2016 SASS EL Prelims P1 SectC w Ans

St Andrew’s Secondary School Prelim 2016 SAMPLE ESSAYS 2 Qn 2 ‘It only takes a spark to get a fire going.’ What are your views? When broken down, this statement essentially conveys through its metaphors how a small event – ‘a spark’ – could inspire great change – ‘a fire going’. It could have been what Martin Luther King thought of as he initiated the war against racism; Ghandi, as he fought for the freedom of India from the British Empire; and Hitler, as he stirred up the hatred of the Germans against the Jews. Unfortunately, this statement does not always translate into a positive movement. On the positive side, there are many real-life examples and inspirational stories that attest to the validity of this maxim. Martin Luther King’s simple thought of "Why should I be treated differently just because of the colour of my skin?" – an emotional spark – ignited a raging inferno of passion amongst millions of Americans of different creed and colour against racism that many people today can still remember through the vibrant tone of his inspiring speeches. A fire was created so strong that even after his death, his ideals of freedom and fairness still burn brightly in most around the world as his cause is still being strongly supported around the world. As such, we can clearly see how this statement applies positively to Martin Luther King's case. Apart from emotional and moral shifts, Bill Gates is another compliment to this maxim. His simple thought of wanting an easier use of computer inspired him to invent Microsoft, which changed the technological scene forever. Microsoft paved the way for many more technological advances that place the end-users at the forefront, making computing as easy as eating a meal. Hence, because of Gates, the world has seen many wondrous inventions which run the world today. Just by counting how many devices you have at home serves as enough evidence to know how big of a change Gates’ initial idea – a spark – has led to. However, this statement can be abused and used out of hatred and selfishness to cause catastrophe. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler used his personal hatred towards the Jews to spark a blaze of anti-semitism across Germany during World War Two which resulted in mass genocide and the torture and murder of millions of Jews. More recently, the rise of terrorism can be attributed to the same modus operandi. This is recognised by Singapore's defence Minister who states: "Those who distribute and spread ideals of terror are more dangerous than the ones who carry out the attacks." Terrorist group ISIS has successfully used social media to ignite sparks of hatred and extremism in many young people which leads them to carry out acts of extreme violence which has scorched this world with extreme violence and the loss of innocent lives. These two examples show the danger these ‘sparks’ can cast on our world. Overall the maxim has inspired many beautiful success stories around the world. However, it is our responsibility to protect ourselves from dangerous ideology. We should continue to cultivate good morals in our youth so as to allow them to differentiate right from wrong and not be easy prey for manipulative predators. (513 words) Tackling the statement Successful use of complex sentence Succinct thesis statement Clear topic sentence Wide and apt range of vocab related to ‘fire’ Topic sentence begun differently Apt and wide vocab used Good signposting to show change in stance with ‘However’. - More ‘fire’ imagery and related vocab - Skilful combination of two examples for the negative use of maxim. Good metaphor used Written by Jordan Max Chow (4S1, 2016) Edited by LSF

St Andrew’s Secondary School Prelim 2016 SAMPLE ESSAYS 3 Qn 3: What do you consider to be your greatest mistake? How has it affected you? I am often queried on the shadow of pained reminiscence that flits furtively across my face whenever encountered with the image of some scenic mountains. Could this be a fear of heights? A phobia of nature? A terror of these precipitous monoliths that stand in stoic defiance of gravity? These notions, while logical, sorely miss their mark. This incessant tic manifests itself deep in the womb of the June that has just left us. Under the pretext of helping us alleviate our stress, it is habitual for my mother to shepherd my brother and me overseas on month-spanning holidays; I reckoned it served the preservation of our social status more than anything else. That is not to say I was not grateful for them; they became events to cherish and look forward to. Last June, we took a trip over to Hong Kong. As usual, there were the ubiquitous attractions -- shopping malls, night markets, more shopping malls, more night markets -- but the landmark I had my eyes on were the mountains. For the better part of my time there, they taunted me from afar, leered at my vertical ineptitude like great geological hyenas. How I wished they had stayed that way. Two days before we would head home, my mother graced us with the opportunity of scaling those mountains. ‘We could take a cable car up midway, then follow the trail upwards,’ my mum beamed. For an hour, I endured the ponderous serpertine line to gain access to the cable car, then waited near an hour more for it to gain purchase up the slopes of the cliffs. At long last, I climbed victorious from the claustrophobic confines of that accursed metal box to breathe long and deeply of the cool mountain air. At least, that’s what I tried to do. As soon as my body left the car, I was hit by a wave of stifling heat from the jostling mass of tourists flailing onwards in an incomprehensible tangle of limbs. When I gasped for air, I was greeted by the stale scent that invariably festoon a crowd of that size. Sweat, breath and heat conspired to contrive an olfactory assault that drove the wind from my lungs and the enthusiasm from my heart. I stumbled dejectedly over to a wooden bench, content to wallow in depression. There I stayed for my brief time on the mountain, waving off any attempt made by my family to treat with me. ‘Let’s just try to walk up the path,’ my mother suggested, ‘maybe it’ll get better.’ I knew it wouldn’t; so I stayed on my bench. After an hour of sulking and bargaining, my mother caved in to my mood and we elected to take the cable car back down. On the way down, my gaze fell crestfallen to linger on the mountainside, knowing I would never experience its bounties: the zephyr rushing past the trees; the leaves swaying to their invisible tunes; the open gravel of the empty path…The open gravel of the empty path? My eyes widened in a morbid Jim Carey impersonation and my face contorted into a grim parody of laughter. The cable car exit was a bottleneck for the tourists, with most of them remaining in its vicinity, too timid to brave the ascent. I sputtered, shouting for the cable car to stop, to go back up. This was a mistake! I had to go back up! I had to! But of course I couldn’t. Thus ends the tale of my greatest mistake – comical in its premise and saddening in its scale. This episode sobered me up to the wisdom in the quintessential idiom: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. From then on, I have been taking empirical evidence on the quality of my reading material. So if you happen to catch a particularly mesmerising photograph of a mountain, please keep it as far away from me as possible. Please. (657 words) An unconventional approach but it works for Nigel has the language skills to use apt and wide vocabulary, as well as good mastery of sentence variety to create a beautiful personal recount of his mistake. This is not a recommended approach as it goes beyond 500 words which may hamper the accuracy and entertainment value of the composition. Nigel