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Essay writing is of particular importance in the learning of English Language. As pupils write their essays many language errors are exposed. Many pupils have good ideas for their answers but go on to spoil them with gross language errors. They mix up tenses. Spelling mistakes are exposed in those answers. Some pupils confuse words like there and their, where and were. You are not surprised to come across sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and single words divided into two.
Some capitalise words in the middle of sentences, yet there are clear rules relating to capital letters. For example, these are used in the beginning of sentences and in proper nouns to mention but a few. Paragraphing is another weak area exhibited by pupils.
This has been discussed before on these pages, that a paragraph marks a new idea. When you introduce a new idea in your writing start a new paragraph.
Properly use punctuation marks no matter how small they are. A case in point is that pupils often leave out the full stop, apostrophe, or comma in their writing. These bits of writing appear insignificant in writing but they are very valuable in the loss of marks. They make a difference in the grades one achieves at the end of it all.
Previously we discussed descriptive essays to a certain point. Just as a recap here are some sample topics for descriptive essays: The accident, My family, My best friend, An exciting wedding, The Most interesting Person I Ever Met, and many more. Try any one of these using the given guidelines. Let us briefly look at narrative essays. Many people assume that narrative essays are easier to write than other types of essays.
But do they understand what narrative essays are? Narrative essays tell a story, either real or imagined. They may be told in either the first (I/We) or third (she/he/they) person. The simple past tense is often used in the telling, and the present tense in speech is used in the story. Remember in speech on your story, every new speaker begins a new line. To verify this, open your favourite novel just now and see how this is done.
How are narratives constructed? Narratives usually follow the order of events in which they happen. Sometimes, however, we are told the narrator will use the flashback technique. This means that the writer begins with the final scene, and then goes back to the beginning to explain how the dramatic ending was arrived at. Pupils you need to sit on your teachers to deal in depth with this technique. There is nothing wrong with asking your teachers. They are there to be bothered by you. Pupils who ask a lot of pertinent questions help many understand the subject under discussion.
Learning involves an exchange of ideas. A lively class is one that partakes in class discussions. Such a class is not a burden to the mentor. But how does a class effectively participate in learning? This comes about as a result of thorough preparation before class. Read before going to class so that you are not a passive listener.
Moving on with our subject, we are told that there are six key elements to narrative stories. The first is the setting. This is where the story takes place. For example, Charles Mungoshi’s novel, Waiting for the Rain, takes place in a rural area even though one character Lucifer travels from the city and is happy to be leaving his home for better places. He looks at his are through the eye of a tourist. He is no longer part of it going to the extent of saying he was born there against his will. He questions nature. Both place and time are important in our understanding of the novel.
Your story needs characters. There is no story without a character. However, experts will tell you that there is some confusion over the word character because it also means personality. A character in a story is a person, who also has a character (personality). There are three main types of characters (people) in a story. The main character(s). This is the person (or people) about whom the story is written and whose development we follow with the most interest.
Minor characters: These are the people the main characters meet, and whose personality is not fully developed. They mostly present the main character with some problem or help us to know more about him. Some of the minor characters may be stock characters, people about whom we make general assumptions, and these assumptions are never challenged. For example, the madman, the village drunk, the gossiping woman the tsotsi, or the prostitute.
There is also the narrator. How much does the narrator intrude into the story? Often the narrator does not take part in the story, is distant, and appears to know everything but never appears. At times the narrator is a character in the story and his personality and values become clear to the reader.
There are some ideas not included in this discussion about narrative essays but will be tackled in the next episode. For views link with [email protected] or sms to 0772113207.
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