AS Level English – Paper 1, Passages for Comment
An Introduction
1.
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4.
Getting started
Genre – This refers to the type of writing, e.g. Advertisement, Travel, Biography, etc.
Tone – Refers to the way an author communicates his feelings to the reader, e.g.
Persuasive, Inspiring, Informative, etc.
Purpose – Refers to the intentions of the author. To persuade, to inform, to
entertain, etc.
Audience – The reader(s). The author needs to keep the audience in mind to
communicate his purpose effectively. Tourists, Students, General readers, etc.
Language Features
1. Vocabulary (use of words and their purpose)
2. Figures of Speech (simile, personification, metaphor, etc.)
3. Structure (punctuation, grammar, paragraphing, sentences, etc.)
Quoting words/phrases:
1. Look for parts of speech that may be widely used in the passage – e.g. verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, etc. and determine what purpose they serve.
2. Figures of speech and their purpose.
3. How the tone succeeds in achieving the purpose.
4. Scan the passage by paragraphs, but do not pick up words/phrases line by line. Focus
on the most important ones only.
5. Do not give too much importance to the content by reproducing the events. Focus
on language features and write how they create effects.
Example paragraph
Dozens of huge, illuminated gates herald a lively festival spirit as I enter Little India. My arrival in
Singapore coincides with Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights to mark the victory of Good over
Evil. Getting down the taxi just before the Serangoon Road, I stroll along the flower and souvenir
shops. The hanging flower garlands seem to epitomise femininity through their red and yellow and
green and white-hued petals smiling in symmetrical texture. Their bloomy scent wafts in the air as
though a temple festival or a wedding extravaganza were beckoning me from somewhere in Tamil
Nadu in India.
Have you already identified the genre? We may call it a Travelogue.
Pramod Kanakath
Analysis of the Paragraph
Dozens of huge, illuminated gates herald a lively festival spirit as I enter Little India. My arrival in
Singapore coincides with Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights to mark the victory of Good over Evil.
Getting down the taxi just before the Serangoon Road, I stroll along the flower and souvenir shops.
The hanging flower garlands seem to epitomise femininity through their red and yellow and green
and white-hued petals smiling in symmetrical texture. Their bloomy scent wafts in the air as though
a temple festival or a wedding extravaganza were beckoning me from somewhere in Tamil Nadu in
India.
Tips on commenting on language features:
herald a lively festival spirit – notice the use of the verb ‘herald’ which connotes something of
royal importance to be experienced by a whole community.
epitomise femininity – a hyperbole through which the speaker tries to let out his personal feeling
and give us an idea that garlands are associated with females.
smiling in symmetrical texture – the flowers are personified to create an impression of a line of
boys or girls smiling to welcome you.
Beckoning – a nostalgic touch is created by the personification here. The writer is reminded of an
event that is of personal importance to him.
Sample Answer for Comment:
This paragraph lays out the writer’s walking tour experience in Singapore with cultural connotations.
The author nostalgically smells a facet of India. The verb ‘herald’ gives the festival a royal touch that
everyone looks forward to. As the writer walks along, he is charmed by the garlands’ appearance
and the hyperbole ‘epitomise femininity’ lets out a personal feeling and gives us an idea how much
garlands and flowers are associated with females . This is further illustrated by a personification in
‘smiling in symmetrical texture’ to create an impression of a line of boys or girls smiling to welcome
you. There is a feeling of nostalgia when the writer is reminded of ‘Tamil Nadu’, ‘beckoning’,
implying something very personal.
Pramod Kanakath
The structure of your comments – Some tips
While commenting on a piece you need to follow a proper structure that is free from:
a. Repetitive words and phrases (such as ‘this phrase means that’, ‘the writer tries to say’, ‘the
use of personification’, etc.)
e.g. ‘delving deep’, this phrase means that Joe wanted to go deep into the subject. This can
be better written as – Joe wanted to research into the subject to find more about it as he is
‘delving deep’ into it.
b. Pointing out figures of speech without explanations and their effects.
e.g. In ‘the wind was a beast’, personification is used to create effects. This can be written as
– The personification of wind with an unusual comparison to a beast helps us realise the
intensity of the situation caused by the terrible weather.
c. Too many general comments such as ‘the reader feels that he is there’, ‘the readers are
carried along with the writer’s emotions’, etc. Such sentences should be replaced with more
specific comments on the effects.
In the next page you may read the full article. Comment on the style and language in the space
given.
Pramod Kanakath
Little India – a Singapore Vignette
Dozens of huge, illuminated gates herald a lively festival spirit as I enter Little India. My arrival in
Singapore coincides with Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights to mark the victory of Good over Evil.
Getting down the taxi just before the Serangoon Road, I stroll along the flower and souvenir shops.
The hanging flower garlands seem to epitomise femininity through their red and yellow and green
and white-hued petals smiling in symmetrical texture. Their bloomy scent wafts in the air as though
a temple festival or a wedding extravaganza were beckoning me from somewhere in Tamil Nadu in
India.
“Offerings, sir, for Mariamman? We have all varieties”. Just watching them pleased me enough.
Stepping a bit further, it blends with the nostril-teasing Paper Masala Dosa (extra long Indian crepe
made out of rice and lentil, stuffed with potatoes and beans curry) smell steaming its way out from
Komalas. Restaurants are plenty, offering south and north Indian cuisines abundant in spice and
colours. One cannot miss the curry flavor in any dish they taste.
“Enna venum, sir?”, the dusky waiter asks me for my order, thinking I’m fluent in Tamil.
“One Paper Masala Dosa please”.
Tantalised, I savour it with whitish coconut chutney, reddish onion chutney and yellowish sambar
(stew of spicy lentils with carrots and lady’s fingers).
Bangles next door beam more colours in their own circular glitter. Scenes of Kollywood (Tamil
Cinema) where rustic heroines tap their bangle-swathed hands in dance sequences clear up in my
mind. The colours are myriad and mesmerising. Placed randomly on top of each other in large
baskets, they hold price tags humbly offering each set for 5 Singapore Dollars. Bindis (decorative
mark on women’s forehead) boast innovative designs that help women emulate the stars in
appearance.
The Mariamman Kovil (temple) with its colourful sculptures engraved on the Gopura (the entrance
tower) re-emphasises the illusion that I am in Tamil Nadu. A walk along a street in Chennai will not
be much different from what I do here in Serangoon Road. The Gopura is a picture of religious
opulence with the sculptures depicting episodes from Hindu epics. There are colours in Gods and
demons too, from white to blue, to yellow and other bizarre shades. The rivals are seen brandishing
weapons in their might, some using animals like lions and horses as their vehicles.
Close by the temple, Mustafa Centre offers things A-Z at cheap prices, attracting all classes of
customers. From fans to furniture, goods abound, in many colours too.
Pramod Kanakath
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Pramod Kanakath
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Pramod Kanakath
Pramod Kanakath