TIPS FOR ENGLISH SPM NOVEL

By Hjh Normala bt Hj Yusoff Sek Men Teknik Tuanku Jaafar,Seremban

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1. READ THE ENTIRE TEXT THOROUGHLY

Get the details of the events that happen in the story See the detailed flow of the story Get a clearer picture of the characters and their actions

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2. ANALYSE WHAT YOU READ

Analyse the events that happened Why it happened What lessons you learnt from the events Analyse the actions of the characters

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3. FOCUS ON THE PLOT

Events that happen in the story Characters and their characteristics Themes or main message in the story Moral values or lessons learnt from the events or actions of the characters and setting of the story
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4. WRITE NOTES OF REMINDER

Your text should not be clean Short notes will help you to focus on text evidence You should try to answer as many questions as possible The text evidence will help during revision just before the examination
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SAMPLE Q SPM 2006

Choose a character who is a very determined person a. Write about some instances that show the characters determination b. How the determination affects his/her family?

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HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION

1. Read and understand the question 2. Give what is asked- a character who is determined 3. Plan your answer draw a mind map 4. Support points with evidence taken from the novel 5. Practice makes perfect 6. Check the accuracy of your language
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SAMPLE ANSWER
BODY: a. In the novel, The Pearl written by John Steinbeck, Kino is a determined person CONTENT: What ? Plans for himself and his family Juana and Coyotito Actions go to town to sell the pearl
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Supportive Statement

Did not give up; bring home the pearl, later go to the city Shows he is a determined person Juana wanted to throw the pearl as she thought it brought evil to the family, Kino chased after her, slapped and kicked her Kino was attacked 3 times and was hny/gc/sttj badly hurt from the attack

Evidence:

Supportive Statement:
The evidence above shows how determined Kino was in protecting and keeping the pearl In doing so, he had hurt his wife and was attacked by the attackers

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b. Affects on his family

Evidence:

Kino in his determination to keep the pearl and sell it at a higher price, caused the death of Coyotito

Kino and his family were hunted by trackers who wanted the pearl. Juani hid in a cave while Kino tried to kill the trackers. Suddenly, Coyotito cried and thinking that it was the cry of the coyote, the hny/gc/sttj trackers shot at the sound and he died

Evidence :

After his house was burnt down, Kino had to run away from the village. Juana and Coyotitio went with him Kino put his family in danger when they had to run to the mountains and were hunted by the trackers Kino and his brother had to be apart because of his determination
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Effect of his determination

Kino became a violent person and not the loving person before he found the pearl Kino hit Juana when she tried to throw the pearl into the sea Kino and his family had to run away hny/gc/sttj after he left the village

Evidence :

Effect of the determination :

Evidence :

Juan Tomas agreed that Kino and his family were no longer safe in the village This is because many people were trying to steal the pearl As long as Kino stays in the village, more bad incidents would happen to him and his family
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CONCLUSION

Due to his determination, Kino had to run from his village and in the process lost everything; his dreams, his pearl and most of all Coyotito; his beloved son!
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