Secondary 2 English Singapore: Great Tips To Locating The Main Points

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This blog deals with 2 major tasks which Secondary 2 English students face. 

Firstly, the comprehension passages and secondly, the continuous writing portion. 

The strategy to tackle both these challenges in Secondary 2 English will be explained below.

The Secondary 2 English paper becomes more of an uphill challenge compared to Secondary 1.

Why? This is the year when you are expected to have made the transition from primary school and the total embrace of the challenges by the Secondary syllabus.

The Secondary 2 English Comprehension Passages are longer in length and the content is linked to current affairs and world topics. 

The vocabulary used is also a challenge and by this time, you are expected to be in a position to recognise more challenging words.

The only way to handle these passages is to locate the main points while reading them so that you can mentally have a rough grip of the entire passage once you are done.

The other challenging part of the Secondary 2 English paper is the continuous writing paper. 

Writing this paper is a daunting task for the Secondary 2 student who faces the following:

I) He/ she may not have enough content for a composition which is longer in length

II) He/ she may not have organizational skills for this.

Now, for the burning question.

How does the student tackle these challenges? 

Is there a strategy, a simple step which they can use to overcome these difficulties?

As the title suggests, it is to locate the main points in Secondary 2 English. 

Having mentioned that, the task is not quite so straightforward.

How To Locate The Main Points For Secondary 2 English Comprehension?

Below is an extract from my Secondary 2 English Comprehension book.

Paragraph 1 – ‘Nature’s wonders have always been a marvel which is hard to replicate artificially. They are seen in the form of natural phenomena which have been observed throughout all time. According to scientists, phenomena are the subject of observation. It has been noted that this phenomenon may be a feature of matter, energy, or spacetime. An example will be Isaac Newton’s observations of the phenomenon of the moon’s orbit. The renowned Galileo Galilei made observations of pendulum related phenomena.

Paragraph 2 – To most of us, nature’s wonders or phenomena occur as a result of a freak of nature. It means that something happens which defies the norm or the way things are done. A natural phenomenon is not produced by humans though it may affect humans and is therefore non-artificial. Some examples of natural phenomena would be volcanic eruptions, weather and decay of living matter.

Paragraph 3 – Ageing, bacteria and natural disasters are also supposed to affect humans and are considered to be phenomena. Most natural phenomena are harmless such as rain but there are others of a harmful nature such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.’

Trying to digest every single piece of information may be quite a struggle. 

The only way to plough through is to locate the main points.

If you read the paragraph, you will notice there are only 2 main points:

1) The natural phenomena of nature

2) Isaac Newton’s observations of the moon’s orbit and Galileo Galilei’s observations of pendulum related phenomena

It becomes really easy to recall when attempting the questions later as you will know exactly how to answer.

Let us try the second and third paragraphs.

There is only one point in the second paragraph.

1) The definition of phenomena. That is, natural phenomena is a freak of nature.

In the third paragraph, there is also one point only.

1) Harmless and harmful natural phenomena

Reasons Why Locating The Main Points In Secondary 2 English Comprehension Can Help You

1. Locating the main points like this can also help you in your summary writing as you will be able to tackle it quickly and save time.

2. It will help you to answer your questions accurately as all questions are based on the main points. The statistical and elaboration parts can be used to pad up your answers but the main points are always the key focus.

3. When you read the passage the second time after having located the main points, the entire passage will seem easier to understand. This will aid those who are weak in their vocabulary. Locating the points will help you to understand the gist of the passage easily.

Whether you believe it or not, locating the main points for Secondary 2 English composition can be a help when you are deciding how to begin writing.

With mastery, you will be able to organise your points quickly this way and it will help you to steer clear of writing out of point which is a common mistake that many students make.

Mastering Point Location Is An Art 

Choose your topic. If it is narrative, then you will follow this simple format.

1st paragraph – Introduction

2nd paragraph – 2 main points

I) Background of main character

II) Situation of that character

3rd paragraph –  1 main point

I) Build up the problem which the character will face eventually

4th paragraph – 1 point  

I) The prelude to the breakdown/ chaos/ inability to handle/ stress

5th paragraph – 1 point 

I) The worst case scenario. Eg. The situation is out of control

6th paragraph – 1 point

I) Reaction, trying to gain normalcy with or without help

7th paragraph – 1 point 

I) Getting back on track and recover

8th paragraph – 1 point

I) What is the lesson learnt?

All you have to do is to follow this template carefully and stick to it during your exams. 

If you practice doing this at least 5 to 6 times before the Secondary 2 English exams, your results will be startling.

Why?

This way of locating the main points helps you to write smoothly without hitches and allows you to focus on the main story so there is more room for creative thinking. 

There is one Last piece of Advice I would like to offer. 

As much as these strategies are meant to be helpful, getting someone to check your work is always a great additional help you can get.

This will help you to avoid those dreadful mistakes in sentence construction and misuse of words which can prevent you from reaching your full potential.

Always aim for the best and put in your full effort.

I would like to wish you the best in using these strategies for your Secondary 2 English paper. 

They really work. Good luck!


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