T3+Week+1

Please ignore the online lessons posted on the English Language IT Week Home Learning Website. Instead, follow this series of lessons for the first week of Term 3.


 * Unit Focus: Personal Exposition **
 * Lesson 1: Introduction to Personal Exposition **
 * Expository Writing ** is writing that serves to inform and explain the author’s point of view.

A **formal exposition** usually contains a thesis statement which it attempts to prove through the use of supporting facts, valid reasoning, concrete evidence, statistics, real-life case studies and sustained explanation and elaboration. A formal exposition tends to follow a standard structure.

An **informal exposition**, which is also known as a personal exposition, aims to convey an idea or a point of view using personal reflections, personal thoughts, personal observations and anecdotal evidence. The “personal” filter is a key element and the “personal” voice is often the highlight of the piece of writing. A personal exposition tends to avoid a standard structure as writers aim to inject as much creativity and humour into their writing as possible. The issues dealt with are also less weighty and serious.

Check out both examples below and choose one to comment on. Look for the new thread of discussion according to the titles below.

[|Male vs Female Drivers] – read the article and post your comments in the discussion forum, focusing on device of the personal filter. What kind of personality has the author projected and how is this achieved?

media type="youtube" key="YBdymtyXt8Y" width="425" height="350" Stadium Pal – watch the YouTube video which features writer, David Sedaris, reading his essay on the new manly invention known as Stadium Pal. Use the forum discussion to comment on what he is really saying and how effective or ineffective he is in using humour to bring his point across.

Sign off your comment using your real name please! Each contribution will count towards the awarding of OP for Term 3.

The sample below contains the introductory paragraphs and the conclusion to a personal exposition on the subject of childhood, in particular the author’s memories of his mother as the source of comfort when he gets hurt. Note that although the broad topic is on one’s childhood, the narrow focus is on his perception of and relationship with his mother when he was a young child.
 * Lesson 2: Writing Practice **

It’s bedtime. All the toys are put away neatly on the shelves and two milk bottles stand empty on the bedside table. My little sister snuggles deeper into her pink bed as mummy bends over to give her a goodnight kiss. I pretend not to hear the soft cooing noises emitted from the bed across our shared bedroom. As mummy plants the last goodnight kiss on my sister’s cheek, I quickly cover myself with my Superman blanket, and grabbing my proton gun, I steel myself for the nightly battle with the smooch monster. “Rat-tat-tat!!!” I yell as mummy lifts the blanket and tries to hug me. “No kiss! No kiss!” Mummy sighs and leaves the room, but not before patting down my hair and blowing a kiss.
 * Topic: Childhood Memories **
 * Title: Mummy’s Kisses **

That was the usual bedtime routine when I was five years old. I cannot recall the exact point in time when my mother’s kisses became anathema to me but I do remember my mother’s rather hurt expression whenever I pushed her away or struggled to wriggle free of her embrace. In my naivety, I failed to appreciate the preciousness of those light-as-feather kisses that spoke of my mother’s love for me. At 5, all I wanted was to grow up quickly and assert my independence.

However, one event remains firmly etched in my memory and reminds me that no matter how heroic or macho a little boy can feel or pretend to be, mummy is the only source of comfort and solace when it comes to healing bruises and mending shattered egos and there is no magic quite as potent as that of a mother’s kiss.

// [Narrate the incident. Intersperse narration and description with personal observations and feelings.] // It’s bedtime. I crawl gingerly into bed and arrange my arm so that my elbow is positioned comfortably on a pillow. Little sister is snoring gently in her bed. I hope mummy will come soon to tuck me into bed as I am tired from all the day’s excitement. With my eyes closed, I hear a gentle rustling of silk and I feel mummy’s hand on my plaster cast. “Do you want a kiss tonight, Superman,” mummy ask. Too proud to say yes, I only mumble, “Mmm.” Mummy bends down to kiss my cheek and turns to leave. “Wait mummy,” I say, “my cast too.” With a smile, mummy kisses my broken elbow encased in its cast and whispers, “It’ll be better tomorrow.” Like magic, my elbow immediately feels less painful and I drift into a sweet slumber, knowing with childish certainty that I will be well the next day.


 * In today’s task, you are required to pen a short paragraph on your own childhood experiences. Choose ONE task.**


 * Task A**: complete the sample essay by filling in the missing paragraph.

What are some of your fondest memories of your childhood? Think about the best day or event that you had as a child. What are the reasons that made those memories the best ever? Recall and describe the specific occasions or actions. Be sure to include details to support each of your reasons. Use vivid verbs and adjectives to make your essay more interesting to read. Example: // The best times… picnicking at the Botanical Gardens… catching fish with big brother…having dinner with the whole family…marketing with mother…being tucked into bed…winning the story-telling competition etc. //
 * Task B**: write about your best memories of childhood

Do remember to identify yourself.
 * Post your short paragraph below. Keep the length short, approximately 150 words. **

Trawl the World Wide Web for a personal exposition that you like. Print and non-print versions are equally acceptable. Be careful to choose material that is non-offensive to everyone. If you are unsure, choose another one.
 * Lesson 3: Reader’s Choice **

Share the link with the rest of the class by posting it in the section below. And write a brief description and evaluation of the piece.

Everyone is then invited to comment on one another’s choices in the forum discussion. Once again, good entries will be rewarded with OPs. The student with the most popular post will get a PRIZE.

Your favourite personal expositions:

E.g. [|My Mother Tongue] This is an essay by renowned American Chinese writer, Amy Tan (of Joy Luck Club fame). In it, she writes about growing up in a bilingual environment where she had to learn English and Chinese and how she grappled with the feelings of displacement because she felt more like a westerner than a Chinese. However, she eventually learnt to embrace both identities through her mother, a first generation Chinese immigrant to the United States of America, who does not speak English. I like the essay for its candour and the vivid characterisation. The situation described in the essay is not unique to Chinese Americans as more and more Singaporean youth are facing the problem of displacement - fewer and fewer of them now know the language/dialect of their forefathers and a greater percentage of them certainly feel more comfortable using English than Chinese. The immediate question is: will we lose our Chinese-ness if we do not speak the language? The broader question is: to what extent is langauge tied to culture? -- Submitted by ...

[|A Simple Matter of Conscience]This is an essay by Mike Bohling. In this personal exposition, he pens his thoughts on the simple yet complicated concept of ones conscience. He talks about how the decisions we make every day are based on our conscience and about how our conscience will eventually come back to haunt us and cites several real life examples in which these situations can occur in. I like the essay because of how critical he is in evaluating about this topic. His examples also affect everyone in one way or another (e.g. he used the environment as an example to bring forth his point about how we attempt to escape our guilty conscience about us harming the environment by just being a bystander and not taking action and how this guilty conscience will consequently come back and hit us). What I also like about this essay is the realism which he depicts in the essay. He does not sugarcoat his words and blatantly gives us the facts, thus hitting our conscience on the acts that we are doing and hence effectively conveying hid point across (e.g. "I know that this sounds like a defeatist attitude, but what can be done to stop powerful industries from corrupting our leaders, waging wars, polluting our planet, and devouring it’s resources?"). I also like this essay for its different take on conscience. He mentioned that the world, collectively, does not have a conscience, and hence we must be willing to bear the collective mistakes on our personal conscience. This also highlights another problem in the current society. Are we that individualistic that we have forgotten that there are also other people to share this burden? This essay also made me think about my own conscience. What have I done for the environment? Have I just been a bystander? What has my conscience told me to do which I just simply ignored? However, the most pressing problem in my opinion is the question, where has all our conscience gone to? -- Submitted by Ong Meng Teck Jay 2I321

[|Just Keep Your Mouth Shut] This is an essay by Ken Shade. In this, he writes about his experience with Multiple Sclerosis, and also touches on the difficulties faced by people who have physical disabilities. He starts out with talking about how he coped with MS, and slowly moving on to people with other disabilities, like his ex-girlfriend, who was blind but struggled to hide the fact, and a patient he was working with, who has MS too, but was at the end stage and was fully paralyzed from head to toe, with the exceptions of his eyelids. What i like about this essay is how the author manages to talk about such a serious topic in such a light-hearted way, talking about the experience of disabled people through personal experiences, with a bit of humour here and there, instead of cold hard facts. The way that he shows how they try so hard to hide their disabilities away from the public, finding ways to pretend that they do not have the disability, or coming out with reasons to explain their weird behaviour, just so that they do not have to be looked down on by the publicreally makes me wonder, are we really helping these people by showing them concern? Through this piece, I am able to see how much these people try not to let their illness affect their lives, how much they want to be seen like a normal, healthy human being. By showing them concern, we might actually just be highlighting the fact that they have these disabilities, and instead of helping them, it might affect them in a more negative way. So i pose two questions, firstly, are we doing the right thing by showing concern to these people? Secondly, how should we actually be helping them? --Submitted by Khwa Zhong Xuan 2i310

Christian Apologetics ( []) This is an essay commenting on the author’s experience at a Christian Apologetic. The author flew to spend two weeks in Colorado to attend the event that was sponsored by Summit Ministries. He mentions the less than comfortable stay at the more than a 100 year-old hotel that was crammed full with 100 other people, and his small and rickety living quarters that he eventually stayed at for two whole weeks. However the stay, he mentions how the two weeks spent there had been a turning point in his youth, and the stark contrast helps to point out how educational and effective the event really was. He then moves on to his personal experience at the event where he was taught on events like the persecution of Christians in Sudan through science, history, theology, and philosophy. Christian professionals taught them studies and wisdom from the bible, a former mob boss gave his moving testimony and they were taught to combat false religion. He says that the two weeks were “intense, mentally and emotionally”, and he got a real taste of the world. He concludes by saying many are “sinking in the bog of humanistic and atheistic views of today’s society”, he hopes that we will not follow and be ready when “the torch is passed” to us. –Submitted by Lee Zi Jing, 2i3 14

[|The American Way of Life is Not Negotiable] This is an essay by Robin Buckallew. In this personal exposition, he highlights the problem of the continued lack of support for eco-friendly programmes and the Americans' excessive use of electricity. He highlights that it was easy to blame the lack of attention to global warming on the current president. However, it is a mistake to think that a new president would solve this problem. The fight against global warming is a long drawn war. The author states that bold, courageous steps needs to be taken. The author hints that the leaders of these environmental campaigns need to know that they have the support of the masses. The public in turn, have to do their part, in terms of money, energy or time, or else the rest of the world might think that the Americans are, as the author has appropriately used, wallowing in a gluttonous bout of selfish hedonism. Being on the leader pedestal in world politics (such as America being the leader in December's environmental talks), I feel that excessive eco-friendly campaigns on other parts of the world would not match the outcry of the American public, that would in turn prompt the Republicans and Democrats to come out with an environmental policy. "The American way of life is a blessed one" ; "The American way of life is not negotiable". These statements by George H. W. Bush is simply an act to shirk responsibility. It seems absurd that America, who has 5% of the world population accounts for 25% of global energy consumption, 25% of carbon dioxide emissions and has the largest per capita trash. It is selfish that 1 person uses the fair share of 4 other people. Not only that, they expect the other 4 people to pay for their share - through effects of global warming. If the war against global warming is to be won, the luxurious lifestyle of the American public is to be changed. Use of styrofoam packaging in drive throughs, plastic bags used to hold burgers and drinks that would not be used for more than 10 seconds. The author thinks that all these habits has to be changed and eradicated. The author also brings up the point that Americans are never satisfied - "Are you happy with what you bought last week, or has it been forgotten and needed to be replaced with something else to make you happy this week?". This sentence had reminded me of a famous proverb that writes "The more I have, the less happy I am". However, the biggest takeaway I have from this essay is that this war against global warming requires our conscious efforts and we would not win if one country decides to get complacent and depend on the other countries. John Tan 2i322