Analysing Form5/SPM novel questions from 2001-2011

After many years diving in the sea with my students ,in search of the PEARLS  in “The Pearl” by John Steinback, a novel that reveals the power of hope, love and determination… we have now taken the STEPS to leave the pearls which have taught us many valuable lessons and making us feel the waves of emotions in the sea of family love and unity. Since 2011, we have to change to “Step by wicked step” by Ann Fine…do I have a choice? Very well…life needs changes, so have faith that the changes are positive ones….as we go thru it, we learn new values in life especially about appreciating the power of family love which creates joy, peace, tolerance, understanding, gratefulness, forgiveness and beauty….blooming seeds of happiness, tranquility and attachment…as this novel managed to prove that strong family relationship sustains family bond and heals all the hurting moments through sense of love, devotion and loyalty. The power of family love leads to reunion and healing in a family. Therefore, we should appreciate and love our family unconditionally and be prepared to make sacrifices  as when there is strong sense of love, there is forgiveness , patience, loyalty and devotion growing without force under the shade of genuine family love. 

As the SPM examination is getting nearer, I’ve started to analyse the step by wicked steps novel, and created some sample answers in framework form so that you can understand better/ faster/ and make great effort to answer during your SPM English paper. Please share this literature notes with anyone in need as the more we share, the more we get…..Thank you God for Your Endless Blessings….

This is part of my literature notes prepared for SPM English Seminar (for my tuition students and those who are interested to join) which I will be presenting  on the 14^th and 21^st  October, 2012 at Kajang.

Analysing Novel Questions (2001-2011):

2001   A character you like/admire (character)

2002   What important lesson did you learn? (moral value)

2003   A character you sympathies. (character)

Do you like the novel? "How I met myself"

Sharing again the edited versions of my students work. Well done!

The novel that I have chosen is “How I met Myself”, written by David A. Hill. I like this novel for certain reasons. It is because it has an interesting character who is John Taylor, 34 year old Englishman who works as a computer programmer with a computer company in Bristol, England. He is married with his Hungarian teacher, Andrea. He is a faithful and caring husband and father. The beginning of the novel was very impressive, as it is filled with mysterious moments that arouses my attention to keep on reading. The story started off interestingly when John bumped into  someone who looked exactly like him while on his way back from home. The person apologized to him and disappeared without leaving any footprints on the snow. Besides that, the flow of the novel began to create suspense as John began actively searching for his doppelganger. It was because after his encounter with his doppelganger, he felt terrified as he always have nightmares of him. Lastly, the ending was resolving as the truth was revealed. The story ends with a positive note when

The theme of family love which is portrayed through the characters in Step by Wicked Step.

Write about the theme of family love which is portrayed through the characters in the novel that you have studied.

Support your answer with close reference to the text.

[15 marks]

The novel that I have chosen to portray the theme of family love is “Step by Wicked Step” by AnneFine. This novel is regarding  five British school children from Stagfire who shared their joys, sorrows and anxieties of their family life. It all begin when they arrived ahead of their classmates for a week-long field trip at "haunted' Old Harwick Hall. In the stormy wild night, Claudia, Pixie, Robbo, Ralph and Colin find a long-abandoned secret room containing a mysterious journal with the aid of flashes of lightning. They uncover a heart rending story of Richard Clayton Harwick, who runs away from the sinister influence of a loveless stepfather. This discovery triggers off each of them to reveal and share their own engrossing, heart-rending  stories filled with hurting and healing moments way through a minefield of embittered or uncommunicative or just plain immature parents, insecure or reluctant step parents and resentful step siblings. The implied themes in this novel are revealed through the characters thoughts, speech, actions, reactions and what others say about them. Thus, based on this novel, I have chosen to write on Richard Clayton Harwick’s family members who have portrayed the theme of family love amazingly and dramatically through sense of love, devotion and loyalty.

STEP BY WICKED STEP answering technique for SPM 2012

FRAMEWORK for answering literature component/

Outline/personal response (for Question 33 of Paper 2, SPM English 1119)

1)      Introductory paragraph (paragraph 1)

-  State your novel (plus a very brief synopsis of the novel)

- State your chosen element( plot/characteristics/ setting/themes/moral values)

-  State in brief the reasons of your choice.

2)      Content paragraphs

-  Reason 1 + elaborations (paragraph 2)

R1 + E1+E1+E1

-  Reason 2 + elaborations (paragraph 3)

R2 + E2+E2+E2

-  Reason 3 + elaborations (paragraph 4)

R3 + E3+E3+E3

3)      Concluding paragraph (paragraph 5)

- Summarize/ restate the reasons on why you have chosen the part/ character/ place/etc

-  State a lesson you have learnt from the element

-  Provide any personel experiences (if any) which is closely related to the chosen element.

The Character you admire the most in David A. Hill’s novel,“How I met myself”

The  following are the novels studied in the literature component in English language.

1)      The Railway Children - Edith Nesbit

2)      Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne

3)      How I Met Myself - David A. Hill

Based on one of the novels above, choose one character that you admire the most. Write about the character that you have chosen and give reasons why you admire the character.

Selected personal responses from my Form 3 tuition students on The Character you admire the most  in  David A. Hill’s novel,“How I met myself” written based on a précised  framework outline according to the PMR requirements for the latest literature component 2012. Hope all the shared materials will benefit, ease  your understanding and help you score by God’s will.

Question : The Character you admire the most. (John Taylor)

                Based on the novel  “How I Met Myself” written by David A. Hill, the person I admire the most is John Taylor.