Directed writing

PAPER 1 of SPM English is largely a test of students’ writing skills. It consists of two sections– Directed Writing, which carries 35 marks, and Continuous Writing, which carries50 marks. Both these sections add up to a total of 85 marks.In this week’s article, we will start with Directed Writing. Remember that there is only onequestion on Directed Writing and that this is a compulsory question. Directed Writing, as itsname suggests, is “directed” or “guided” as points are provided. Typical questions include writinga speech/talk, a report, an article or a letter (formal or informal). Below is an analysis of thetypes of questions that have been asked in this section for the past 10 years. 

Many of you are familiar with the allotment of marks for this question — content (15marks) and language (20 marks). The marks for content include the marks for format as well.Hence, do pay attention to the formats of the different text types. The question on DirectedWriting is much easier to tackle than the one on Continuous Writing because you can easilyget the marks for content if you include all the content points provided.