we were going
camping in Kuala Selangor
beach one that I had waited
since June. The excitement
kept me awake all night long.

STEPS TO BETTER ESSAYS

AROUSE
READERS
INTEREST

GOOD WRITING STYLE #1

One of the greatest

poets and writers of the
19th century, William
Shakespeare, once said.
If music be the food of
love, play on! Isnt that
enough testimony to the
power of music?

GOOD WRITING STYLE #2

I bought my ticket to Kuala
Lumpur from a grumpy old lady
in a booth who did nothing but
enjoyed thrusting her finger
deep into her nose and bringing
it out covered with those sticky
yellow stuff called mucus. I felt
nausea sweeping over me as
that very same finger held my
ticket.

GOOD WRITING STYLE #3

Earth to Sherry! Are you
still here? Lauren said.
Huh. I managed to look
at her blankly.
I said, do you think those
earrings are nice or not?
she carried on exasperated.

GOOD WRITING STYLE # 4

She went to look for a bracelet
for a friend and I browsed at the
wedding rings on display,
imagining myself getting
married. Suddenly, I saw a ring
with the biggest diamond. If I
ever get a ring like that, Id
divorce the man who married me
and sell off the gem!

GOOD WRITING STYLE # 5

In a fit of rage, I rushed to the
kitchen and grabbed a knife. I
ran back to the living room and
plunged the knife into Sherrys
back. How dared she steal my
boyfriend! How dared she! How
dared he! In my house, too. I
stabbed and stabbed my anger
away. I heard their screams. I
heard their screams everywhere.

GOOD WRITING STYLE # 6

My number one enemy is

none other than my own
mother. Not only do I hate
her, I despise her. She is the
biggest misery that anyone
could have ever known. All
day long, all she does is nag,
nag and nag. If there were a
competition for nagging, she
would have won it.

GOOD WRITING STYLE # 8

What are you doing here? he
repeated, blocking the doorway with
his bulk and crossing his arms across
his chest.
We will talk about it over tea, she
snapped back and pushed him aside
roughly. He scowled at her back as
she carefully dusted the snow off her
coat and hung it in the closet. She
turned and caught his eye. She
grinned teasingly at him and lifted an
eloquent eyebrow. The usual, then?

ANY
QUESTIONS?