The ManicaPost
Morris Mtisi Education Correspondent
Composition writing is not a one-off task. It is a process. This means that there are specific skills that must be mastered to come up with a top-of-the shelf piece of writing. Each composition type thrives on specific or relevant skills and this will largely depend on the candidate’s talent, interest and choice. I will not hesitate to call composition writing a course that develops in calculated strategic stages of mastery. Compositions improve with each passing year and should become better from term to term, from grade to grade. You keep on adding value (skills) until the quality of composition is the best possible. Excellence will not happen overnight.
The narrative composition is clearly the favourite of most ‘O’ level candidates. It is not an exaggeration to say more than ninety percent of the Form 4 candidates choose the story-type composition.
All those I have asked tell me ‘because it is easy.’ Some say ‘the story is easy to write because you are narrating what happened.’ None of the above is true.
Thinking or believing a composition type is easy does not make it easy.
Candidates need to know exactly what the qualities of a distinctive narrative composition are.
Need I remind even the teachers too, that they ought to know these as well? But how do we write A-grade Narrative Compositions?
First, always plan your work on a blank separate sheet before you write. You can brainstorm or spider-gram your ideas.
Brainstorming involves four distinct stages: Topic analysis, Jotting down of ideas at random and selection of those ideas into a logical sequence of paragraphs. Finally, draft a suitable beginning.
A spider-gram is a diagrammatic plan with little boxes around one huge central box.
Each box contains a composition component detail.
If you follow the information or detail in each box, you can follow a logical chronological sequence of the story from one stage to another right up to the end. The structural mess resembles a spider’s cobweb which gives it its name.
Topic analysis refers to a careful study of the topic to determine the important words (key words).
These will help you to keep within focus / relevant / to remain within the box or to avoid wandering off the topic.
Example: The Day Everything Went Wrong: Day, Everything and Wrong are key words. Day clearly marks the time boundary. Story must not happen / unfold beyond one day. It must be ‘everything’ that goes on wrong that day, not only one wrong. And ‘going wrong’ means events not going according to plan and expectation. That must be clear.
Your plan can be hinged or hooked onto one character, namely the story finds shape and movement or development around that character.
Say what he or she says, does and feels, what other characters say about him / her, what you the writer say, think and feel about the main character and of course each one of the rest. It (your plan) can also be hinged onto a specific situation such as a road, fire, scuffle, function or accident.
Tightly focus on the title in order to remain focused on the plot (narrative) and characterization of your story. I will not assume you know what characterization means. It means the way you use characters to propel the story and give it life, shape, sense and direction.
- What is your story line>>>the outline of it? This must be clear. In other words this refers to the statement which summarizes the situation in the story. How can you write a story whose beginning, middle part and ending is not clear on your mind? Ensure that your plan meets this demand clearly.
- What will be the ‘boiling point’ / the climax of your plot when your narrative reaches maximum tension? What does that climax lead to?
That too must be very clear. From whose point of view is the story told? From your point of view, one of the characters in the story or someone’s point of view? Is the story going to be told in the first or third person?
A first person narrator tells the story from within the story (personal narrative): a third person narrator stands out of the story. Whether you choose the first or third person narrator, make a strong effort to make sure the narrator deals with detail, namely knowing and seeing the smallest of detail…an eye for detail…including what the characters are thinking and feeling.
- Will the narrator be sensational and biased or objective? Think about this carefully before you begin writing. It is the preparation that eventually determines the end composition. Though you will not get marks for the plan, it is this comprehensive plan that determines the end grade or mark.
It takes extraordinary talent and experience to be able to write a grade A or star composition without a plan. Very few writers have this kind of brilliance.
Most of us will need a good plan…a thorough plan… to write a composition worth writing home about. So do not take composition planning for granted! (to be continued)
