The Science of GP

THESCIENCEOFGENERALPAPERAnuntoldperspective. 1

PREFACE.......................................................................................................................................3CHAPTER1:LOGIC,CONTEXT, LANGUAGE.....................................................................4SECTION1.1:WHATAMILEARNING???..........................................................................4SECTION1.2:LOGIC..............................................................................................................5SECTION1.3:APPLICATION.................................................................................................8CHAPTER2:ESSAY..................................................................................................................11SECTION2.1:FRAMEWORK...............................................................................................11SECTION2.2:ARGUMENTATION......................................................................................14CHAPTER3:COMPREHENSION..........................................................................................17SECTION3.1:SAQ................................................................................................................17SECTION3.2:SUMMARY....................................................................................................18SECTION3.3:AQ...................................................................................................................19CHAPTER4:STUDYTIPS.......................................................................................................20SECTION4.1:CONTEXT......................................................................................................20SECTION4.2:LANGUAGE..................................................................................................22SECTION4.3:THENIGHTBEFORE...................................................................................23FINALTHOUGHTS...................................................................................................................25 ByEthanChua,21S43 2

PREFACE Thisdocumentiswrittenbyaformerstudent.Andifthisreachestherightaudience,writtenbysomeonewhowasasconfusedasyouarenow.Confusedinawaymoreprofoundthanintegrationororganicchemistry.Becauseratherthanstrugglingtounderstandconcepts,westruggletofathomthenotionofthereevenbeing‘concepts’tograpplewith. GeneralPaperhaspresenteditselftomanycohortsasanamorphousbloboffactsandansweringtechniqueslooselytiedtogetherwiththeterm‘criticalthinking’.Inmyopinion,thestructureoftheGeneralPapercurriculumwasconfusinganddisjointed.Eachlessonfeltepisodic,liketherewasnogranderplananditwaseffectivelyjust1.5hoursofbeingforce-fedthenews.Then,there’stheexcruciatingfeelingofhavingsteppedoutoftheexaminationhallfeelingconfident,yetseeingsubparscoresreturnedtoyoutimeandtimeagain. I’mnotsureifthat’stheconsensusamongsttheentireSingaporepopulation,butifIhadtohazardaguess,I’dsayso. Formanyofus,GeneralPaperdoeslittletoexcite,andismerelyanothercompulsorysubject,anotherunavoidableriteofpassagewehavetotakeinordertodowellinA’Levels.Itisthesubjectthattakesupourtimetryingtoteachussomethingthatinprincipleisofimmensemeaningandimportance,butinpracticefallsshortinsomanyways. Iconsiderthatatragedy. Ifounditawastetohavebeenhurledintoyearsof‘English’andlater‘GeneralPaper’withoutevenknowingwhatIwassupposedtogetoutofit.Infact,eventuitioncentresjustfocusonindoctrinatinguswithansweringtechniquesandframeworkscateredspecificallytomeettherequirementsofthepaper.Throughallthis,I’mleftthinking,whatisthepoint? Thisdocumentwasnotwritteninmindtoconvinceyoutolovethesubject.Treatthisdocumentasanalternativeperspective,supplementingwhateverworkyouhavealreadyputintoGeneralPaper.Iwishforittobeasusefulaspossiblebecausethere’slittletimetoloveinthefuriousracethatisA’Levels.However,intellingmyperspectiveofthesubject,itwouldbeanicebonusifyouleaveviewingGeneralPaperasalittlelessbitter,andalittlemoresweet. (P.S.WhileIhighlyrecommendreadingfromstarttofinish,ifyouaren’ttoointerestedordon’thavetime,skiptowhateverchapteryouwishtoextractthemostinformationcateredtoyourneeds.However,notethatsomechaptersmaybeslightlymoreconfusingwithoutpriorknowledgefrompreviouschapters.) 3

CHAPTER1:LOGIC,CONTEXT,LANGUAGE SECTION1.1: WHATAMI LEARNING???IfIcouldattributecertainfactorstowhyGPisthebaneofsomanystudents’existence,itwouldbethefollowing:1. Expectation.2. Curriculum.3. Disinterest. Simplyput,theeducationsystemexpectsustodowellinasubjectwhichreliesheavilyonlogicalstructure, contextualknowledge,andlinguisticproficiency,whileonlyequippinguswithoneofthethree.Keepthese3termsinmind,theyareimportantandwewillbecomingbacktothemlateron. Thisbringsmetothecurriculum.GeneralPaperlessonsseemtoonlyfallundertwocategories-contentandpractice.YourGPteacheris-eithersharingsomerecenthappeningsrelatedtothetopicofthetermorgoingthroughpractices. Lastly,disinterest.Becausethecurriculumisstructuredtopicbytopic,onlyhalftheclassisinterestedatanypointintime.Thisissimplybecausepeoplelikedifferentthings,andwehavetoacceptthat.OneguycouldbedozingoffatanArtsandCulturelessonwhilethenextpersoncouldcarelessaboutthenewestadvancementsinTechnology. Allinall,youraverageGPlessonseverelyunderpreparesyouforyourpaper. WhileI’vebeenfortunateenoughtorunintolittletroubledealingwiththisparticularsubject,IcannotconfidentlysaythatIpossesssomegeneticallyendowedcreativeflairthateffortlesslyconvincesmarkersofmycompetenceinthesubject.Trustme,I’veseensomepeoplelikethisandchancesare,youhavetoo. Mystyle(ifyoucouldcallitthat)andperspectivewhenitcomestoGPisonethatisverysystematic.BeingsomethingI’vecometocomfortablyadopt,Ihopethatyoutoocanfindthesameuseoutofthiswayofthinking.Sohere’sthedeal. GeneralPaperisessentiallyappliedlogic.Itisthebasiclogicalstructureswearefamiliarwithinfoundationalmathematicsandeventhenaturalsciences,repackagedintoaforeign,almostunrecognisableform.Almost. 4

Whatyoucantakecomfortinwiththisperspectiveisthatthelogicalstructuresunderlyingtheentiretyofthepaper,fromessaytocomprehension,areverysimpleandeasilycomprehensibletoalmostanybody.Infact,whatweareactuallydoingwhenwritingessaysoransweringcomprehensionquestionsisadding,subtracting,combiningordissectingthingssuchthatwecanreachcertainconclusions. Iamconfidentthatthisview,relatingGeneralPapertosomethinglikeMathematics,isunprecedentedandevenalittlebitcontroversial.Iknowpuristswillscowlatthenotionoftakinghumanityawaybyreplacinglanguagewithnumbers.Sobeforemovingon,Iwouldliketofirstsayno,thisdoesnottakeawayfromthebeautyoflanguageandno,thiswillnotovercomplicatethings.YouhavetotrustmeonthisandacceptthisinitiallymoreformulaicwayofseeingGeneralPaper.Okaysofar?Great,let’smoveon. Sowhatareyoulearning? Whatyouarelearning,atitsverycoreishowtoexpresslogicalthoughtinword,paragraph,essayformat.ItisthisunderstandingwhichmademefeelsostronglyabouttheGeneralPapercurriculumlackingaportionwhichteacheslogic.Andsinceschooldoesn’tteachit,IwilldowhatIcantosupplementyouwithwhateverprerequisiteunderstandingIthinkwillsuffice. SECTION1.2: LOGICBeforeyoucontinueonthinkingWTFnowthere’sMathinGP,Iwouldliketoremindyouthatthefocusisnotonmathematics,butratheronlogic.Thelogicwearedealingwithinparticularhereisveryveryelementaryfirst-orderlogic.I’llgiveyouanexample: Allmenaremortal.Johnisaman.Thus,Johnismortal. Simpleenoughright?Thisisknownasasyllogism,youcangoogletofindoutmore.Butinessencewhatishappeninghereisthatthisisanexampleofaverysimplelineofthought.Here’showthatsamelineofthoughtcouldgoawry. Allmenaremortal.Mymomismortal.Thus,mymomisaman. Ignoringthecompletelyseparatedebateonwhethermymomcouldbeamanifshewantedto,youcanseehowdeceptivetheEnglishlanguageis.Itmakesyouthinkthatthisisalineofthought,whenitisactuallymorelikeaset. 5

Fig1.2.1-Setofmenandmortals. Tosay‘allmenaremortal’doesnotmeanman=mortalandviceversa,butratherthatmenfallunderthecategoryofbeingmortal.Mortalityistheoverarchingcategory,likehowitisthelargerset. Nowthatweseehowsmallerconceptscanbenestedwithinlargerconcepts,wecand