Answering Section D Paper 2 English SPM

Most students have this 'irrational' fear of answering literature questions just 

because they find it tiresome and loathsome to read. Apparently literature is 

good for you and boosts your brain power. 

Unfortunately, some students do read but they could not produce a decent script

for this section simply because they fail to fulfill the requirements. So, a little

heads-up, please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY before 

you start.

Ok, let's get a sample.

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The following are the novels studied in the literature component in English Language:

                                            Step by wicked step – Anne Fine

                                     Catch Us If You Can – Catherine MacPhail

                                             The Curse – Lee Su Ann

Choose any one of the novels above and answer the question.

Use information from the novel to support your answer.

Compare two characters in the novel you have studied. How are they similar and different?

Compare and contrast two characters.

                  The novel I have chosen is ‘Step by wicked step’ written by Anne Fine. Colin and Claudia are the two characters I have chosen to compare and contrast. Although they are two differing characters, they also have some similarities.

                  Both Colin and Claudia come from broken or separated families.  They both have step parents. Colin’s mother has left his biological father and `took up’ with Jack.  Jack is the only ‘father’ figure Colin ever know. However, Colin’s mum leaves Jack after a while. This causes him to miss Jack so badly that it hurts. On the other hand, Claudia’s father has left her mother for another woman, Stella. She feels disloyal to her mum whenever she has a good time with her father and Stella. Both Colin and Claudia really want their parents to reconcile as they pine for how it used to be when they were happy. And this aspect of unhappy home is the first similarity.

                 Colin and Claudia also do not adapt to the drastic changes their families undergo. Colin’s unwavering loyalty and want for his ‘dad’ to be back and Claudia’s misguided loyalty to her mother shows that these two characters find difficulties dealing with changes. There are frustrations, fear and sadness. Furthermore, both Colin’s and Claudia’s mothers do not take their emotions into consideration. It is as though everything is only happening to them, and will never have an impact on the children. This is the second similarity; the fact that the changes take time.

                  However, Colin and Claudia are markedly different individuals. They deal with the changes in their respective families differently; Colin is portrayed as a boy always pining for his ‘father’ even after five whole years. However, Claudia becomes hostile towards the new lady in her life, Stella, disregarding all the latter’s efforts to warm up to her. These different treatments are proof of their dissimilarity.

                Both Colin and Claudia have different personalities too. Colin is a dreamer who dreams of an ideal life where his ‘dad’ and mother will be together forever and happy. He secretly keeps his ‘father’s’ tobacco tin and saves money so that he can look for him one day. This makes him too depending on his stepdad and emotionally attached to him. This is probably due to the fact that he needs love from a man called ‘father’. Claudia is more of a sensible and rational person. After seeing her dad’s friends ignoring Stella and judging it as ‘rude’, she goes to compliment Stella on her stellar choice of green pyjamas. Claudia is more independent and is not afraid to voice her opinions. Unlike Colin, Claudia is brave in coming to terms with her parents’ separation. She is independent and not afraid to voice her opinions. These dissimilar personalities differentiates them and hint at a different future both might face.

Even though they experience broken family relationships and find it difficult to accept changes, the way Colin and Claudia accept new additional member of the family is different. They have different views in accepting reality and this has made the story more inspiring and colourful.

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TIPS

1. Fulfill the requirements. You must know TWO characters and state the character of your choice.

2. Write a thesis statement, hinting and giving a general idea at what the readers will read (purple colored)

3. Start every paragraph with a topic sentence that contain the main idea or keyword. For example, the first main idea is 'both come from broken or separated family' (blue colored)

4. After the topic sentence, elaborate and give example from the story to make your points clearer. Do not retell the whole story.

5.You must link your points/ideas back to the question. Failure to link might cause you to not achieve more than 4 or 5 marks for content.(yellow colored)

6. Close your essay with a simple restatement of your thesis statement, or restate your three main ideas.(red colored)

7. Check your tenses. It must be in Simple Present Tense.