2013-2016 EL TYS Discursive Exemplars

Discursive Essay – Exemplars (Based on O level papers from 2013-16) 2015 Q2: ‘The world would be a very dull place without music.’ What are your views? “And I think to myself…what a wonderful world”, Jazz legend Louis Armstrong croons the world with his classic masterpiece “What a Wonderful World”. Indeed, the world is a wonderful place to live in, with breath-taking sights, delicious cuisine and diverse peoples from unique cultures all around this blue marble. The key driving force that unites us from all different parts of the world is music -- the bridge that connects and inspires and the universal language of love, peace and all emotions. Music colours our lives -- taking us away from the routines of daily life -- and provides us an outlet to express ourselves. Firstly, music enhances our lives. Be it a boring plane ride, or our daily commutes to work from home and back, music is always there to give us a window that brings us away from painfully slow bus or car journeys that inch on a jammed highway. Humming to a soothing melody, tapping to the beat and moving in sync with a tune, music grants us such pleasures. Some people even become rappers, op eratic sopranos or popstars in the privacy of their showers, belting at the top of their lungs to the cake of soap in their hands, before shuffling routinely to the office or school. Such nuances and thrills music gives us in our life! Disco, karaoke and concerts allow us to unload our burdens and dance and sing our hearts out without a care. Additionally, classical repertoires and musicals enthral and captivate us in stunning musical numbers that relax us or floor our jaws. To immerse in music haven, a ll we need are an earpiece and our ears – of course -- and a library of thousands of songs via a mobile device are at our fingertips to relish. Indeed, music rejuvenates our spirits, touching the soul. Next, music speaks for us when our words fail. Through music, we can express our feelings to someone else through a romantic song about love and courtship. Alternatively, feelings of spite and anger can also be translated into a catchy melody – a frequent antic that Taylor Swift pulls off about her countless failed relationships with different partners. Simply put, music speaks to our emotions and speaks for us. Sing ing or playing a musical instrument transports us to the centre-stage, where we become stars – empowering us to be ourselves and not conform to being a guppy in an ocean of million fishes . When we choose to represent ourselves through music, others will be gin to relate to and understand our plight better. Using music to communicate breaks prejudices and stereotypes that hinder and obstruct who we are in society today. Therefore music is an effective platform to express ourselves. To conclude, music is something we can all enjoy, regardless of race, language or religion. Jazz, rock, pop or classical – we all have our own favourite genre to “jam’ to when we are stuck in a traffic jam. All thanks to music -- what a wonderful world this is. (499 words) Joshua Soh (4SA 2018) Edited by LSF - Good use of a popular song as Hook - List of three - Metaphors -Thesis: use of parallelism - Clear topic sentence - Metaphor - Vivid sound imagery - Show not tell - Apt vocabulary - Hyperbole -Personification in Topic Sentence -Apt example -Apt vocab -Metaphor If you could write this much for the body paragraphs, it is alright to have just two points.

Check out an effective body paragraph by Caleb Lim (4SA) Music can evoke emotions and thoughts, allowing us to better appreciate our world through these brief rides of emotion. An up -tempo pop song can provide bright sparks in our otherwise dour existence. A familiar classical tune can resonate within us and bring up emotions that would otherwise stay dormant. This is why music scores can work wonders for movies. In Hans Zimmerman’s score for ‘Dunkirk’, it evokes feelings of fear, urgency and hope. It vividly conveys the range of emotions in that movie. It is safe to say that without music, our ability to feel certain emotions is seriously hampered on the big screen. This would inadvertently make our lives duller. Music allows us to experience feel ings and new emotions, from the fear generated by the iconic two notes in ‘Jaws’ to the triumphant feeling as the ‘Star Wars’ intro music bursts to life. (144 words) Clear Topic Sentence Apt example Good Link – using different words from Topic Sentence 2016 Q4: To what extent do you agree with the idea that some teenagers lead an unhealthy lifestyle? Give reasons for your views. This can be handled with the following three topic sentences that Jerome (4S2 2018) used: 1. To begin with, teenagers are spending less time outdoors to participate in physical activities. 2. What is worse, more teenagers are frequenting fast food restaurants for their meals. 3. Above all, teenagers tend to stay up late and are not getting enough sleep. Jerome has used good transition words to show how his three points are lining up. 2016 Q2: Do you agree that we can learn from the mistakes of others or do we need to learn from our own experiences? Let’s examine the good intro and body from Jonathan Tan (4S2 2018) ‘Once bitten, twice shy’ is probably one of the few English idioms we can apply into our daily lives. We often hear extraordinary testimonies of how ordinary people learn from their mistakes and failures, rise from the ashes, and ultimately emerge much stronger. However, we just cheer and applaud after such testimonies, never really learning from their mistakes. Most times, we have to go through the tough grinding and ‘boiling water’ ourselves before we learn and emerge stronger – one day even being the ones on stage sharing our own testimonies. So, can we learn from the mistakes of others or do we need to learn from our own experiences? I concur with the latter. Firstly, when we hear of the mistakes of others and how they learned from them, we cannot exactly feel the pain and hardship they had to Hook Transition Thesis -Mixed Present and Past tenses

endure. However, when we ended up in the ditch ourselves, we could immediately feel the pain of trying to climb out of that pit, as well as the struggle and the misery that came along with it. In the end, when we finally emerged from that situation – like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon – we remembered the pain and struggle encountered very well. We would come to a resolve that we never want to go through that ever again. So when we come face to face with such a situation in the future, we will make sure that do not trip on the same step like we once did before. (135 words) - Past tense used to talk about hypothetical situation -Future tense Let us examine an effective conclusion from Stanley (4SA 2018) The more cynical amongst us may opine that humans will never be rid of our basic, primal and unreasonable instincts. However, I beg to differ. We can learn much from the mistakes of others – from knowledge to words to everything in between. We only need to accept that everyone has weaknesses and that mistakes are a part of life. After all, to err is human but to forgive them and learn from their follies – in my opinion – is divine. (78 words) Saying from Alexander Pope 2015 Q3: ‘Shoppers have too much to choose, from chocolate bars to jeans.’ What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantage