ENGLISH FORM THREE TOPIC 4: WRITING USING APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE CONTENT AND STYLE

WRITING USING APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE CONTENT AND STYLE

Writing Narrative Compositions/Essays (Not Less Than 200 Words)

An Account of Event that Happened in the Past

Write an account of event that happened in the past

Refers to any report of connected events narrating a story which occurred in particular time.

Characteristics of Narrative Composition

• Always tells a story from a writer's perspective.
• Plot refers to how one event leads to another.
• Characters are described through action, speech and thoughts, good characters are always described in detail.
• Setting refers to the time and place in which the story takes place.
• Theme refers to the meanings behind the story.

Imaginary Events that Happened in the Past

Write imaginary events that happened in the past

Activity 1

Choose any topic of your interest and compose short narrative essay on an imaginary event that happened in the past.

Writing Expository Compositions/Essays (Not Less Than 200 Word)

Factual Information on a Topic/Subject

Write factual information on a topic/subject

Expository writing requires students to investigate ideas, evaluate evidence expound on ideas and et arguments concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner.

Structure of expository essay

• Clear and concise defined thesis statement that occurs in first paragraph of the essay.
• Clear and logical transition between the introduction body and conclusion.
• Body paragraph that include evidential support ,and each paragraph should have one general idea
• Evidential support which may be factual, logical, statistical or anecdotal.
• A Bit of creativity may add credit to your essay.

Writing Descriptive Compositions/Essays (Not Less Than 200)

Vivid Descriptions of People/Places and Events

Write vivid descriptions of people/places and events

Descriptive composition refers to composition writing which describes a person, place or thing in such a way that a picture of the subject is clear in the readers mind. This is usually done through descriptive use of the five senses.

Examples of descriptive writing topic are your dream house, favourite restaurant etc.

How descriptive writing helps students

• It helps to make your writing more interesting.
• It encourages students to use new words
• It can help students clarify their understanding of new subject matter.

Characteristics of descriptive writing

• Good descriptive writing includes many sensory details that paint a picture in the reader's mind.
• Good descriptive writing uses precise language, specific adjectives and nouns and strong action verbs, avoid use of passive sentences.
• Good descriptive writing often makes use of figurative language such as analogies ,similes and metaphor to help to paint picture bin reader's mind.
• Good descriptive writing is organised e.g. chronological ( time) spatial 9 location ) and order of importance , for example in describing person by starting with their physical appearance then move to their thoughts.

How to write descriptive essay

More than other types of essays descriptive essays strive to create deep and vivid experience for the reader, following thongs should be considered:

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 you focus on?

Drafting your descriptive essay

• Such details such as sights, sound, smell, taste and texture are important in developing your description.

Revising your descriptive essay

• Make sure you have provided enough details and description.
• Do not forget minor but important points.
• Use words that may convey emotion or perspective.
• Each paragraph should focus on an aspect of description.
• Organise your paragraphs.

Writing Argumentative Compositions/Essays (Not Less Than 200 Words)

Contrasting Views of a Given Topic

Present contrasting views of a given topic

Argumentative compositions essays which express one sided point views and attempt to persuade the reader.

It is commonly assigned to teach students to write about facts and conduct research.

Argumentative essays are written like other essays but they must have the following:

• An introduction.
• Thesis statement which may have supportive evidence.
• Body paragraphs.
• A conclusion

Types of argumentative composition

• Analysis essays: Argumentative analysis essays focus on other argumentative essays, the purpose of this essay is to analyse other evidence.
• Personal essays: Do not rely on research and are based on opinions as well as personal experience.
• Research papers: Argumentative research papers which rely heavily on external sources to make and support the main arguments, authors should take various research papers as cites for their essays.

Creative Writing

Writing a Literary Work Using Devices and Skills

Write a literary work using literary devices and skills

Creative writing refers to any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic or technical forms of literature.

Creative writing can technically be considered any writing of original composition which is contemporary and process oriented and differs from what is traditionally called literature.

Writing styles and techniques help you as future writer to develop and grow, below are the various techniques to consider:

• Point of view: When writing a short story or novel ,point of view is important in establishing who is telling the story.
• Strong plot: Creating a strong plot for you story is important, you could have engaging characters, great scenes but if the plot is weak the reader will not be interested.
• Description: When writing a short story or novel it is important to describe characters, action and setting in detail.
• Flashback: Sometimes writers move back in time to write about past events to provide more background detail about the story to the reader.
• Dialogue: It's important to master communication between your characters. Dialogue is important in building suspense,conveying your story and setting a mood.
• Foreshadowing: This technique helps build a mood and engages your reader's mind, it's a technique where you drop clues or hints about characters or events that help reader predict what might happen later on.
• Writing prompts: Writing prompts are sentences or paragraphs that provide inspiration for you to write ,they can be activities or ideas.
• Story starters: This is a technique that helps you starts your story or novel.

• READ TOPIC 5: Writing Formal Letters

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