Okay, here we go. May, June 2018. So we're scrolling past section A. I did this summary, I think, yesterday in another session. Scrolling past summary.
Not looking at summary right now. We looked at summary two days ago. Scrolling past section B. Okay, this is where we are.
Section C. So let's do a quick overview of section C and what... they are looking for first thing suggested time 45 minutes that's a lot of time compared to that's more time than we get for the other sections and that's because you're going to be writing uh a lot of words basically 400 to 450 words that's that's a longer piece of writing than we do anywhere else on the paper right 400 to 450 words It says approximately, which means if you go a little under 400 or a little over 450, you should be fine. It says approximately 400 to 450. Of course, you want the aim to be in the middle, right? And it's better to be over than under.
Better to have 480 words than 380 words. Aside from this summary, it's better to go a little bit over than to go a little bit under the suggested word limit. There may be more space than you need.
I find that there is just enough space. That's what I find. And there's going to be a blank page. And we are going to make notes.
I'm going to show you how to plan your story and how to make the best of that blank space. All right. So you must write in standard English. So your story.
this is an english exam your story will be in english that should should be obvious they shouldn't need to state that however dialect may be used in conversation so if you want to add in your your local dialect for me if i want to add the jamaican creole patwa i can add that in conversation patwa in conversation but i cannot add the patwa in the narration of the text all So only if someone is speaking can I step out of English. That's the only time non-English text is allowed in the story if someone is speaking. That's why they say conversation.
Another word for conversation is a dialogue which you're going to put in your quotation marks. Alright, in your answer you will be assessed based on how well you do four things. First, use the stimulus provided. So let's talk about the stimuli. On the exam, the trend is you're going to have two options.
You're going to make a choice between a picture, write a story based on the picture below, and that's your stimulus. You're going to judge on how well you use it. Or you can choose to use a piece of text. For example. this text here they could feel the angry eyes piercing their backs and then the door slammed blah blah blah write a story which includes these words so these words can be at the beginning middle or end whichever prompt you choose csec is going to grade you is going to judge how well you use the stimulus now what do we mean by how well you use the stimulus it means if you choose the picture actually we're gonna i'm gonna show you a story i wrote based on this picture If you choose the picture, there are some elements that must be included in a story.
This guy must be in a story. You cannot write a story without this guy if you choose this picture, right? Obviously, you're going to take this hint.
It says amount due. So this story is going to involve someone stressing over money. That has to be a part of the story. It has to be a central part of the story. It's not something you can just throw in at the end.
Oh, yeah, I forgot about the stimulus. Let me just write. And he was stressed about money. No, the story has to feature this as an important plot point. Right.
We see here that he is in an apartment against a sink. The picture is quite shoddy. The pictures are usually blurry or vague, you know, difficult to make out. That's how C-Sec likes it. perhaps the ambiguity in the pictures call for more imagination or more you know more variations in what in what students might write so he's in a house you can see a sink behind him we see what might be dishes or condiments i don't know that looks like a stove and we see he's stressed you can see that his hands are on his head and there are lots of bills perhaps it looks like an on an open envelope and here we see amount due so there are there are gonna be a number of uh a number of elements that we must include if we choose this particular picture and whatever picture you choose they're going to have aspects that you must include.
So you're not going to be writing a story about a story that takes place in a forest or some ancient fantastical world, right? Because that is not the setting here. The prompt is going to establish perhaps character, setting, possible conflict and stuff like that. So keep these things in mind when you choose a prompt. The point is, you have to use the stimulus well, and you can't just leave it as an afterthought.
after you've written a story. The second thing CSEC is going to be judging you on is how you develop and organize the content of your writing. What do I mean by this? This is a story we're writing and whatever piece of writing you're undertaking, whether it's section A, section B, section C, or section D, there's going to be organization and development to consider, right?
Development In terms of a story, we're talking about how the plot unfolds, how one event logically leads to the next. And your paragraph development is going to be pushing the plot development, right? Organization, things must be written in a logical way, must be organized properly so that I read, I can follow a story and understand what's happening. I'm going to explain and demonstrate as I go, right? uh point c here use language appropriate to your audience purpose and content so basically your language style should match not just the story but the academic level at which you're writing which is uh you know a pre-university level you're finishing up high school so you shouldn't sound like you're writing a a bit a children's story a basic school story Even if the story itself has a simple plot, your language should appropriately fit both the story and the level of writing that you're undertaking, which is a CSEC level kind of writing.
And we're going to perhaps get a little bit more into audience and purpose as we go in, as we go on. And D, use appropriate grammar. Yeah, we see this for every section, right?
Your grammar should be on point. You shouldn't be making silly mistakes at this point. You're probably in fourth or fifth form, you know, most of you. So your grammar should be on point.
They're expecting perfect grammar or near perfect grammar. Your sentence structures. Now, in a story, it's not just about correct sentence structures. It's also about varied and interesting sentence structures.
So it means not all our sentences will look the same. Not all of them will be the same length. Not all of them will have the same structure and type of wording.
You're going to have to vary it because you're writing a story. So you reach some action scenes and you want to drop some fast-paced action. You use short, quick, potent sentences. You're moving into description and you want to slow down the pace.
You use longer sentences, perhaps with different types of vocabulary. So you are controlling the pacing and the mood of a story with the sentence structure and the diction, right? Paragraphs, of course, you're writing in continuous prose.
Your paragraphs should make sense. Each paragraph deals with a new scene or a main idea in your story. And of course, the vocabulary should be at CSEC level. So you should be throwing in some of the more advanced, some of the fancier language. as you write at this level.
Spelling and punctuation, that's self-explanatory. So punctuation, story writing is where a lot of students lose marks of punctuation because how you punctuate is a little bit unique to the genre. And I'm going to show you how to punctuate a story properly. All right, so that's what CSEC is looking for.