Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Question tags
Prepositions (highly examined)
Verb tenses and Modals
Phrasal verbs
Conditional sentences
Registers/Vocabulary
Connectives/Conjunctions
Parts of Speech (all the eight)
Order of Adjectives
Subordinate Clauses
Phrases
a) Sender’s address
b) Date
c) Receiver’s address
d) Salutation
e) Title
f) Valediction
Zomba
Private Bag 48
Zomba
Dear Sir
Yours faithfully
Signature
Moses Maloachepa
a) Date
b) Sender’s address
c) Receiver’s address
d) Title
e) Valediction
Sample Layout
From : The Headteacher, Cobbe Barracks Secondary School, Post Office Box 32, Zomba.
To : The Education Division Manager, South-East Education Division, Private Bag 48, Zomba.
Signature
Moses Maloachepa
a) Introduction
Candidates should provide the aim of the letter and location of the area where necessary.
Location may include either of the following; distance in kilometres from a well-known area,
campus directions, physical/geographical features, i.e. rivers, mountains, forests, lakes, trading
centres, hospitals, farms etc.
It must be a brief paragraph.
b) Body
There is no required number of points to be used; candidates may write at least 5-8 points while
being mindful of the word limit of 350-500 words.
Write each point in a separate paragraph; do not combine.
Use signal words or transitional lines to show coherence. (connection)
Present the point right in the topic sentence then back it with details and illustrations where
necessary.
Indicate paragraphs by skipping a line after each point.
Formulation of points may follow (but not strictly) the following pattern;
Extent of the problem;
Candidates can highlight how serious is the damage caused in the violent acts.
Causes;
drug and substance abuse among students
lack of compliance to disciplinary decisions etc.
Effects;
suspensions and expulsion from school
arrests
fines on damaged property etc.
Solutions;
guidance and counselling on rights and responsibilities
exercising restraint
punishing culprits (suspension/expulsion) etc.
NB. This structure may not apply to every question.
c. Conclusion
A speech is a type of composition in which the writer imagines to be addressing a live audience.
It is a personalised type of composition hence it requires frequent use of first and second person
pronouns (I, me, we….you, your, yours). This makes a speech to be lively.
1. INTRODUCTION
It should be a brief paragraph.
It should begin with a salutation of dignitaries (guests).
Dignitaries should be acknowledged in order of their hierarchy or seniority (from highest to
lowest).
Acknowledge the dignitaries beginning with their titles then their names.
The titles should be preceded by an article ‘The…)
Be mindful of the list of dignitaries that it should not be so lengthy.
Between the title and the name, there should be a comma and a semi colon should be used before
introducing another dignitary.
It should include welcoming remarks.
Highlight the purpose or aim of the speech.
Sometimes the purpose is preceded by indicating the speaker’s state of mind. (i.e. I am greatly
honoured… I am pleased … I am privileged to be…)
You may include a plea for attention.
The Education Division Manager, Mr. Soko; the Headteacher, Mrs. Mbewe; the Deputy Headteacher,
Mr. Kumwenda; all members of the teaching and support staff here present, my fellow students, let
me begin by welcoming you all to this important gathering. I am greatly honoured to be here and talk
to you on the problem of drug and substance abuse. Please be with me throughout the entire speech.
2. BODY
This is where the points are outlined in detail.
Write every point in its own paragraph, do not combine them.
Use signal words; firstly… secondly… in addition… furthermore….finally etc.
Attention grabbers are also used to achieve transition, coherence and flow of the ideas. i.e.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen…
The guest of honour, ladies and gentlemen…
My fellow students and all guests gathered here…
Present the points in the topic sentence then provide backing details.
Paragraphs should be clearly indicated by skipping a line before introducing another point.
Formulation of points should be in line with the question. In most cases, it is advisable to follow
the pattern; extent of the problem, causes, effects and solutions approach is suitable. However,
candidates are guided by the demands of the question.
There is no required number of points, however, students should observe word limit of 350-500
words. For example;
a. Extent of the problem;
Candidates can highlight how serious the problem is, by providing statistics of those that
are involved in the malpractice.
b. Causes;
stress and anxiety
peer pressure
c. Effects;
violence
mental disorder
d. Solutions;
guidance and counselling
punishing culprits
3. CONCLUSION
It must be a brief paragraph.
Repeat the list of dignitaries by recognising the guest of honour and the rest in general.
Show appreciation for their attention.
Avoid showing religious or political affiliations.eg God bless you all.
Example
The guest of honour, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, this is all I had to share
with you. I thank you all for being an attentive audience.
a) Setting
Candidates should clearly develop the location and time frame in which the events take place.
Setting may also be in a form of the environment (physical or social).
Most importantly, candidates should clearly develop the geographical setting (urban, rural, semi-
urban)
b) Characters
c) Plot
i. Exposition; the beginning stages of the story where there is an introduction of characters and
setting.
ii. Rising action; the stage where the conflict is introduced and the main character is in a crisis.
iii. Climax; the peak of the story where a major event happens and the main character encounters
a major challenge, fear, change, excitement or drama.
iv. Falling action; the stage where the tension or conflict begins to slow down as it moves
towards the end.
v. Resolution (denouement); the stage where all issues are finally resolved.
d) Conflict
This struggle between two opposing forces in a story. It can be internal or external.
A character may be in conflict within him/herself, with other characters, with the environment/
nature, society or the supernatural world.
e) Point of view
The angle from which a story is narrated. The story may be narrated from ;
The narrator uses first person pronouns and adjectives like I, me, us, my, our etc.
The narrator is an observer type of a storyteller and uses third person pronouns e.g. he, she, they.
f) Theme
g) Mood
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h) Style
A well written short should clearly have dialogue and narrative moments;
i. Dialogue
ii. Narration
NB. Candidates will lose marks if they commit the following errors in short story writing;
Every grammatical error attracts the deduction of ½ mark and the most common errors include:
Unnecessary capitalisation
wrong spellings
poor or lack of punctuation marks
word omissions, especially articles and prepositions
writing numbers for quantity words between 1-100
using figures of time i.e.10 am, 3 pm
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Mark Allocations
Layout 5
Content 25
Mechanical Errors 10
Total – 40
Mechanical errors 10
Content 30
Total 40
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PAPER II
A skill that involves extracting important ideas from a given passage and putting them into fair set of
notes. The goal in note making is retention of the original meaning of the passage. Important areas in
note making include;
a. Layout (8 marks)
i. Title (2 marks)
It must be a phrase.
It must be written at the centre.
It must not be labelled.
It must not contain any short forms.
It may be capitalised. (not underlined)
It may be in small letters. (underlined)
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They are written a few inches away from the left margin (indented).
phrasing (1 mark)
3 different symbols (1 mark)
3 different abbreviations, acronyms or short forms (1 mark)
brevity, awarded for getting the first 3 (1 mark)
SAMPLE
1. Agriculture
a. biggest sector
b. involve growing crops & raising livestock
i. Malawi’s important exports
c. source of employment
d. supported by MoA + ADMARC
Mark Allocation
Layout 8
Content 8
Style 4
The word comes from a Latin term ‘comprehensionem’ which means ‘seizing’. Thus, when you
have comprehension means you have seized information.
This is an area where a candidate is supposed to demonstrate understanding of a passage and their
ability to answer questions correctly. It demands candidates to accurately understand the passage,
decode what they read and reflect deeply with what they know.
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11. For description of characters, provide an adjective that describes behaviour then back it with
evidence from the story.
eg. He is curious as he wanted to know what Kino would do with the money from the pearl.
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The Betrayal
SUMMARY WRITING
6 content 3
2 flow 1
2 mechanical errors 1
10 TOTAL 5
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LOADED ESSAY
MULTIPLE ESSAYS
Must be good in expression (sentence construction, clarity and strength of points, free of
mechanical errors).
No numbering of points.
Do not retell the story.
No repetition of points.
Consistency in verb tense (present/past tense)
Paragraphing must follow the P.E.E approach (Point, Expand, Example)
Note that essays are examined on Themes, Characterisation, Events in Plot and Literary devices.
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Mark Allocation
Loaded (8×2) + 4 = 20
END OF DOCUMENT
email: maloachepam@gmail.com
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