Essay and Letter writing, Comprehension and Summary attract greater marks in English Language Examinations than any other parts of the subject. My aim in this article is to help you understand and know the rules or guidelines for answering examination questions. So, read carefully.

Letter Solution Guidelines.

A letter is either formal or informal and all letters must have the senders address and date which can be presented in a block/indented position and maybe punctuated or open.

• Formal letters must, in addition, have a receiver’s designation, address, salutation, and heading.
• The salutation in a formal letter could be… Dear sir, Dear Madam, (with a comma after it)
• The salutation for informal letters could take different forms… Dear friend, Dear Ayo, Dearest father, My dear son etc…
• The heading of formal letters could be presented in upper or lower cases. If in upper cases, it is not underlined. However, lower cases that have only keywords in the capital letter is underlined.
• The heading must match the purpose of the writing and the content of the body of the letter.

For Informal Letters: Yours sincerely, Your sincere son, Your loving father, Your friend, Yours truly, Yours in love, Truly yours, Yours affectionate followed by your first name.

For Formal Letters:  It is always Yours faithfully, followed by your signature and your full names. Your title may be presented especially if you are representing an organization.

Essay Solution Guidelines.

Essays could be descriptive, expository, argumentative or narrative. All essays must have a heading that is presented in a conventional manner.

Descriptive Essay

A descriptive essay must be vivid and procure an exact picture of the event or object described. Always attempt to identify yourself with a presentation you create. Your full name below it is commendable.

Expository Essay

An expository essay could be introduced in various ways, you may go straight to the purpose of writing or supply an intriguing start that evokes interest. The body, just like other letters or essays must present at least three points (unless otherwise demanded by the examination) explicated in paragraphs to make your material substantial.

Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay’s focus is to persuade, influence, and convince the audience. What you stand for or against must be stated before you start. Your advocate must be convincing and could be substantiated with figures and facts available.

Narrative Essay

A narrative essay, just like those requesting the narration of a story must be in the past tense. It is better to write an event you were directly involved in or had witnessed. Animated characters are not approved in certificate awarding examinations. So, plan adequately before you write by conceiving a plot that outlines events and how they should link to make a fitting.

NOTE: The heading must match the body. If examination demands that your story ends with a particular statement, let it end as expected.

Comprehension and Summary Guidelines.

Central to effective comprehension and summary is the ability to read, comprehend what is read and be able to state the main points in a simple form.

When a prepared passage has questions to be answered, read the passage thoroughly.

• First read through including the questions.
• Read again, this time taking note of the location of solutions.
• Extract needed facts and construct their presentations.
• Answer the questions as deserved except when required, you are not to repeat words used in the passage or lift answers in the exact way they are stated in the passage.
• Construct a complete sentence.

Example:

“From the passage, list the causes of malaria?” A deserved answer would be presented like this, “The causes of malaria as stated in the passage are…”

Appraising the Size of your Material.

Examinations often demand that students write about 350 or 450 words. Examiners, like you, cannot start counting each word. What is done is to determine the number of words in a line.

Example:

If the first three lines contain 27 words, a division of this by 3 will produce 9 words per line. This is multiplied by the number of lines presented. If 10 words are written in each line, 45 lines will equal 450 words.

In script evaluation, a line is drawn across the point where the required extent is reached so that you are not penalized against the mechanical accuracy of your material. Intolerably short materials may not be free of sanction.

Check out this summary in the English Language.