LETTERS AND ESSAYS
This is a very important part of paper one in the SSCE and related
examinations. This explains why it carries a whopping mark (50 Marks).
Regrettably enough, many candidates find it difficult to score up to half
of the marks in their letters and essays.
The question then is: are there no solutions to this seemingly
impossible task? The answer to this question is obviously yes!
This chapter will help to equip the candidates with the necessary
skills that will help them to beef up their marks. It is my sincere belief
that an average candidate can score good marks if the candidate knows
what the examiner expects from him in any given question.
In order to achieve my desired goal of transferring candidates from
the kingdom of darkness' (failure) to the 'kingdom of light (success), I
intend to draw up an outline of relevant subtopics and treat them
sequentially. These topics are:
A General Guidelines
Aspects of Letters and Essays
Types of Letters and Essays
Letters
Formal Letters
Semi- Formal Letters
Informal Letters
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Your letter or essay should not be less than 450 words or far
it. To calculate the number of words you have written, take the average words you write per line and multiply it by the number of lines you have written. The chart below should be your guide
Length Assessment (450 words).Generally, your letter or essay should be about 3 passages long
particularly if you write between six and seven words per line
If the language of a question is not clear to you, or you are not
sure of what the examiner expects from you or the question is one
that requires the use of technical terms, do not answer that
question
When given an indefinite question, you are required to write a
minimum of three points. An indefinite question is one in which the
number of points the candidate is expected to write is not stated.
example.
Write a letter to your brother in the United Kingdom telling him
about some of the happy events that have taken place in your family
Read good essay books and adopt the style, method or pattern of
writing of the writers but do not copy their work even when writing
a similar or same topic. You are required to be original in your
approach The positive skills you can acquire from good writers
include: creative imagination, the use of rhetorical questions, giving
an outline of points and treating them in turn; how to introduce,
develop and conclude different types of letters and essays among others.
Your points should be striking. Do not start writing a letter or essay
until you have thought of good points that are capable of arousing
the interest of the examiners. When your points are striking the
examiner may not notice that you 'ailed to cross your t's and dot
your i's.
Note: The fact that your points should be striking does not mean
that they should be exaggerated or larger than life.
Make judicious use of figurative expressions particularly in essays
The use of figures of speech, proverbs, adage, quotable quotes
among others help to add beauty to one's essay. However, do not
drag them in unnecessarily because doing so will achieve a contrary
result.
Always make an outline of the points you intend to use, before
writing a letter or essay. This will check the possibility of forgetting
a very important point. Again, it will boost your mark under
organization.
Remember to read your essay or letter and make necessary
corrections. If you fail to correct your errors, the examiners will do
that for you but you will pay a handsome price for that.
I strongly advise that your letter or essay should be written last.
This is because the first 15 to 20 minutes of any examination is
usually 'tension soaked'. If you start writing a letter or essay this
time you will make unpardonable mistakes.
Note: This is strictly a personal advice and does not in any way
suggest that a candidate who writes his or her letter or essay first
will fail.
ASPECTS OF LETTERS AND ESSAYS
Marks are usually awarded for different aspects of letter, article or
essay. These aspects are:
1. Content
2. Organization
3. Expression
4. Mechanical/Accuracy
Total
50 marks
This will help the candidate to know what the examiner expects from
him under each heading.
An attempt will be made to discuss each of these aspects in turn.
CONTENT
This will assess.
Whether your ideas are relevant to the central theme and how well you develop them i.e. whether your points relate to the topic you are given. when given an indefinite 450 words,
Whether you wrote up to the required number of words.
ORGANIZATION
This will assess:
How well you introduce your letter or essay.
How well you arranged your points i.e.
1 whether your points
are sequential.
2 Whether your paragraphs are well linked or arranged in a
disorganized or disorderly manner.
Note: It is important that you draw up an outline and possibly
rearrange the points (making sure that you are not bringing what
should come last first and vice versa) before writing the letter or
essay.
Whether your letter or essay is given a suitable conclusion.
EXPRESSION
The positive qualities that examiners look for under expression
include:
1 Good control of the English Language.
2 Judicious and imaginative use of figurative expression. As
stated earlier, the use of idioms, proverbs, adage and so on,
help to add beauty to your writing.
3The use of appropriate words and how well they collocate
4 Sophisticated use of punctuation.
PUNCTUATION ERRORS
The following errors are usually ringed:
The use of a small letter for the personal pronoun 'she' should
always be written in capital letter no matter it's position in the
sentence, provided it is standing alone), the use of a small
letter at the beginning of a sentence or a proper noun.
The wrong use or omission of punctuation marks like the
exclamation mark; the inverted comma; the full stop; the
question mark.
Note: Both single and double quotation marks (inverted
commas) are accepted provide the user is consistent in the
one he has chosen to use. Note also that single quotes is British
while double quotes is American.
Failure to use a comma to separate items in a list of words
phrases or clauses; using a comma between adjective and
noun, verb and adverb; subject and verb; subject and object,
verb and complement etc.
Note: To avoid making mistakes in the use of punctuation
marks, study and master the various punctuation marks and
their uses.
SPELLING ERRORS
Each spelling mistake is usually ringed but a repetition of the same
spelling error is usually not ringed. Examiners accept both American
and British spellings provided the candidate is consistent in his use
of American spelling or the British spelling.
Note: Do not use a word you know you can't spell correctly.
TYPES OF LETTERS AND ESSAYS
Most of the essays, articles or letters that are given in the SSCE
and similar examinations come in any of the following forms:
Discussions
Narrations
Descriptions
Arguments or Debates
Expository
These will be discussed in turn.
DISCUSSIONS
How to identify it
Any question that asks for the causes, or effects or the solutions
to a problem calls for a discussion.
If a topic does not expressly ask for the causes, effects or
solutions but cannot be treated without talking about the causes
or the effects or solutions, that topic will be one that calls for a
discussion.
A discussion usually takes one of the following forms:
General Discussions
1.
A question that does not specifically restrict you to an aspect of
a discussion (causes, effects or solutions) is a general discussion.
In these types of discussions equal attention should be given to all
the aspects example. You have been invited to participate in an essay
competition and the topic is 'Inflation in my country. Write your
entry.
1 Questions that call for only the causes of a problem example. Write
an article for publication in a National Newspaper on some of the
causes of the yearly mass failure in public examinations.
2. Questions that call for only the effects of a problem example. Write
an essay on: The effects of drug abuse on the People of my country
3. Questions that call for only the solutions to a problem example.
Write a letter to the Minister of Education suggesting ways
of checking examination malpractice in Nigeria.
4. Questions that combine any two of causes, effects and solutions
example.
5. Write an article for publication in a foreign magazine on some of the
causes of infant mortality and the probable solutions to the problem.
Note: Although all the questions above call for discussions, the steps
to be followed will be different. Therefore, we shall take the forms
of a discussion one after the other and the steps to be taken in each
EXPOSITORY ESSAY
There is a thin line between descriptive essays and expository
essays. While a descriptive essay requires the writer to describe a
particular thing and stop there, the expository essay places on the writer a
more heavy task of giving a full explanation of the thing in question so that
the reader is left with no doubt about what distinguishes the particular
topic from other types.
Perhaps the distinction between descriptive and expository essays Will
be made clearer by looking at the following essay topics
Write an essay on The Traditional Marriage Ceremony of my elder
sister
Here, the writer is restricted to the description of how a particular
traditional marriage ceremony was organized and nothing more.
Therefore, the topic is clearly a descriptive essay.
Write an essay on Traditional Marriages in Nigeria'
Here, the writer is not restricted to the Traditional Marriage he has
witnessed before but traditional marriages generally. The writer is
required to tell what one can find in every traditional marriage. This
topic is therefore an expository essay.
LETTER WRITING
There are three main types of letters
Formal Letters
Informal Letters
Semi-formal Letters
These will be discussed in turn:
FORMAL LETTER
This is also called a business or an official letter. This includes letters
to the press; application for employment; letters to a Minister; Governor
Chairman or Councilor of Local Government, Chairman, PTA of a school
centers. In a nutshell, any letter written to any person for office or business
reason is a Formal Letter.
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