Tackling the novel question

Captain Nobody
Year Question
2010 Write about an important incident in the novel. (Plot)
2011 Write about a part of the story that you like the most. (Plot)
2012 Write about an event that makes you feel angry. Give
reasons why the event makes you feel this way. (Plot)
2013 Write about an important decision made by one of the
characters. Explain how it affects the other characters. (Plot)

2014 “One has to struggle to improve one’s life.” How far is this
true of the novel you have read? (Theme)

2015 Suggest one character in the novel you have read who you
think is a good role model for teenagers. (Character)

2016 Describe a scene that makes you either happy or sad. Give
reasons. (Plot)
Year Question
2017 Write about a value that is important to one of the
characters. (Value)
2018 Write about a problem faced by the main character. (Plot)
2019 Write about a character you dislike.
How to prepare
o Do a chapter-by-chapter
synopsis
o Do a character analysis
(adjectives, followed by
proof)
o List out themes/moral
values (with proof)
Introduction
1. “The novel I have studied is Captain
Nobody by Dean Pitchford.”
2. Answer the question.
3. “In the following paragraphs, I will
discuss the topic with close
reference to the text.”
 Writing your
introduction

Write about a scene that either

makes you happy or sad.
SPM 2016
 How to answer
Describe a scene that either makes
you happy or sad.
1. Name the scene.
2. Describe what happens in it.
3. State why this scene makes
you happy/sad.
Introduction
1. The novel I have studied is Captain
Nobody by Dean Pitchford.
2. Answer the question.
3. In the following paragraphs, I will
discuss the topic with close
reference to the text.
The novel that I have studied is Sentence 1
Captain Nobody. In my opinion, a State the novel
scene that makes me sad in the Sentence 2
novel is when Newt wanted to State your answer
cheer up his mother in the novel and points.
by dressing up in Chris’s clothes .
In the following paragraphs, I will
Sentence 3
discuss the scene that makes me
sad with close reference to the
text.
You try. Write the introduction.
Write about a value that is important
to one of the characters. SPM 2017
1. The novel I have studied is Captain
Nobody by Dean Pitchford.
2. Answer the question.
3. In the following paragraphs, I will
discuss the topic with close reference
to the text.
Content: Point 1
o Point
o Elaboration
o Example
o Opinion
 Writing the content

Write about a scene that either

makes you happy or sad.
SPM 2016
POINT. ELABORATION. EXAMPLE. OPINION.
A scene that makes me sad in the novel
is when Newt tried to cheer his mom by
wearing his brother’s old clothes.
Newt’s brother, Chris, was in the
hospital in a coma because of a terrible
tackle during the Big Game so his
mother and father had been in the
hospital looking after him. When Newt
noticed that his mom was home, and
POINT. ELABORATION. EXAMPLE. OPINION.
saw that she was sad, he asked if he
could do anything to help. His mother
replied that there was nothing he could
do. When he heard this, Newt felt
helpless and useless.
However, he suddenly had an
idea to cheer her up. His plan was to
wear Chris’ old clothes as this had
previously made her laugh so much...
POINT. ELABORATION. EXAMPLE. OPINION.
This particular scene made me sad
because it emphasised the feeling of
helplessness and uselessness that
Newt was already feeling. He was
already a nobody in school, and, it
seemed that, even in his family, he
seemed like one. So, I can empathise
with what he was feeling.
 Writing the content
Write about a scene that either
makes you happy or sad.
SPM 2016

o POINT.
o ELABORATION.
o EXAMPLE.
o OPINION.
Content: Point 2
POINT. ELABORATION. EXAMPLE. OPINION.
Use connectors for next point:
Besides that, In addition, Moreover,
Besides that, another scene that makes
me sad is when Newt prepared
breakfast but no one ate it. Newt was in
charge of preparing for his whole family.
It was the day of the Big Game, and as
usual Newt was preparing a breakfast
of eggs and sausages…
You try. Write the content.
Write about a value that is important
to one of the characters.
SPM 2017
o Point
o Elaboration
o Example
o Opinion
Concluding paragraph
o Summarise/restate why
you chose the
part/character/place/et
o State a lesson you have
learned
RESTATE. SUMMARISE. LESSON.
In conclusion, the scene that makes me sad is
when Newt wanted to make his mother laugh.
This scene made me sad because it
highlighted Newt’s feelings of uselessness and
helplessness. However, I learned that even
though you may face such negative feelings,
you should not keep thinking about them but
do something positive to overcome them.
Having good friends to support you helps, too.
You try. Write the conclusion.
Write about a value that is important
to one of the characters.
SPM 2017
o Restate your answer.
o Summarise.
o Lesson
FURTHER
PRACTICE
 How to answer
Describe one problem faced by
the main character. (SPM 2018)
o State the main character
and what the problem was.
o Describe the problem.
o Briefly describe how the
problem was overcome.