English · Chapter 3
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
Writing carries the largest single share of marks in the Grade 12 Compulsory English paper, where free writing alone is worth around twenty-five marks. You are asked for a wide range of genres: essays, including argumentative and expository essays, formal and informal letters, emails, news stories and articles, reports and press releases, reviews of books and films, blogs, speeches, biographies, travelogues or memoirs, and a job application with a CV. Each of these is a genre with its own shape, layout and tone, and much of the mark comes from getting that format right. This chapter explains the format of every genre on the syllabus and gives a full worked model of each, so you can recognise what a question wants and produce it in the expected form. Across all genres the same habits matter: plan before you write, organise ideas into clear paragraphs, use accurate grammar and punctuation, and keep the tone right for the reader.
Before writing, spend a minute planning. Decide the main point or thesis, jot down three or four supporting ideas, and put them in a sensible order. Then write an opening that introduces the topic, a body that develops each idea in its own paragraph with reasons and examples, and a closing that rounds the piece off. After writing, read it back once for tense agreement, spelling and punctuation. Marks come from three things: the correct format for the genre, well-organised ideas linked with cohesive devices, and accurate, appropriate language. A shorter, well-shaped answer scores better than a long, rambling one.
An essay develops a topic across several paragraphs and is usually the longest task on the paper. It has three parts: an introduction that presents the topic and states your thesis, a body of two to four paragraphs each developing one idea with reasons and evidence, and a conclusion that sums up and restates the thesis in fresh words. Keep the tone formal, avoid slang, and connect paragraphs with linking words such as firstly, moreover, however, on the other hand and in conclusion. Grade 12 sets three broad kinds of essay, and the type decides how you shape the body.
An expository essay explains or informs, presenting facts and analysis in a balanced, neutral way, and is the right approach for a question such as "Discuss the causes of air pollution in cities." An argumentative essay takes a clear stand on a debatable issue, supports it with reasons and evidence, fairly acknowledges the opposing view, and then refutes it, which suits a question such as "Social media does more harm than good. Do you agree?" A descriptive or reflective essay paints a scene or explores a personal experience or idea. Whatever the type, one idea per paragraph and clear linking are what hold it together.
Model (argumentative): Should mobile phones be banned in schools?
The mobile phone has become part of everyday life, and its arrival in the classroom has sparked a sharp debate. Some argue that phones should be banned in schools altogether, while others see them as valuable learning tools. In my view, a complete ban is neither practical nor wise; what schools need is sensible regulation, not prohibition.
Those who favour a ban make a fair point. Phones distract students during lessons, tempt them to cheat in tests, and expose them to harmful content and cyberbullying. A classroom of glowing screens is hardly a place of concentration, and teachers cannot police every device at once.
Yet a total ban ignores the real benefits a phone can bring. Used well, it is a dictionary, a calculator, a library and a link to online lessons all at once, and in an emergency it lets a student reach home at once. To ban the tool because it can be misused is to blame the instrument for the user's choice.
The sensible path lies between the two positions. Schools can require phones to be switched off and stored during lessons, allow supervised use for research, and teach students the discipline of using technology responsibly. This preserves the benefits while removing the harm.
In conclusion, banning mobile phones outright treats a symptom rather than the cause. Clear rules, adult guidance and digital responsibility will serve students far better than a blanket prohibition, and will prepare them for a world in which the phone is here to stay.