how to write good essay for spm

SPM Essay Writing Guide – Format & Examples

What is spm.

Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, or SPM, is a significant national exam that Malaysian students who have completed Form 5 education—typically at the age of 17—take. It’s crucial since it determines whether or not they can continue their education after high school and serves as a measure of their overall academic success. Writing an essay is a significant part of the SPM exam since it evaluates the test taker’s command of the English language, analytical reasoning skills, and ability to form coherent arguments.

SPM Essay Format

Excellent SPM essays may only be written by students who have a firm grasp of the proper essay format. An essay typically consists of three primary components:

1. Introduction

The introduction of an essay serves as the initial section, strategically designed to captivate the reader’s interest and provide essential contextual information for the subsequent content of the paper. The factors that contribute to the level of interest in an introduction are:

A hook: A hook is a provocative statement or query that grabs the reader’s attention.

Background context: Introduce the topic and its relevance in a brief background context.

Thesis statement: Clearly state your essay’s principal contention or goal.

The body of your essay comprises several paragraphs, each of which deals with a different aspect of your thesis or a related concept. When composing the body, adhere to the following guidelines:

Topic sentences: Each paragraph should begin with an introduction to the key concept that is succinct and straightforward.

Supporting evidence: To support your claims, offer statistics, examples, or supporting proof.

Smooth transitions: Make sure the transitions between paragraphs are reasonable, retaining the coherence of the structure.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion is the last section, where you restate your thesis and briefly review your significant points. To write a strong conclusion:

Summarise main points: Briefly summarise your main points from the body paragraphs.

Restate thesis: Rephrase your thesis statement to reinforce your main argument.

Closing thought: A provocative statement or call to action should be the closing thought.

How to Write an SPM Essay?

Essay writing is a craft that can be honed with time and focus. Write an excellent SPM essay by following this simple outline:

1. Understand the Question

To completely understand the criteria of the essay question, carefully read and consider it. Indicate the essay type (e.g., descriptive, narrative, argumentative) and the keywords that will be used.

2. Plan Your Essay

The key ideas you intend to cover in each part should be included in an outline. Planning ensures a clear essay structure and helps you organize your thoughts.

3. Start with a Strong Introduction

Write a captivating beginning that introduces the subject, establishes the mood, and expresses your thesis statement succinctly.

4. Develop the Body Paragraphs

Each paragraph should focus on a single idea, with supporting details and arguments. Make seamless transitions between ideas.

5. Craft an Impactful Conclusion

Reiterate your thesis, restate your essential points, and give the reader a thought-provoking conclusion.

SPM Essay Writing Tips

Take into account these helpful tips to improve your essay-writing abilities:

1. Read Widely

Your vocabulary and knowledge base will grow due to exposure to various reading sources, including books, newspapers, and articles.

2. Practice Regularly

Consistent writing practice improves your writing abilities and increases your comfort level while confronting various essay subjects.

3. Seek Feedback

To pinpoint areas for growth, get comments from teachers, peers, or family members.

4. Time Management

Use your time effectively during the exam to allow enough time for preparing, writing, and reviewing.

5. Grammar and Vocabulary

Pay close attention to your grammar, spelling, and language choices for your writing to remain coherent and clear.

Types of SPM Essays

SPM essays can take many forms, each requiring a different strategy. Here are a few common types:

1. Narrative Essay

It tells a tale with aspects including characters, setting, and plot, frequently from the viewpoint of the author.

2. Descriptive Essay

It uses sensory details to create a realistic image of a person, location, or event to capture the reader’s attention.

3. Argumentative Essay

Presents reasons and proof to persuade readers to take a specific stance on a hotly debated subject.

4. Expository Essay

Gives details, justifications, or analyses on a subject backed up by examples and facts.

5. Reflective Essay

Reveals one’s own feelings, thoughts, and experiences while highlighting the lessons learned from a certain incident.

SPM Essay Example for Malaysian Students

To provide you with a practical reference, here is a brief example of an SPM essay provided by Malaysian Essay Helpers :

Example Title: “The Impact of Technology on Education”

Introduction:.

The digital era has completely transformed every part of our life, including education. Classrooms have changed as a result of the growing use of digital devices and the internet, with both positive and negative effects.

Paragraph 1 (Positive Impact)

The educational process has been greatly improved by technology. Interactive instructional software and applications provide pupils with fun ways to understand difficult ideas. Additionally, e-learning platforms have made it possible to receive a degree from a distance, eliminating geographic restrictions and fostering lifelong learning.

Paragraph 2 (Negative Impact)

But there are negative consequences to using too much technology in the classroom. The decline of conventional methods of instruction may lead to a shortage of students with strong critical thinking and interpersonal skills. Additionally, the digital divide between kids from various socioeconomic origins has the potential to make educational disparities worse.

In conclusion, it is undeniable that technology has significantly influenced modern schooling. To guarantee that every student receives a well-rounded education, educators must strike a balance between tech-based instruction and conventional teaching techniques, despite the fact that technology has many benefits in terms of accessibility and learning opportunities.

For Malaysian students who want to perform well on their exams, mastering the art of SPM essay writing is essential. Students may improve their writing talents and create compelling essays highlighting their knowledge and critical thinking skills by adhering to the correct essay style, employing effective writing approaches, and practicing frequently. Remember to experiment with different essay formats to increase your writing versatility and use other people’s work as inspiration to enhance your own.

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SPM Essay Writing Guide – Format, Examples

The SPM exam is a challenging time for Malaysian students. It’s an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and skills, but it can also be confusing as the requirements are constantly changing. For example, this year there is no essay marking scheme provided by the Ministry of Education or any other official source on how essays should be assessed. This blog post will guide how to write an engaging essay that is sure to impress your teacher and get you top marks.

What is SPM?

The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, is a national examination taken by all fifth-form secondary school students in Malaysia. It was created to test what they have been learning over their course of study and aspires them for higher education opportunities abroad.

Malaysians take the SPM exam that is set and examined by a Malaysian Examinations Syndicate. This Syndicate is also known as Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia. The education system in Malaysia can be completed after passing this test, which is equivalent to O-levels at the secondary school level. It’s compulsory for those seeking tertiary education before taking it; only then will they have an idea of what field of study suits them best. The age for completion of this public examination is 18 years old and students must pass it to be eligible for higher education.

The syndicate has made Bahasa Malaysia, English (Bahasa inggeris), Islamic studies, moral studies, history, and mathematical reading a compulsion for the students.

The Islamic studies subject is a compulsion for Muslim candidates. And moral studies are compulsory for non-Muslim candidates. The science coursework is common and compulsion to all students, but you can choose your elective subjects from these core courses below:

• Arts And Health- Music education, visual arts education, and sports science knowledge.
• Language And Literature- Malay literature, English literature, Chinese language, Arabic language(advanced), Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Arabic language for communication, English for science and technology, Chinese literature, Tamil literature, French language, and Punjabi language.
• Technical And Vocational- Agricultural science, home economics, engineering drawing, mechanical engineering studies, invention, food management, fashion design, engineering technology, domestic constructions, automobile servicing, etc.
• Science and Mathematics- additional Mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, additional science, information and communication, and applied science.
• Social Science And Religion- Business, entrepreneurial studies, principles of accounting, basic economics, Islamic worldviews, AL-Quran and As-Sunnah education, bible knowledge, etc.

SPM Essay Format

SPM essay writing is divided into two parts, part A and part B

Part A- This section is where you’ll be writing an essay, a report, or a letter. You’re given 45 minutes to answer this and it’s compulsory for you as only one question will bring in 35 marks- so make sure not to skip over the questions! Your examiner may award 3/35 points for your format, 12/35 points on content, and 20 out of 35 if they think that your language (grammar) is good enough.

Part B – This is the section where you apply all your knowledge of writing skills. It’s also a place to study grammar rules and how they work. Take some time now before we dive in so that by taking this bird’s eye view of it, you’ll know what to expect from this portion of our coursework.

• You will be given five options and you have to opt for only one.
• 60 minutes will be given to students to read all the questions thoroughly and plan key points for the same.
• This part carries 50 marks.

How to Write SPM Essay

Introductory paragraph:.

• Always write general information to write an introductory paragraph.
• Write at least 6-7 sentences.
• Use proper grammar, punctuation, and correct spelling.

Body Paragraph:

• Write at least the main idea
• 3-4 supporting details
• One conclusion paragraph
• Write 40-50 words
• Use correct grammar, correct spellings, and punctuation marks

Concluding Paragraph:

• Restate all the main ideas in a brief
• Write synonyms to restate your idea

SPM Essay Writing Tips

• Read all the questions wisely, some students make mistakes while selecting the question and later regret that they could have handled the other questions with much ease.
• Must choose a topic you are familiar with.
• Plan your essay like outline/ideas/thoughts/supporting points etc.
• Write sentences of different lengths a short sentence looks better after the long one.
• Always write neat and clean must use bullet points etc.
• Pay strict attention to the length of an essay, you have to write no less than 350 words if you write less than that, then you will be penalized, also never write extend your essay from 600- to 1000 words the more you write, the more the mistakes will happen.
• Always spare 10 minutes to proofread and edit an essay.
• After opting for a topic for an essay you can either write descriptive, narrative, reflective, descriptive, argumentative/persuasive, or factual/expository), but according to my suggestion always choose a narrative essay because another one requires a lot of knowledge of current issues.

Types of SPM Essays

The types of essays in SPM are:-

• Narrative essay- To write an interesting narrative essay often needs the right ingredients – just as cooking up a plate of curry masala does. The first thing about writing such essays is one’s creative imagination; so long as they are imaginative enough and think out of their box, then any story becomes more exciting than ever.
• Descriptive essay- a descriptive essay is an essay that aims to describe one’s viewpoint of the world through observations and feelings. The goal of this type of essay is to provide a vivid portrayal of the subject to get readers excited about what they are reading.
• Factual Essay- A factual essay is a non-fiction form of writing that is typically used when discussing some point relating to science or history. Factual essays are very similar to research papers in structure and format; however, they both vary in the use of citations and footnotes.
• Reflective Essay- A reflective essay is a personal essay that focuses on the writer’s reflection about an event, experience, or topic. The goal of this type of essay is typically to think critically and deeply about something which has been experienced by the writer.
• Persuasive Essay- Persuasive essays are a common way to voice opinions and sway readers. Readers will often disagree, which is why writers need to present their point of view as persuasively as possible with evidence from research or arguments that the reader can’t refute.

Topics for SPM Essay

• Illustrate an adventurous activity that has been done recently. Describe the preparation you have done before that and how was your experience?
• Describe your College reunion of yours; explain how memorable for you it was?
• Describe the project conducted at your school and you have played the most important role, what was your experience with that?
• Should parents give freedom to children? Discuss
• Write a story about a neighbour who is very popular in your neighbourhood. Discuss the reasons that make the neighbour popular and what other residents think of the popular neighbour.
• Write a story about a young successful farmer who is very generous. End your story with: “My friends and I learned a lot, especially the meaning of generosity.”

SPM Essay Example for Malaysian Students

Schools and universities have turned to online classes during this pandemic. Your teacher asked about your experience with online classes.

In the wake of an infectious disease outbreak, Malaysia has had to change how its students are getting educated. The COVID-19 virus is spreading rapidly in schools and villages across Asia; as a result, many Malaysian children have been forced into remote learning for fear that they will come into contact with someone infected by this highly contagious pathogen. These changes force educators all over the world to switch from traditional teaching methods– instructing pupils face-to-face or via webcam–to online coursework where the distance between teacher and student is not just social but physical too. Some Malaysian kids accept these new conditions readily while others may be struggling with adapting because it’s difficult adjusting without close human interaction on a day today.

I reap the benefits of Online education, first of all, you will spend less than in traditional classrooms, you can easily communicate with your teacher, you will gain new technical skills, you can gain better self-motivation, and enjoy a broader perspective.

The demerits of Online learning are that it can cause social isolation, it also needs strong self-motivation and time management skills, lack of communication skills, preventing mischievous activity can be complicated, teacher-focused only on theoretical knowledge, not on practical, E-learning lack face to face communication.

With the unprecedented virus covid-19, safe to say that online learning is the best alternative we have now. In the future, I would opt for classroom learning it has various plus points that E-learning cannot replace.

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How to Score Essay writing for SPM English 2021

25 March 2021

7 minutes to read

• 01. Read, Read, Read for SPM Essay Writing
• 02. Understanding SPM Essay Questions and the Writing Format
• 03. Writing Tips for SPM Essay Writing
• 04. How to Answer Your SPM Essay Writing Paper
• 05. Get Help From SPM Essay Writing Expert

I believe most students often turn away from writing essays. This is the hardest part for us non-native English speakers. However, essay writing is the most common form of assessment in any subject at the school and university level. How do you think you will survive in your journey of seeking knowledge?

You will soon find out that there are even essay questions in mathematics. What? Trust me, essays will be applied across almost all disciplines. Essentially, writing an essay is one of the academic pieces to gather the writer’s point of view or simply to know the depth of understanding in certain concepts that would only suffice by an explanation.

The student would be assessed on their comprehension of the topics by assigning an essay writing task to them. But writing an essay is not hard if you know how to decode or analyze the question well.

At the end of the article, you will be able to have more confidence in your writing.

Click here for the latest English Paper marking scheme here .

Read, Read, Read for SPM Essay Writing

I know reading has never been one of the Malaysian cultures and habits. Currently, the statistics of reading in Malaysia per person is only 6 books a year. This is not a good number. However, you as a youth, the new generation of Malaysia, can change this perception.

Reading is a better way after traveling to know about the world. When you are absorbed in reading, you’ll be able to learn so many things. The only way to increase your vocabulary is through reading and seldomly through communication. You can also improve your grammar and sentence construction through reading.

If you only depend on communication, that won’t help you a lot due to the broken English that is widely used in Malaysia. Not to mention, our favorite type of English, ‘ Rojak English’ or “Manglish” . You can only obtain confidence in speaking but not the writing styles and perfect tenses.

Come and let me show you how to understand further on the SPM Latest 2021 format and tips of writing SPM Bahasa Inggeris (1119/2) Paper 2.

Understanding SPM Essay Questions and the Writing Format

All SPM examination papers are regulated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) In all examinations, reading and understanding the question’s need is very important. Most students tend to deviate from the main ideas of the question due to their lack of ability to understand the question properly.

Most questions can be divided into 3 major parts, directive words, content words, and limiting words.

Discuss the difference between two idols that you like according to the nature of work.

The bold ‘ Discuss’ is the directive or instructional word that you need to follow. Another example of directive words can be, compare and contrast, critical evaluation, reflection, discussion and etc.

The word to limit the scope is the italic ‘difference’, ‘two idols’, and ‘you like’ . The question specifically asks you to write about the particular purposes whether time, place, person, or demographic.

The content words are the underlined ‘nature of work’. This is the subject of your essay that you will need to discuss. The content word can be very narrow or broad depending on the cases.

Once you have understood the question, you will need to determine the format of the essay to be written. There are many different types of continuous writing for SPM English paper such as,

• Story with purpose
• Usually, first-person but can be the third person too
• Explain, illustrate, describe
• Written in a debate format
• Can be first person or third person
• Thoughtful, reasoning
• Describing information
• Written in the first person

Meanwhile, the format and types of directed writing for the SPM English Paper are listed below.

• Letter (Informal or formal)
• Informative letter
• Talk or speech

Writing Tips for SPM Essay Writing

Drafting for spm essay writing.

As a student, we always thought that drafting is such a waste of time. But, NO! Drafting will allow you to manage your writing well. So you will know that you have your main ideas, supporting reasons, and examples constructed well in a paragraph.

During the examination, you do not need to make a proper, colorful, and complicated draft just like you learned in class. You just need to scribble on the question paper regarding the ideas. This is when you should adopt the concept of 5 wives and a husband. Remember?

Essay Construction for SPM Essay Writing

While constructing your essay, you will need to bear in mind that you would want to reduce the mistakes and not waste time. This is why you will need to refer to the essay draft that you have made. Make sure you have a good construction of the essay complete with an introduction, main ideas, and conclusion.

You should use a simple word to construct your sentences. You can use jargon or complicated word but make sure it’s not more than 3 words. Why? This is to minimize the risk of a misunderstanding from the marker who perhaps does not know the word and you might lose some marks there. Besides, the chances for you to use it wrongly is very high too as you rarely use the word.

Next, make sure your writing is neat. This is very important not only for the examiner but also for yourself to easily spot your spelling mistakes. Moreover, take note of your grammars, especially the tenses. Make sure it is consistent.

Last but not least, DO NOT OVERWRITE your essay. Try to minimize the words that you use but exceed the word requirements. Remember the more sentences you write, the higher the chances are for you to make more mistakes. So, keep your writing minimal and you can reduce the chances of you losing more marks.

Time Management for SPM Essay Writing

You need to set a proper and reasonable time for you to complete answering your SPM Paper 2 in writing an essay. Remember that you will only have 90 minutes to answer a total of 3 questions.

• First Questions – 80 words
• Second Questions – 120 – 150 words
• Third Questions – 200-250 words

As I have said in the previous part, keep your writing minimal so as to avoid making more mistakes. So here, you have a total of 480 words (I counted the maximum words you will need to write as a buffer), and you have only 90 minutes to finish your writing.

Let us do some math.

• First Questions - 90 minutes divide by  480 and multiply with 80 = 15 minutes
• Second Questions – 90 minutes divide by 480 and multiply with 150 = 28 minutes
• Third Questions – 90 minutes divide by 480 and multiply with 250 = 47 minutes

So, from the math above, we know the allocation of the time needed to answer all three questions. However, you will also need to remember that you should always proofread your answer. Thus, you would need to spend at least 10 minutes on that.

How to Answer Your SPM Essay Writing Paper

Let me show you how to draft your essay.

Bahasa Inggeris (1119/2) - Kertas 2

Answer one of the questions 3 – 5 in this part. Make sure your writing is between 200 – 250 words with the appropriate format according to the question. Place the question number in the box at the top of the answer sheet.

Article Wanted

My School Canteen

• What types of food would you like to be served at the canteen?
• What kind of special facilities should your canteen have?
• How can you improve your school canteen?

Write us an article answering these questions.

The best article will be displayed in the school magazine.

Identify the format of the essays and how many words you should write. Then you will need to set a reasonable time to write the draft, writing and proofread (checking).

• Format: Article
• Length: 200-250 words
• Draft – 5 minutes
• Writing – 30 minutes
• Proofread – 5 minutes

Start to draft.

• Introduction: 10 % of the writing

Where is your school located,

How student like/dislike current food sold at the canteen,

Why is it important to have good food

• Main Ideas: 80 % of the writing

What kind of foods would you like to be served? Why? Who will get the benefit? Or What?

What special facilities should your canteen have? Why? How to implement it?

How can you improve your canteen? Why? Who should take charge?

• Conclusion: 10 % of the writing

Wrap up the essay. What and Why students need a good canteen and food to be served. Give a final recommendation.

Find out more on  How to Get A in SPM 2021 English .

Get Help From SPM Essay Writing Expert

If you are still confused and lack confidence in writing your essay, you can always find help from an expert. Take a look at the SPM English Format and SPM Past Papers to understand further what is the exact SPM format, SPM Example Questions, and where you can score and improve.

Besides, go and find your teacher. They are the most expert as the 2021 SPM Latest Marking Scheme shows that 3 over 4 of SPM English papers will be marked internally. Therefore, you should start to do good for your teachers!

Nonetheless, if all the above is still not enough for you, you can contact Superprof essay writing expert. All of them have excellent track of experience and high records at providing guidance to students for over a decade!

I sincerely hope that all the tips above will help you achieve a good result in your essay writing!

All the best.

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Alia Jamaludin is known as a passionate environmentalist and animal lover. By being both educator and writer, she can reach out her positive thought to almost every being on this planet.

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How many marks are deducted if didnt follow the format? For instance, we forgot to write the title for article essay for part 3 of paper 2.

this really helps me, thank you so much, may Allah bless you always for sharing the knowledge :)

thankyou for sharing this useful tips ! may allah bless you always <3

thank you for sharing this useful tips !

How to write a story, choice no 3?

thank you sharing the knowledge ❤️, its really help me. Doakan saya straight A’s

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How to Score A+ in SPM English Writing - With Sample Answers and Answering Techniques

Find out how to score in SPM English Paper 2 from a real expert. Here, you will learn the tips to study the subject, go through SPM English writing pass year analysis and learn to answer SPM English essay exam questions through practical examples.

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• 1. Paper 1 in Summary
• 2. Paper 2 - Section 1
• 3. Paper 2 - Section 2
• 4. Paper 2 - Section 3
• 5. SPM English Essay Popular Topics

About the writer

 SPM straight 10As. ATAR 81.85.

Hi, students! Welcome to here! Without any doubt, I believe you are here because you want to score an A in SPM English! From my experience, I would say, if you follow most of the tips provided below, in addition with a good grammar base and spelling, you will definitely have no problem in doing well on your English exam! Just do it and I believe you can make it successful!

Useful Documents for SPM English Examination

Here, you can find all latest SPM format, SPM exam time table, schema for SPM English, general information, etc.

Paper 1 in Summary

First and foremost, it is your PAPER 1 which is more about grammar and spelling questions.  Do more exercise on your grammar and do more reading to expand your English vocabulary. That is the only piece of advice I can tell you as I would like to focus more on the PAPER 2 which takes more marks! For your information, the total marks for PAPER 1 is 40 marks and the total marks for PAPER 2 is 60 marks.

SPM English Paper 2 - Section 1

Section 1 is about writing an e-mail which is only a short communicative message with only a limitation of 80 words . In this part, you have no choice but to do it by answering directly to the point and the suggested time is 20 minutes .

Here are some of the most important tips:

• Don’t ever miss the format, e.g. the email address, the subject, introduction, conclusion and closing part.
• For the introduction, try to be simple and interesting to attract the readers, for example: I hope you are doing well!
• Think about your main points by using 5W1H (What, Who, Where, When, Why, How) and keep the points concise.
• Do remember to make closing and signature, e.g. I am looking forward to speaking to you next time! Bye!

Example Question:

You received an email from your friend, Amanda who is planning a trip during the school holidays.

What are you doing during your school holidays? My family and I are planning a trip to Langkawi Island. You went there with your family last year, didn’t you? How was your trip? What did you do there? Are there any places we should go?

Do let me know.

This is an example question. In this question, it asks about how the trip is and some suggestions about the holidaymakers in Langkawi. Do take note that you are writing to Amanda.

Sample Answer:

To: [email protected]

Subject: A Trip to Langkawi Island.

We had so much fun there! It is suggested to take a cable car and go up to the Langkawi Sky Bridge where the view is breathtaking! Why don’t you go on an island hopping tour to Pulau Dayang Bunting? The island looks like a silhouette of a pregnant woman lying down and trying to swim in the freshwater lake there! You may visit Pulau Beras Basah and relax on the soft sandy beach! You’ll enjoy it!

THINGS TO REMEMBER!!!

• Try to be simple and easy to understand! Don’t make things complicated.
• For the sample essay above, it is not necessary to suggest or recommend so many places, a few will do.
• Be careful with grammar and spelling as this can lead you to lose marks.

SPM English Paper 2 - Section 2

Section 2 is about writing an article based on a given question.

• When writing this essay, you must take note that you need to use all the notes given and give your reasonable point of view. And, most importantly, don’t ever try to exceed the word limit.
• A 5 or 6-paragraph essay must consist of INTRODUCTION+ POINTS (3-4 paragraphs) + CONCLUSION .
• Include a title or/and write your name.
• The suggested time for the essay is 30 minutes.

You have been asked to write for your school magazine. Your article should inform the readers    about the usefulness of newspapers and the benefits people can get from reading the newspapers. You should also recommend that people make reading the newspapers a daily habit.

• A good source of information – news/ sports/ general issues/ special issues
• Improves command of the language
• Broadens general knowledge

When writing the article, you should remember to:

• Include the title
• Add details of your own to make your article more interesting

HERE is some guidelines for the essay above:

Essay Guidelines

INTRODUCTION

• State some general problem statements, e.g. Malaysians were reported to read an average of two pages per year since 2005 which is rather disappointing. Knowing how significant it will have a tendency to affect the entire nation, it is high time we should discuss the benefits of reading newspapers as well as its usefulness.

1 st POINT:

• Reading newspapers is a good source of information in terms of news, sports, general issues and international issues.
• One should prefer to get news from a more reliable source such as a newspaper.
• It keeps us informed of all the latest world events on war, economy, political issues and celebrity gossips.
• Be better equipped to form opinions on things currently happening around us.

2 nd POINT:

• It is a useful tool to enhance the command of our languages.
• Served as a reliable source to expand English vocabulary.
• One can improve English by reading passage aloud.
• Newspaper articles prompt you to think critically – to form opinions- help students to gain more linguistic confidence which will be expressed in writing and conversation.

3 rd POINT:

• It can broaden our general knowledge.
• It conveys information about politics, economy, business, trade and commerce.
• We become updated with current events locally and internationally.
• -enable one to take part in group discussions which make you feel that you belong to an enlightened society.
• In conclusion, there are many benefits people can gain from reading newspapers.
• It should be a necessity rather than an option.
• Such a habit should be inculcated from young.

SPM English Paper 2 - Section 3

Section 3 is writing one of the questions from the given choices.

• There is a word limitation of 200-250 words and students should write their essays in an appropriate style (based on their choices). The suggested time to complete the essay is around 40 minutes .
• Recently, there will be four types of questions in which they will only come out with three different types of essay as the choices for students : ARTICLE, REVIEW, NARRATIVE ESSAY & REPORT .
• Provide reasonable opinions and focus more on the quality of your writing!
• Take note of the vocab and grammar you use in which most of the time, students will lose their marks.
• Always remember!!! An essay includes INTRODUCTION + 3 POINTS + CONCLUSION . Don’t ever miss one of them!

HERE is some tips when writing essays:

Long Essay Guidelines

INTRODUCTION:

• It is better to expose the current issue or crisis that can attract the reader. Elaborate more on how the current topic has a significant effect on people/ surrounding. Hence, it is high time we should highlight …
• Sometimes, you may use idioms/ adages as your opening to make your essay more attractive! E.g. As an old adage goes, “Health is wealth” and this goes to show how vital that each and every of us should have a healthy body in which the topic we are discussing today should not be hidden from the public .
• Directly tell the reader the problem and the discussion of this topic, e.g. how can it be solved? / here is some useful tips for handling such condition./ Hence, we shall now discuss some of the reasons why we ought to …
• Don’t write too long!
• At least, you should have prepared three main points! Try to sketch your ideas out before you start writing so that you may have a clear mindset of what you are writing instead of going halfway wrong.
• Use the word connection for a better connection of your sentences: First and foremost, Next, Moreover, Furthermore, Moving on, Instead, In conclusion, Last but not least…
• Try to be formal: It is said that…/ It is always being discussed that…/ Thus, the highlighted topic provides us…/ It is said without fear of…
• Use some attractive vocabulary & idioms if you can!
• Elaborate your main points using this formula:
• Deep reason? Why again
• A little more about the discussion: using idioms/vocab to highlight it
• Conclusion for this idea
• It is said that having sufficient rest and sleep do help us maintain good health and inculcate lifelong health habits. According to a survey conducted recently, students seem to face strenuous homework and dreadful exams if they do not have enough sleep and rest, thus, they could not cope with their studies easily. Lack of sleep may lead us to lots of exposed problems, for example impairing attention. As an old adage, “Rest well for accomplishing a longer journey”. Thus, we should have enough rest and sleep in order to give us more energy to welcome a brand new day of challenge.
• The above sample might be a bit long, yet, it is perfect enough in transferring the message in a very complete way.

CONCLUSION:

• For the conclusion part, it is suggested that students should conclude once again all the points you have mentioned above. Then, adding your hope or maybe some roles of related authority like parents and school, what they can do to improve the condition.
• You may add on idioms and phrases at last as your closing to attract the reader.
• In conclusion, there are many benefits one can gain from reading newspapers and this is the reason why this habit should be inculcated from young. Thus, school should play their roles by working closely with parents to get involved in reading newspapers with their children at home for the sake of their future.

SPM English Essay Popular Topics

There are some target topics for SPM English Writing 2021:

• Covid-19 Crisis
• Stress Management
• Time Management

* For example: topics related that everything goes online in this pandemic situation and what is your opinion? E.g. online class, online business and events…

Here are some of the most important tips you should take note of in your SPM English PAPER 2 ! I hope it is useful and would be beneficial to all of you!

Wish you good luck in your SPM examinations!

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Related articles.

How to prepare an A+ SPM English story essay to memorise

by Tan Le Tian

In previous blog post , I have shared with you how I got A+ in SPM English by memorising 1 story essay. Feel free to read that article first before continue with this 😊

I have also written an ebook with my full ghost story essay I have used for my actual SPM in 2014, and and show examples on answering different titles with the essay. 😍

Since then, I received a lot of questions on how to prepare a good story essay to memorise, and how to link it to different titles. 😝

This article will try to address all of them. So please keep reading.😋

Preparing your own unique story essay

Firstly, it is not advisable for anyone to memorise others' essay directly.

Because if two students (in same region) are discovered to use the EXACT SAME ESSAY, both their marks will be penalised by examiners.

So it would be best to write your own essay to memorise.

But if you find it difficult to write your own essay, one way to prepare a unique A+ story essay is by modifying a model essay to become your own. (at least half of it should be different, to be safe)

And don't share your essay with friends haha 🤭, my teacher has warned me back then.

For good model essay, perhaps you can get from seniors who have scored well in exam.

What is the requirement of the story essay?

1. story that brings good moral value.

Any reasonable story are fine, including common ones like car crash, flood, and fire accident.

It does not necessarily need to be a ghost story, like the one I have memorised.

Ideally, the story have to bring a positive Moral Value , because it is one of the grading factor.

For example, in my essay, the main character make a mistake to steal things because of poverty. But in the end, he got punished and learned from his own mistake, and promised himself to never do it again.

2. Avoid sensitive topics in story

Also, your story should be easy to understand and neutral for a wide range of audience (regardless of age, gender, culture, race).

Because your SPM exam scripts will be sent over to other states to be marked by examiners.

You never know who will be assigned to mark your essay. So it is better to play safe and avoid any potentially risky content.

Last year, a student has sent me a story essay about a sad love story between a vampire, a werewolf and a human girl.

I find the story very interesting.

But would the story be something acceptable and understandable to an elderly examiner with age 60 years old and above?

I don't know. So, my suggestion is to avoid sensitive topics like above, and play safe with universally acceptable topics .

For example, another student has sent me a story essay about flood.

It talked about how much parents love their children, and bravely protect them in the disaster.

I would recommend this type of story. Because parents' unconditional love to their children is a universally accepted value among different audiences.

3. Flexibility of the story of essay for linking

I know some people who memorise a few story essays instead of 1 essay and in exam they just use the appropriate essay to answer the exam questions.

For me, I think memorising 1 story essay is already sufficient to link to different titles.

Because I have taken some time to make my story more flexible to different type of title (happy, sad, funny, grateful etc.)

In my story, after "I" got chased by the "ghost" until the dead end in the hospital, anything can happen next.

Depending on requirement of the exam title, the "ghost" can be anything.

For a funny story, the "ghost" can be your friend playing a prank on you.

For a friendship / hero story, your friends may be the hero that protect you from the "ghost".

For a police story, the "ghost" may be a drug addict that has lost his mind. The policeman appear and catch the "ghost" before it has a chance to harm "I".

As you can see, there are endless possibilities and anything can happen in a story.

So when preparing your story essay, do make it more flexible for different titles.

By practice linking the same essay for many different titles, you will become more creative on how the story can lead to different type of endings.

How to improve quality of story essay

Assuming now you have a story essay (by modifying a model essay or writing your own), how to improve it further?

A quick way to improve is to include creative (good) phrases for weathers, emotions and actions of your story.

You can always "copy" and "memorise" those creative phrases / sentences from other good essay, instead of coming out with something on your own.

1. Creative Phrases for Weather

Regardless of your story type, most likely you will talk about the weather to set the mood of your story.

For example, my ghost story happens on a rainy evening (to make it feel creepy).

The simple way to write is:

"Last evening, it was raining heavily..."

But instead, it could be improved with the creative phrases below:

• It was a dark and gloomy evening, the skies were covered with dark clouds. One could easily tell that it would be raining cats and dogs soon.

• Lightning zapped through the skies, brightened my sight for a short moment. I could see the face of the creature as it slowly approaching me with a big evil grin plastered on her cold pale face.

2. Creative Phrases for Emotion

Regardless of the story type, most likely the main characters will experience some kind of emotion (sad, happy, anxious, fear etc.)

As I am writing a ghost story, the primary emotion is fear/anxiety.

The simple ways to write about it is:

"I felt very very scared when the ghost appear..."

Instead, there are better phrases to describe the tense situation:

• Gut-ripping fear flashed down the length of my spine as I heard the incoming footsteps.
• It was a frightening and ghastly sight! My heart was lodged in my throat. My legs turned to lead. My mind convulsed. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to flee, but I remained frozen with tears of fear welling up in my eyes.

If your character are laughing at something foolish, the simple way to describe is:

"They laugh at his foolish action ..."

Instead, it could be enhanced with some creative phrases:

• All of us burst into uproarious laughter.
• Daniel and Danny appeared from the back of the alley while laughing their heads off at my foolish acts.

If a person is very angry, the simple way is:

"He is very very angry..."

Instead, creative phrase could be:

• His face was purple with rage.

3. Creative Phrases for Action

Regardless of your story type, there will be some common actions that the characters will likely do.

When they faced a difficult situation (flood, chased by ghost), they may scream, run or pray for their safety.

Normal way: "I hear someone scream ..."

Creative phrases:

• Out of the blue, a loud scream pierced through the air.
• "Help! Can anybody hear me?" A mighty scream ripped from my throat.

Normal way: "I pray ... "

Creative Phrases:

• I could do nothing except praying to god, hoping to receive a saviour.

Normal way: "I ran away ..."

• I ran helter-skelter out of the nursery room.

4. Ensure the essay is free of grammatical error

As you can see from the examples above, there is plenty of creative phrases you can easily apply to enhance your story essay.

I prefer to memorise those creative phrases / sentences instead of using my own words, because it helps me to reduce grammatical errors.

In a story, past tense is usually used for all the verbs, which means, "ran" should be used instead of "run".

When writing the sentences on my own, sometimes I may forgot change the verb to past tense.

But I won't go wrong by using creative phrases / sentences structure, because they are already grammatically correct.

To ensure your essay is free of grammatical error, it is important to let your teacher check through your essay before you memorise and use it for the exam.

In summary, here are the 3 important points this article aim to emphasise:

• Prepare a unique story essay that has good moral value, no sensitive topic, and flexible to link to different title
• Use more creative phrases for weather, emotion and action in story
• Ensure the essay is free of grammatical error by getting someone to check through

Thank you so much for reading till the end. 😇

Since I published this post 2 years ago, a lot of SPM students have messaged me to help review & improve their story essay 😇

So if you need some suggestion in improving your essay, feel free to message me ya 😊

I will try my best to help and answer any questions 😝

Message me via IG: letian.tan or WeChat: skyletian97 😊

I am aware that the creative phrases and examples provided in this article may be insufficient.

I have provided more examples of creative phrases in the ebook with my full ghost story essay, feel free to check that out on spmpaper.me homepage.

You can also message me and I will send the ebook to you for free ❤️☺️

Thank you once again.

If you like this article, I warmly invite you to share this with your friend 😝

Thank you so much 😊, any question on spm and further study 😳, message us on fb, and we will try our best to answer 😇, or leave a comment ☺️, 📚   more study tips.

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