English: Short Story and Section

CXC CSEC English A exam - Paper 2 exam topics This paper contains eight (8) questions in four (4) sections

Section A |
Section A: Summary writing This section is made up of one compulsory question. In this section, you have to write a summary of a given passage or report. (There is no choice here, you have to answer the only question in this section.) You will be given a passage or report and asked to write a summary of it. The paper 2 directions state that in this section you must write in "continuous prose", that is, you must write using paragraphs. You MUST NOT write using note form. Also, after the allotted number of words, anything you write will not be assessed.
Here are samples of the type of summary questions that were set in CXC English A past papers. Section B |

Section B: Reading comprehension

This section consists of two compulsory short answer reading comprehension questions. (Again there is no choice here, you have to answer both of the questions in this section). Each question is made up of a reading passage and 7-8 questions on the passage. You must answer all the questions on each reading passage.
Here are samples of the type of reading comprehension questions that have been set in CXC English A past papers.

Section C |
Section C: Short story writing/Descriptive writing This section is made up of three questions. They include two short story essays - one with a picture and one without - and a descriptive essay.(You must choose one question to answer). The paper 2 exam states that your answer in this section should be approximately 400-450 words in length and you must write in standard english, although you may use dialect in conversations. Here are samples of the type of short story questions that have been set in CXC English A past papers. Here are the short stories that have won the CXC short story awards.

Section D |
Section D: Persuasive writing This section is made up of two persuasive essay questions. Your answer is usually required to be in the form of either an informal letter to a friend, a formal letter to an official, a speech, presentation or an essay. (You must choose one question to answer). The paper 2 exam states that your answer in this section should be approximately 250-300 words in length and you must write in standard english. Here are samples of the type of persuasive essay questions that have been set in CXC Engliah A past papers. You must answer five (5) out of the eight (8) questions on this paper in order to pass the CXC English A exam.

Okay people as an English Language teacher in the fourth and fifth forms generally I give my students this rule of thumb. When tackling the CXC Exam, the only section of the exam in which the word count is strictly adhered to is section one -the summary writing question. For the short story/ descriptive essay and the argumentative essay students are given free rein to express themselves, particularly in the short story section where imagination is supposed to come into play.The word limit is really intended to keep students within a time frame. It is estimated that students should be able to write a well-formatted short story within 35 minutes. However, there are students that are capable of thinking quickly and writing even faster, therefore, these students are able to write 900 word stories and still have time left over to complete the remainder of the exam. Rule of thumb, read, read, read. Polish your story writing skills and let your imagination go. Students who enjoy reading are the ones who score top marks in the English Language exam.