Monday, April 11, 2016

SHORT STORY : TANJUNG RHU


SYNOPSIS

In Tanjung Rhu, we are given insights into the values, religious beliefs, norms and family practices of the Chinese. Mr Li is a successful businessman  in the shipping sector. His mother has recently passed away. He feels restless and uneasy as he looks out of his window down at the harbour. He uses a pair of binoculars to look at the ships and counts them. He has always made a habit of this. The ritual soothes him now.
     The pair of binoculars reminds him of his mother. He had bought them for her because her sight was failing. He recalls the events that occurred before she died. 
    When he had given them to her, his mother had told him that she had everything she needed. However she had been excited to think that she could see her husband's old shipyard with the binoculars. Mr Li had reminded her that it had been torn down years ago.
      He invites her to his office so that she can see Tanjung Rhu from there. The next morning, Mr Li's mother tells him that if something is to be done, it must be done right and carefully she follows the rituals at the altar. The grand daughter offers to take over so Mr. Li's mother can leave but the old woman refuses. The grand daughter does not take the rituals seriously. She is seriously humouring her grandmother. Mr. Li tells his daughter to be more respectful of hi mother.
     At the office, Li's mother cannot see the ships with the binoculars but remembers the time when she walked with a little boy who counted the ships. Mr. Li tries to communicate with her but it is too late. She is very ill. He wonders about those times and is sad that he never took the time to listen to her. After his mother's death, Mr. Li tries to follow the same rituals at the altar as his mother did. But when he tries to get some joss sticks, he cannot find them. He tries to open the drawer where his late mother usually kept them but it is locked. He does not have the key. He regrets not spending more time with his mother when she was alive.



Friday, June 6, 2014

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

Quick Tips for Writing Your Descriptive Essay
Writing a descriptive essay can be a rich and rewarding experience, but it can also feel a bit complicated. It's helpful, therefore, to keep a quick checklist of the essential questions to keep in mind as you plan, draft, and revise your essay.

Planning your descriptive essay:

  • What or who do you want to describe?
  • What is your reason for writing your description?
  • What are the particular qualities that you want to focus on?

Drafting your descriptive essay:

  • What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are important for developing your description?
  • Which details can you include to ensure that your readers gain a vivid impression imbued with your emotion or perspective?

Revising your descriptive essay:

  • Have you provided enough details and descriptions to enable your readers to gain a complete and vivid perception?
  • Have you left out any minor but important details?
  • Have you used words that convey your emotion or perspective?
  • Are there any unnecessary details in your description?
  • Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one aspect of your description?
  • Are you paragraphs ordered in the most effective way?

Thursday, February 23, 2012

SUMMARY

The PMR English Language Paper 2 has three questions:

  • Question 1 – Tests your skills on writing an essay.
  • Question 2 – Tests your skills on summarising a passage.
  • Question 3 – Tests your knowledge of understanding the literature component taught in school.

Let us look at Question 2.
Students are given a text and are required to summarise the passage in not more than 60 words.
The passage can be based on any subject matter. It can be:
  • a descriptive text or
  • factual in nature or
  • even a narrative
 Just remember:
  • that summary writing is the process of condensing and reducing the text
  • the relevant details must be included
  • the meaning must not be altered.

GUIDELINES TO SUMMARY WRITING

Summary-writing is easy. Just keep in mind the acronym BROOMSTICK when you do your summary.

Bracket
 Bracket all relevant parts needed for your summary after reading the text.  

  
Rephrase
 Look at the bracketed section and rephrase wherever possible.

  
Omit irrelevant details
Omit all irrelevant details like examples, elaborations, long descriptions and explanations, repetitions, quotations and figurative language. Text that is not related to the question should be ignored. 

  
Own words
Remember to use your own words as far as possible. Do not copy word for word. 

Meaning must be retained
Do not change the original meaning of the text. Maintain the original meaning.

  
Speech
If there is speech in your text, convert it into Indirect Speech. You cannot use direct speech in your summary.

  
Tenses
Maintain the same tense as in the original text. If the text is in the past tense your summary should also be in the past tense. If it is in the present tense your summary should also be in the present tense.

  
Information
 Your summary must be based on the information found in the passage only. Do not bring outside information or your own opinion into your summary.

  
Copy draft
  Copy out the draft you have made correctly in a paragraph.

                                                             

Keep to the word limit
 Keep to the number of words specified in the question. Do not go over the word limit. After the 60th word, all information will be ignored and marks will not be awarded.

Tips on how to count the number of words

  • Count each word as one word.
  • Proper nouns like names of people, places, roads, country are counted as one word.
 For example:
Kuala Lumpur – 1 word
Jalan Liku – 1 word
Mohamad Ali – 1 word
Sungai Perak – 1 word

  • All forms of contractions are counted as two words.
For example:
Didn’t  – 2 words
Shouldn’t – 2 words
Mustn’t – 2 words
I’d – 2 words
We’ll – 2 words
She’s – 2 words

  • The only exception is:
Can’t – 1 word.