O LEVEL ENGLISH COMPOSITION TIPS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR EXAMS

Are you sitting for your O levels? It is just a matter of months?

And you have absolutely no idea how to prepare for your English exams?

What? You have been doing your school work? And you are not sure what you should study for your exams?

Welcome to my blog.

This blog is meant for you. If you have no idea what to study for your English exams, it generally means that you do not know what you should practice and focus on for your exams. I have a few TIPS which will help you to get it right.

These are very simple TIPS and it is not rocket science. In fact, you may have heard of them before. But if you have not taken it seriously, it means that the TIP is not working for you. I will Show you exactly how to Use those Tips and how to get Results.

FIRST TIP – Write the Right Way

When you are trying to study for your Composition test/ exam, there is no point in just writing lots of compositions for practice. Why? You may be making the same mistake over and over again. And you need to get it right before you write.

What you should focus on will be the strategy behind your Question.

Assuming that you have chosen an Expository Question, you will have to organise your points into PEEL paragraphs which will relate to the question.

Most students will think of Any Point which alludes to the question. That is not the way.

Please think before you write. Always pick the point because it is a Solid Point. It may be about an occurrence which took place years ago but if it has all the right features, it should qualify as your choice.

How do you do this? Pick a Solid point. Ok, look out for these features. If it is a local example, make sure that it hit the headlines in terms of local news and not just social media. News from social media is based on virtual readers and sometimes the source is unreliable. But if that social media news hits the newsstands, then it should be given its due respect.

For an international news, make sure that the news was covered by more than one newspaper. The news should have relevance in your society and the news should be politically correct. Do Not choose controversial examples where someone was a political dissident.

Only choose examples where it touches on a ‘social issue’ or ‘health issue’ or it tugs at the heart strings where someone received donations from the public for a surgery as he/ she was not able to afford it.

SECOND TIP – Decorate It

Now, you all know that it is not just the story but the way you tell it that is important. These tips will be especially useful for an essay which is subjective. Personal recount, reflective and narrative essay lovers, please take note.

Most narrative topics are based on lifestyle issues or choices eg spending money, spending time, choosing what to do in life.

They sound rather boring do they not? Never fear this if you use my Tip.

Always use engaging, charming and irresistible metaphors, idioms and imagery to create that air of mystery or humour when you write.

What? You are not supposed to be funny? Your teacher said that?

Ok, I am not asking you to be the Joker. All I am saying is that you are allowed to have some wry humour. This is when you are not openly funny but the humour is understated. You may choose to do this with a play on words. Example, my subheading for the First Tip was a bit funny. “Write the Right Way” is a play on the words ‘write’ and ‘right.’ They both sound the same but they have different meanings. And it sounds catchy doesn’t it? It is not outright funny as in ‘ha ha’ humour but it has its amusing appeal. That is what I am talking about.

Play on your words, use such techniques and make your ideas shift from boring logic to irresistible truths. The way you sync your points into your essay are important if you are able to see what is really important. If you just throw a chunk of content at the examiner, it may sound boring and it may not even hit the mark if you do not organise it into evidence and elaboration. When you right the elaboration for a narrative essay, you are expected to write subjectively. All writers who rely on subjective writing have their own techniques. You see, the writing is based on pure fiction based on common sense. It is actually your way of looking at how society ticks. When you write subjectively, you have to spruce up your style a bit. And make it sharp.

I will write more about ‘a play on words’ in my upcoming blogs. In the meanwhile, please take these tips to heart and whether you choose an expository/ argumentative or narrative type essay, these are the ways to prepare for an exam. I would like to wish you all the best in your work!