Your Checklist (A whole recipe/essential ingredients)‏

Cambridge Examiner, with his own vigilant eye, will be checking how very wide range your expression holds.

Well, Story-Writing is the one and only option (No time to regurgitate all those rotten reasons. You know this well. And let this subject be no more debatable a thing.)

You need to have a ready available checklist list in your mind, on your finger tips to make sure whether you’re succeeding in inserting the following ingredients into the text:

• Use of 7/8 descriptive verbs
• Using words metaphorically/figuratively
• Use of absolute phrase
• Use of appositive
• Use of hyphenated adjective
• A couple of phrasal verbs
• Use of all-capital-letters for one or two words to show emphasis
• Use of dialogue in the story (and not excessive use of that)
• Suspense (keeping something hidden, and unleashing that gradually to keep your reader’s mind hooked up till the end.)
• An interesting twist in the mid
• A spark of humour (expressed either by using an Oxymoron or in any other way)
• Techniques to show emphasis 
• Use of varied structures for sentences
• Description of situations, feelings, emotions (which must not be excessive)
• A good choice of setting
• A striking opening as well as ending  

Humayun Mujahid

Improve your Sentence Structure

Improve your sentence structure

In O-level English Language paper, students must be aware of some common errors in sentence structure formation especially while using punctuation marks. Lack of this awareness results in sentence fragmentation and run-together errors. Here are some important guidelines to help you improve your sentence structure through accurate use of punctuations, transitional expressions and conjunctions which will make your sentence more meaningful and powerful.

Improve your sentence structure.

•  Never write two complete sentences with two complete thoughts as one sentence.

If there are two complete sentences or two main clauses present in a sentence then they should be separated by a full stop.

For example:

I bought a used table this winters from a friend at school it needed several repairs.

Here ‘I’ is the subject 1 and ‘bought’ is a verb 1 and ‘from a friend at school’ gives us the complete information of the first subject. Similarly, ‘it’ is a subject 2 and ‘needed’ is a verb 2 and ‘several repairs’ tells us something about the second subject in that sentence. Both are complete sentences/clauses with complete thoughts and thus have to be separated by a full stop. In a sentence if there are two complete thoughts or two main clauses, divide them with a full stop. Do not write them as one sentence.

I bought a used table this winters from a friend at school. It needed several repairs.

•  Separate two complete thoughts with a semi colon when the second clause is introduced with a transitional expression or conjunctive adverbs (A conjunctive adverb creates a relationship between ideas in the sentence).

Instead of a full stop, use a semi colon in a sentence to separate two main clauses. Here the two clauses should be closely related. Semi colons are often used to separate two complete sentences or clauses when the second main clause begins with a transitional word or expression (also, besides, furthermore, however, meanwhile, nevertheless, still, then, therefore, so on).

For example:

Years have passed since I came here now the house speaks of the lost past.

‘Years’ is the subject 1 and verb 1 is ‘have passed’, ‘the house’ is subject 2 and ‘covered’ is verb 2. See that both the clauses are closely related both can stand alone as a sentence. As the thoughts are connected the both clauses can be separated with a semicolon just before the transitional word ‘now’

Years have passed since I came here; now the house speaks of the lost past.

• Use a comma instead a semi colon to separate a main clause with a dependent/subordinate clause introduced with a subordinate conjunction (A subordinating conjunction only connects clauses and in doing so creates a subordinate clause).

Such sentences have two clauses. The first clause is an independent clause. The second clause is closely related to the first in explaining about the subject of the main clause. By adding a subordinate conjunction a relationship between the two clauses is made even clearer. A comma is written before a subordinate conjunction.

The bus was late Maheen missed her train connection.

‘bus’ is subject one and ‘late’ is first There is a run-together sentence here. To correct a comma, full stop or a semicolon should be added at the end of first clause followed by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so on).

This is correct but weak

The bus was late, and Maheen missed her train connection.

However, the relationship would be even clearer if a subordinating conjunction is introduced.

This is correct.

Maheen missed her train connection since her bus was late.

This is correct and improved

Because her bus was late, Maheen missed her train connection.

Some common subordinate conjunctions

To make the time of an event clear use the following subordinate conjunctions in the subordinate clause.
After	As though	since	When
Although		Though	Whenever
As	Before	Unless	While
As of	If	until
To show the cause of something use because or since in the dependent or subordinate clause

Note: If the dependent clause comes in the beginning of the sentence then add a comma after it. If it comes after the main clause, no comma is required.

How to Write an Effective Essay

Top Tips for narrative writing

Tip 1: Keep the story original. Originality of your composition will guarantee you a confirmed passing mark. The marks that you will get is very subjective – so it is the best if you write something that would not give them any excuse to give marks that varies too much between different markers. You may use some plots written by others provided that you add your own experiences in it. Also, beware of drifting too far away from the topic you are writing – that will cost you your passing mark.

Tip 2: Practice makes perfect. Practice writing a particular topic without using difficult vocabulary first – just get your main plot straight. After you have finished, get a dictionary and start substituting some words with new vocabularies (e.g. big – vast, gigantic, etc.) into your draft. You would be surprised that you have learned many new vocabularies within one practice and most importantly, use them correctly and accurately.

Tip 3: Watch your grammar and punctuations. This is very important (and many ignored this importance).

Tip 4: Do not use slang in your composition. Some markers may not understand or even heard about those slang – because they might probably be only used between your friends or within your family.

Tip 5: Watch your sentence structures too – make sure when you write, the story flows as if you are reading aloud. And also, insert paragraphing at the right places – it is better if you make the marker’s life easier, so he/she may have a good impression of you and may not penalize you badly. Like I said, the marks you get are very subjective.

Tip 6: You can add dialogue in your story, but use themsparingly. You are writing a composition, not a script for plays/movies.

Tip 7: Write a suitable opening for your composition. Don’t use openings (e.g. Describing weather) when the main storyline has no whatsoever relation to the weather (e.g. students in the classroom having lessons) unless it has some connection to it (e.g. a little girl was alone at home and a sudden boom of thunder scared her).

Tip 8: Always check your work after you are finished. Why lose little marks here and there for your carelessness?

O Level English Outcomes

Follow the link to know about the expected outcomes from O' Level English students.

Examplary Results of PAKTURK Students

In GCE O Level Examination 2011, two of the students got A* in English Language 1123. These students are Hanzala Shareef and Abuzar Mehmood. PAKTURK english Department Congratulates the students for this brilliant success.