DIRECTED WRITING TEMPLATE FOR SPM

BASICALLY, DIRECTED WRITING MEANS ‘FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS.’ YOU WILL BE DIRECTED AS WHAT
TO WRITE AND HOW TO WRITE THE ESSAY. YOU ARE ADVISED TO WRITE WITHIN 45 MINUTES. THIS
INCLUDES READING THE QUESTION, PLANNING, WRITING THE ESSAY AND MAY BE EDITING.

Step1: READING THE QUESTION

Remember the F.A.C.T.S
FORMAT
AUDIENCE – ROLE OF WRITER
CONTENT POINTS
TASK(S) / TENSE
SCENARIO / SUBJECT MATTER

Step 2 : UNDERSTANDING FORMAT (relevant aspects of format)

Youmustknowtheaspectsofaparticularformat,soyouwillget2to3marksforit.

a 1. To: (addressee)thepostismoreimportant
2. From: (reporter)
Formalreport 3. Title: (relevant title)
b 1. Sender’saddress
2. Recipient’spost
Formalletter Recipient’s address
3. Date(1April2013)
4. Salutation(DearSir,)
5. Title(Relevanttitle)
6. ComplimentaryClose(Yoursfaithfully/sincerely)
c 1. Sender’saddress
2. Salutation(Dear…)
Informalletter 3. Complimentary Close (Yours sincerely/Your cousin)
d 1. Greeting
2. Topic/Purpose
Speech/Talk 3. Appropriate ending e.g. Thanking audience
e 1. Title(relevanttothetask)
2. Writer’sname
Article

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Step3:UNDERSTANDINGAUDIENCE
YouraudiencewilldeterminetheTONEtobeusedinyourwriting.ThereareONLYtwotones:Formal and
informaltone.

Peoplewithout Cousin/friend/
Informal/polite/friendly
authority uncle/auntie

Peoplewith Principal/manager/
Formal/Direct/Respectful/ Polite
authority chiefofpolice

Step4:UNDERSTANDINGCONTENTPOINTS
THEREARETWOTYPESOFCONTENTPOINTS.THEYARE:
1. ‘DIRECTCONTENTPOINTS’i.e.givenbythequestionandyoucannotchangethem.
2. ‘TASKCONTENTPOINTS’i.e.youhavetoprovidetherelevantinformation.

Exampleofdirectcontentpoints

Exampleoftaskcontentpoints

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Step5:UNDERSTANDINGTASK(S)/PURPOSEOFWRITINGandTENSE

Year Task(s) Tense(s)

2012 Givingadvice Present

2011 Sharinginformation/Informing Present

2010 Informing/givingreasons Present

2009 Givingreasons/suggestions Present

2008 Sharinginformation/informing Mixed

2007 Persuading/informing Present

2006 Givingreasons Mixed

2005 Informing/sharinginformation Mixed

2004 Complaining/requesting Mixed

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HowtoimprovevocabularyforTASK

The thesaurus is a very helpful tool in providing students with an arsenal of wide and precise
vocabulary. But, care must be taken because not all words related to a particular word can be
usedtoreplaceit.Youhavetoseewhetherthewordsuitsorfitsinwiththecontext.

TASK/VERB RELATEDWORDS/SYNONMYMS

Inform ● Tell,letsomeoneknow,notify,advise
Advise ● Counsel,recommend,suggest,advocate,urge
● Inform,notify,givenotice
Complain ● Protest,grouse,whine,makeafuss,bleat,grumble,carp
(informal)gripe,moan,whinge
● Criticize,protestabout,objectto,findfaultwith
Suggest ● Propose,putforward,recommend,advocate,advise,nominate
● signify,indicate,show,imply,hint
Encourage ● Support,motivate,inspire,cheer,spuron,eggon
● Persuade,urge,press,coax
● Stimulate,foster,nurture,cultivate,promote,boost,strengthen
Request ● Askfor,appealfor,callfor,seek,applyfor,begfor,demand
● Callon,ask,invite,entreat,implore,beg,beseech

Reason ● Arguewith,persuade,talkround
Choose ● Select,decideon,pickout,optfor,plumpfor,settleon,votefor,elect
● Decide,determine,prefer,resolve
Report ● Communicate, give an account of, describe, announce, publish,
broadcast,disclose
● Complainabout,informon,denounce
(informal) tellon,raton,shop
● Presentyourself,makeyourselfknown,checkin

Step6:UNDERSTANDINGSCENARIO/SUBJECTMATTER
(Informationthatcannotbechanged)
Thecontextofthewritingwillrevolvearoundyourlifeas SPMstudents.

Step7:PLANNINGYOURESSAY/PARAGRAPHING(3minutes)

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Howmanyparagraphsdoyouneed?Howdoyouputthepointsinparagraphs?Paragraphs should

bemeaningful.

Introduction Openingremarks/somebackgroundinformation
Purposeofwritingand
Paragraph#1 MaybepointsC1andC2
Paragraph#2 C3andC4
Paragraph#3 C5andC6
Paragraph#4 C7andC8
Paragraph#5 C9andC10
Paragraph#6 C11andC12
Conclusion Restateyourpurpose/tellaboutyourhopesandwishes

Step8:WRITINGYOURESSAY(within30minutes)
Youressayshouldabout1½pageto2pages.Rememberyoumust:

● get3marksforFORMAT
● useall12CONTENTpoints.
● Planyouressay
● ELABORATEyourpoints.
● Edit

HOWTOSTARTYOUROPENINGPARAGRAPH

Youcaneitherwriteusingyourownwayorusethefollowingway.

1. Usetheinformationfoundinthebackgroundinformationgiveninthequestion
paper.
2. Changethepronouns(Normally,weonlyusethepronouns“I”forthewriterand “You”
forthereader/audience)
3. Adddetailswherepossible(Weusuallyanswerquestionsusing“WHO,WHEREand
WHEN)
4. DON’TFORGETYOUROPENINGREMARKS

Example:

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EXAMPLE:

HOWTOWRITEYOURCONCLUDINGPARAGRAPH
Intheconcludingparagraph,itisnormalto:
● Reiterateyourthesisstatement/purposeofwriting
● Writeaboutyourhopesandwishes/dreams
● Giveyourfinalthoughts
● Givearhetoricalquestion
● Providearelevantquotation/proverboridiom
● DON’TFORGETYOURCLOSINGREMARKS

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Example:
Generic

Ihavecometotheendofmy........................IhopeyouhaveunderstoodwhatIhave
presented.IalsohopethatIhavegivenyoualltheinformation/tips/steps/piecesofadvice that
youneed.
Specific:
Ihopeyouhavelearnedhowtospendyourmoneywiselyandnottowasteitonunnecessary items.
(advice)
Ihopeyouwilltaketheappropriateactionsafterreadingmyreport.
Ihopeafterthisyouwilldefinitelyimproveyourfirstaidskills.
IhopeyouwillbeexcitedtojointheNSprogrammeandgetallthebenefitsfromit.
RhetoricalQuestions
Whyareyoustillhavingsecondthoughts?(Goforit.I’msureyou’llenjoyyourselfthere.)
Areyougoingtoignoremysuggestionsuntilastudentdiebeforetakingactions?
Whatarewegoingtobe?(Asuccessorafailure.Number1orNOone)

CLOSING REMARKS
ELABORATION
ElaborationisaMUST.Thisisoneofthereasonswhyyouaretested.Itisforyoutoshowyourability inusingthe

Englishlanguage.ElaborationwillbeawardedmarksunderthecategoryofLANGUAGE.

WhatisELABORATION?

‘THEINCLUSIONOFOWNMATERIALRELEVANTTOTHETASKANDMUSTBEDIRECTLYRELATEDTO THE
CONTENTPOINT”.ITCANBEEITHER:
• ASINGLEWORD ]addadjectivesoradverbs
• APHRASE]answerquestionslikeWHO,WHERE,WHEN
• AWHOLESENTENCE
HOWEVER,ITMUSTADDANEWDIMENSIONORGIVEMOREINFORMATION.

ElaborationcouldbeanEXPLANATION,aDESCRIPTION,aDETAIL,anEXAMPLE,aSUGGESTIONora
SOLUTION.Itcanbeamixtureofallsix.
(Note:Don’toverelaborate.Remember,thereisatimelimitof45minutesforthisquestion.)

Thisistheopportunityforstudentstoshowtheircreativityandmaturityanddepthof

thoughts.Youcanaddonyourownideastotheessay.

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How to ELABORATE?

1. LOOK AT THE CONTENT POINT

2. THEN, ASK RELEVANT QUESTIONS ABOUT IT

3. NEXT, ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS

Example:
 DIRECTEDWRITINGTEMPLATEFORSPM

Step9 : EDITING YOUR ESSAY USING THE ‘SPOTCAP’ METHOD (5minutes)

Please spend some time to edit your essay.

Spelling British spelling. Make sure no errors in copying

from the rubric
Preposition/PhrasalVerbs Becarefulwiththeirusage
 DIRECTEDWRITINGTEMPLATEFORSPM

Orderofwords Bigboy(notboybig)/Icanalsoread(notIalso
canread)
Tense Makesureyouareconsistentanduseit
correctly
Choiceofwords Don’trepeatwordsunnecessarily
Agreement(SV,number, Iam/was
gender) He/She/It is/was
You/We/Theyare/were

Punctuation Checkyoursentences

Reminders:
Makesureyou:
● Writeaccurately
● Useavarietyofsentencestructure
● Useappropriatevocabulary(wideandprecise)
● Spellcorrectly
● Punctuateaccurately
● Writeinparagraphs

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