HOW TO EARN 19-20 MARKS IN A KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION

WRITING THE BEST ESSAYS

KCSE ENGLISH IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION

Have you ever read or written a composition that has the following expressions?

“In two shakes of a lamb’s tail, I dashed to the frog’s kingdom to accuse the dirt ...”

“His face was a supermarket/network of pimples”

“Two gigantic men kidnapped me ...”

“One chilly morning when the birds were chirping and the frogs were croaking …”

Well, as much as some of these expressions may not be grammatically wrong per se, they are clichés that show lack of imagination/creativity and thus will hinder you from scoring a quality mark in KCSE English 101/3 imaginative composition.

This question simply tests your ability to communicate. 

Creative writing

According to Wikipedia  Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics.

Question 1 [(a) and (b)], in KCSE English 101/3, tests on imaginative compositions under creative writing.   

The question tests the candidates’ creativity, originality and ability to communicate in writing.

Objectives

You should ensure that these objectives are met by the end of the course before your learners attempt English 101/3 tests.

By the end of the course, the learner should be able to:

    a)        write legibly and neatly;

   b)      apply spelling rules and spell words correctly;

     c)        use punctuation marks correctly;

    d)         write clear and correct sentences, and organize ideas in a logical     sequence;

    e)      communicate effectively in writing, using a variety of sentence   structures;

     f)       develop paragraphs using different devices;

      g)        use figurative language correctly and appropriately;

      h)        use cohesive devices in developing paragraphs;

      i)        use punctuation marks appropriately, competently and creatively;

      j)        demonstrate competence in writing different types of essays;

      k)        present information in a variety of ways;

      l)        demonstrate competence in using a wide range of sentence structures and vocabulary to create the desired effect.

Therefore, apart from teaching creative writing (imaginative compositions) which is taught in form 3, teachers should ensure the learners acquire other writing skills as well. These include;

   a)        Handwriting - legibility and tidiness

  b)      Commonly misspelt words — spelling and spelling rules

  c)      Sentence building skills and paragraphing

    i.      Writing clear and correct sentences

   ii.       Structure of the paragraph: topic sentences, supporting sentences,     clincher sentences, sequencing of ideas, unity in paragraphs.

 iii.        Sentence variety; using simple, compound and complex sentences     Devices of developing paragraphs: giving reasons/examples,   comparing and contrasting, using idiomatic expressions, using     facts/statistics and using rhetorical questions.

   d)        Cohesion in paragraphs

     Using transitional words and phrases Choice of words recurrent words (different words that refer to the same idea in the paragraph) to create emphasis Paraphrasing.

   e)      Punctuation: Capitalization, final/terminal punctuation marks, commas, quotation marks, apostrophe, hyphen, colon, Semi-colon, dash, parenthesis, devices for presenting titles of publications, quotations and headings.

     f)      Study Writing: Descriptive essays, Argumentative essays, Expository writing,

To help your learners perform well in KCSE imaginative composition, you should teach different types of writing and provide them with ample practice. You should also impress upon them that expository composition is concerned with linguistic ability as it is not concerned with the points.

 



WRITING A+ KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS

The best KCSE imaginative compositions score between 19-20 marks. Your composition must possess the following in order to fall under this category.

·        Intelligibility-able to be understood (comprehensible)

·        Correctness

·        Accuracy (devoid of errors)

·        Fluency (communicates easily/very well/smoothly)

·        Pleasantness

·        Originality (new and different in a good and appealing way)

NOTE: Linguistic competence carries the most marks in imaginative compositions.

 CATEGORIES OF KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS

The category your essay falls under depends on the degree of communication. Other factors discussed below will determine the specific numerical mark you earn.

·        D CLASS: (1-5 MARKS) Chaotic-No communication at all

·        C CLASS: (6-10 MARKS) Strained Communication-Weak communication because of strain (lacks fluency)

·        B CLASS: (11-15MARKS) Fluent-Ease of 

communication due to greater fluency

·        A CLASS: (16-20MARKS) Effective/efficient communication-Captivating, creative, has command of language

HOW TO WRITE AN A-CLASS IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 

A-CLASS compositions score between 16-20 marks.

We all want to write pleasant compositions that fall in A CLASS in order to score high marks.

To achieve that, we MUST write compositions that possess the following qualities.

A-CLASS KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS

·        Write fluently and attractively

·        Must have originality (new and different)/efficiency

·        Make us feel your deep feelings (senses), emotions (strong feelings e.g. love, fear, anger, bitterness, relief, joy etc), and enthusiasm (strong interest, desires, excitement)

·        Should be attractive (pleasant/appealing/interesting)

This falls in the general category of a pleasant composition that score between 16-20 marks.

HOW TO EARN 19-20 MARKS IN A KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION

This article, however, is meant to help you write a KCSE imaginative composition that will earn between 19-20 marks

In order to achieve this, you must;

·        Express yourself freely

·        Exhibit no visible constraint

·        Exhibit maturity(avoid obscene, suggestive, steamy or graphic description of sexual innuendos or other forms of immorality), good planning, humour (comical/funny)

·        Have many items of merit ( correct vocabulary (or jargon-informal language does not score), phrasal verbs, idioms, proverbs, aspects of literary techniques e.g. irony, suspense, imagery etc, correct, appealing felicity of expression in whole sentences or paragraphs)

·        Show clever arrangement (e.g. flashbacks creating suspense)

·        Have felicity of expression (well chosen features in writing/communication)

⚠ ERRORS 

Avoid the following errors;

     a)            Faulty paragraphing

    b)            Repetition/redundancies (using a word phrase etc that repeats something else and is therefore unnecessary-e.g. bow down, reverse back, colleague teachers, repeat again)

     c)            Illegibility (impossible or hard to read or decipher because of poor handwriting)

    d)            Vagueness (thoughts that are not stated or expressed clearly; in a general and not specific way) Obscurity (unclear, difficult to understand)

     e)            Wrong word order/illogical (lacking sense or clear sound reasoning)or contradictory (inconsistent) statements

       f)            Broken English (e.g. his business has caught down instead of his business is thriving, hunger is biting me, etc)

    g)            Contracted forms (e.g. didn’t instead of did not; NB they may be used in direct speech)

GROSS ERRORS contribute to a lower score and learners whose compositions have the following errors more often than not fail to score over 15 marks in their compositions. Gross errors include;  

     a)            Errors of subject-verb agreement

    b)            Serious tense error

     c)            Errors of elementary vocabulary, misuse of vocabulary, wrong spellings of vocabularies (avoid clichés e.g. I ran as fast as my feeble legs could carry me, I took my breakfast in a blink of an eye)

    d)            Punctuation errors e.g. missing punctuation marks (missing final punctuation marks e.g. full stop is penalized heavily)

     e)            Errors of sentence construction

      f)            Ridiculous use of idioms thus affecting communication

     g)            Misuse of common prepositions

    h)            Misuse of capital letters

TYPES OF KCSE IMAGINATIVE ESSAYS 

English 101/3 tests three types of essays;

1)    Narrative essays: Simply tell a story.

2)    Descriptive essays: Paint a picture with words.   

3)    Expository essays: Just give the facts as per the rubric.

Examples of PAST KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS

KCSE ENGLISH 101/3 IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2018

 For composition 1(a) you should write a narrative; 1(b) write a descriptive essay.  

 

KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2018 

KCSE ENGLISH 101/3 IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2017

For composition 1(a) you should write a narrative; 1(b) write an expository essay. 

KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2017

KCSE ENGLISH 101/3 IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2016

For both composition 1(a) and 1 (b) you should write a narrative. 

KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2016

KCSE ENGLISH 101/3 IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2015

For composition:

 1(a) you should write a narrative; compose a story to illustrate the saying;

 1(b) write an expository essay. Simply give facts about what you think should be done to reduce indiscipline in schools (Do not write a story)   

KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2015

KCSE ENGLISH 101/3 IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 2014

For both composition 1(a) and 1(b) you should write a narrative. 

For 1(a) give a vivid sustained account of the crime and the events leading to/following it. 

For 1 (b) compose a story illustrating the meaning of the proverb.

LENGTH

Your essay should not exceed 450 words (about 3 pages of your KCSE answer booklet). Otherwise you risk losing 2 marks.

However, the quality of an essay depends solely on how effectively it communicates.

AMERICAN SPELLING

American spelling e.g. color, labor, center, meter etc is not penalised. It’s only penalised if there is lack of consistency.

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS

Narrative essays  

·        Understand the setting of the composition in line with the rubric. If the composition is about a crime scene that informs you about the physical setting of your story. You do not have to start your story on a chilly morning with chirping birds or taking breakfast. Take us to the scene and give us the events that happen before and possibly after the crime.

·        Have a simple, clear story line with an introduction, climax and conclusion.

·        Have a clear, consistent point of view.

·        Be a character in the story. Use the first person pronoun “I”

·        Use direct speech to give your story ‘life’.

·        Develop your characters fully (describe them and make it easy for readers to infer their character traits). Have relatable, realistic characters.

·        Evoke emotions in the readers. Create an air of poignancy-painfully affecting the feelings (evoke feelings of sadness, joy, sympathy, anger, bitterness, nostalgia etc). Share your deep feelings.

·        Uphold morals and avoid praising vices.

·        Tell an original story-new and interesting

·        It helps to start your story with direct speech, a poem, a song etc if possible. 

 (only if you have not been instructed to begin with certain words)

·        Titles are not necessary since they do not add any value to your essay. However, they may make you lose marks if they contain any errors.

·        Build suspense

·        Avoid oral narratives (Once upon a time … or fantasies with ogres in the forest-unless you have ever encountered one or know someone who has). Your essay SHOULD be creative but realistic.

·        Must be a story. If not you risk losing 4 marks! You DO NOT want to lose four hard earned marks, do you?

·        Begin or end with the words provided or else you will lose 2 valuable marks.

·        Avoid any errors

·        Write legibly and clearly

In brief, simply write a story. Tell a story the way you would when talking to your grandma or your buddies.

There is no fixed format so do not copy story lines from books (e.g. the Bible) and movies- this may expose your lack of creativity. Express yourself freely.

Do not cram a composition and cross your fingers hoping that you get a similar one in KCSE. 

Expository essays

For expository compositions, we are not concerned with the points, only the linguistic ability.

·        Introduce your essay on the first paragraph, write at least four points in at least four separate paragraphs, and conclude or sum up your essay in the last paragraph.

·        Develop cohesive paragraphs for a smooth flowing essay. Use transitional words to link your paragraphs and sentences.

·        A paragraph must introduce the main idea in the topic sentence (the first sentence of each paragraph). The next two or three sentences should add information to support this main idea. Sum up the paragraph with a clincher-a statement which summarises the paragraph before you introduce a new point.

·        Write legibly.

·        Avoid any errors.

Descriptive essays 

The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe something—object person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. The goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader. The reader should clearly form an impression of the thing you are describing. 

  

TIPS

·        Brainstorm on the features of the person or thing and write them down.

·        Use simple, clear language

·        Use vivid language e.g. ox instead of cow, tempestuous instead of violent , stallion not horse, bungalow not house

·        Appeal to the senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste. Explain how something looks, tastes, smells etc

·        Create a clear impression in the reader’s mind. Describe someone or something until I see it.

·        Be organised

·        Write neatly/legibly

·        Avoid errors

SAMPLE KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS 

(Click on image to see full size)

KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 

KCSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION 

Say something about these essays in the comments section. Do you like them? What mark would you give? Comment on how to improve these or other essays.

The secret to writing quality essays is reading a lot. Expose yourself to volumes of literature in order to build a mastery of the craft.

Remember, practice makes perfect! Write as many imaginative compositions as you can.

Give more ideas in the comments section! 

Let's also learn how to write Blossoms of the Savannah and A Doll's House KCSE essays for English 101/3. 
 

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