POEM (QUESTION 32)

Section D Question 32 tested the candidates understanding of lower order reading and
comprehension skills and sub-skills at production level. The candidates were required to answer
questions 32(a) 32 (b) (i) (ii) and 32c based on the poem In the midst of hardship. They were
expected to respond relevantly to the tasks and to give a personal response to the question.
GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE MARK SCHEME
On the whole, the mark scheme was comprehensive, clear, straightforward, fair and favourable
to all the candidates.
The questions 32(a) and 32(b)(i) (ii) were awarded one mark each while question 32(c) required
two answers; one mark each for the Action and Reason and the marks awarded were either
1,1, 1,0, or 0,0.
COVERAGE OF QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO CONTENT
The questions were related to the prescribed literary text taught in Form 4 and appropriate to
the level of Form 5 candidates.

RELEVANCE OF QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO THE SKILLS AND SUBJECT MATTER

LEARNT BY CANDIDATES
The questions covered what should have been studied by candidates based on the syllabus in
the Literature component. The questions were relevant to the candidates subject matter and
knowledge since they were text-based. The questions in 32 (c) provided the opportunity for the
candidates to give personal responses.

MISTAKES/WEAKNESSES OF QUESTION PAPER AND SUGGESTIONS

Questions 32(a), 32(b)(ii) and 32(c) seemed to require lower order comprehension skills as
candidates could obtain the answers directly from the text. They could lift the relevant lines to
respond to the questions. Question 32(c) was a little bit too open. Responses could be related
to the main subject matter in the poem, i.e. the idea of looking for the missing buffalo.
Responses could also be very subjective in nature requiring a personal response based on a
general situation and reaction when there is a flood. Perhaps, the item could have been more
focused.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: A COMPARISON TO THE YEAR BEFORE

The level of difficulty of the questions was slightly lower than last years. Most of the questions
needed candidates to respond to lower order reading and comprehension skills. The clarity and
well-structured question tasks were useful to garner a wide range of sensible and appropriate
answers from the candidates. The level of difficulty for the vocabulary question [Q 32b(i)]
appeared to be higher compared to the year before as many candidates did not know the
meaning of the word .
CANDIDATES PERFORMANCE: A COMPARISON TO THE YEAR BEFORE
Comparatively, the candidates performed better in Question 32 this year than last year because
candidates could lift the relevant lines from the poem when responding to three out of five
questions.

CANDIDATES PERFORMANCE ACCORDING TO THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS

ACHIEVEMENT

CANDIDATES PERFORMANCE

HIGH

A high percentage of the good candidates in this category

were able to answer all the five questions. They managed to
give accurate and logical answers for the reasons required in
32(b)(i)i and 32(c) ( reason ). As for the personal response
for 32(c), they were able to provide appropriate and
reasonable answers for the action and reason.

AVERAGE

Candidates in this category were quite capable of lifting

directly the lines concerned from the poem for the questions
which were direct in nature, for example, 32(a), 32(b) and
32(c) (action) . However, for question 32(b)(i) many
candidates could not give the correct word. As for Question
32(c), most candidates had no problem answering but their
sentences were riddled with grammatical errors.

LOW

Candidates of this category managed to get a few marks

when they somehow managed to lift the correct lines for
questions 32(a), 32(b)(ii) or 32(c). Some even lifted
mindlessly lines from the text for all the questions. Moreover,
for question 32(b)(i) candidates gave responses that had
more than one word. Responses for the personal response
question [32(c)] were poorly structured making it difficult to
make sense. Some candidates responded in Bahasa
Malaysia.