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Elliot Ziwira Senior Writer
This is the last part in our summary writing task in preparation for the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) English Language syllabus 1122/2.
As has been discussed in the last instalment, the Cambridge syllabus 0500 also follows a similar scope, though it varies now and again. The Cambridge 1123 syllabus, however, follows a different scope as the question will be divided into two parts.
Since summarising is a life skill not only confined to your study of English Language in preparation for examinations, you should learn to pick out opportunity from experience, grain from chaff and honey from bile.
Steps to follow
This instalment is a continuation of the steps you should follow so as to sharpen your summary writing skills. If you missed the first part visit The Herald website and look it up.
· Read the passage underlining the main points: Now read the passage within your boundary, underlining key points and numbering them. Do not underline in textbooks. You can use a faint pencil to underline, or you can write them on a separate piece of paper provided.
NB: Please take note of this; for the ZIMSEC syllabus it is not necessary to use your own words (Cambridge 1123/0500, insists on this) because you are likely to lose the points. Therefore, you should pick them as they are given.
Your points should be free of elaborations, examples, explanations and direct speech. Your tenses should be consistent. Try to pick more than 15 points.
· Make sure there is a subject and a verb in your points: Every point that you underline should have a subject and a verb, as this will help you to pick relevant points. Assuming that the question is about Nicole’s feelings, thoughts and actions, the subject is Nicole and not Munashe or Tariro, which means whatever is not related to her is irrelevant. The feelings, thoughts and actions are the verbs. Note also that this question is divided into three parts. In some cases a question may have more than one subject, and in such instances you should not mix them up. You may also be asked to imagine yourself as Nicole, the narrator or the writer, which means you substitute Nicole or the pronoun she for “I” and the verbs will remain the same.
· Link your points in continuous writing in a rough draft: Time permitting, it is important to write a rough draft first. The space provided in your answer script may be inadequate, so you should ask for separate blank sheets. If it is not an examination you should write your draft in your exercise book. You may have been told that you should link your points using conjunctions, but this may expose you to grammatical mistakes, and besides it wastes words. If you decide to use these discourse markers (conjunctions) like however, furthermore, moreover, meanwhile, notwithstanding, although, despite, whereas and many more, you should bear in mind that they should be followed by a comma, immediately or at the break of the contrast. When linking points simply use capital letters and full stops to separate them, so that you do not make mistakes. DO NOT use conjunctions, especially those you are unfamiliar with. You may join two points using “and” and no more.
· Count the number of words used in the rough draft: Now count the number of words used and check for any grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. If your draft is more than the required 160 words, reduce them through careful editing.
· Write your final draft and cancel out the rough draft: You should write your final draft before you cancel out the rough one, because you may run out of time. Your final draft should be free of any errors discussed above. Make sure that your final draft is within the required number of words. It should not be more than 160 words and it should not be less than 126 words if you are aiming for 20 marks. Indicate the number of words used in brackets.
Awarding of marks
Marks are awarded as follows: 15 marks for points and five marks for mechanical accuracy. For every correct point you will be awarded a mark up to a total of 15. The mechanical accuracy mark is awarded based on the number of words used on a sliding scale. However, you lose ½ a mark for every grammatical, spelling, tense or punctuation error up to 10. Which means if you make 10 mistakes then you lose the five marks on mechanical accuracy, but your points still score regardless of the errors as long as they are clear.
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