COMPOSITION WRITING
A composition is a piece of writing that expands a topic or idea. A composition is made up
of different paragraphs. Each paragraph will have one main idea. Each paragraph will also
have details that explain and support the main idea. In your examination, you will be asked
questions on these forms of composition writing:
1. The narrative composition
2. The descriptive composition
3. The argumentative composition
4. Writing a story
5. Article writing
NARRATIVE COMPOSITION
A narrative composition is story or an account of past events.
1. In witting a narrative composition, learners are to write the topic of the
composition boldly at the top of the page and underline it.
2. Divide the thoughts or ideas into meaningful paragraphs. For their level, they
should try to write simple and compound sentences so that they can express
themselves as clearly as they can.
3. Divide their ideas into three broad areas;
i. The introduction
ii. The body and
iii. The conclusion.
i. The introduction is normally short. This is where they state the purpose of writing. It
should be written in such a way that somebody reading what they have written will
become interested in the rest of what they have written. For example they may be asked
to narrate experiences that they had during an outing. They may have an introduction
that may read thus:
“Last year’s outing organized by the Talented Social club was the most memorable
event I have ever witnessed in my whole life. The atmosphere was very exciting. The
crowd was one of the largest I have ever seen. Friends came from the whole country
to celebrate the occasion.”
In this short introduction, they have made the person reading what they have written
want to read further.
ii. The body of the composition could have 2-3 paragraphs. This is where they really go
into details to narrate what really happened. Start the narration by looking at what
happened before ie the preparations that was made. They would have to look at three
main parts: What happened before, during and after?
The next stage will be looking in some details at what really happened during the
occasion. They must make their narration very lively so that the person reading it
would enjoy what they have written. Here are some questions to consider when
writing:
- When did the occasion start?
- How did it start?
- Who were present?
- What really happened?
- How were you involved?
- What part did you play?
- When did the occasion end?
- How did it end?
- What impact did this event have on you?
They will discover that by the time they finish answering these questions, they would
have got 2-3 paragraphs.
iii. The last part will be the conclusion. This is just a short statement of how you really
felt and the impact the occasion had on you.
It is important to note that for a narrative composition, learners must use largely the
simple past tense because you are dealing with events that had happened in the past.
THE DESCRIPTIVE COMPOSITION
A descriptive composition is basically about describing something or object, somebody or a
scene.
In a descriptive composition, writers are appealing to the reader’s sense of sight; to use the
imagination to visualize what is being described. Like the narrative composition, set out to
write a descriptive composition by writing clearly the title at the top of the page. Normally
the question gives the title of the composition.
The following considerations must be made when describing:
- A person
Name, Size of the person, the age (if possible), height, complexion, colour of eyes, nature of
nose and mouth, appearance, character if known, general impression of the person etc.
- An object
Size of the object, colour, height, general appearance, place normally found/ location
- A scene
The environment, general appearance, population (people present) , occupation of the
people, what happened at the scene?
EXERCISE
Try your hand on the following questions:
Write a composition explaining how you escaped from a dangerous situation.
Describe what happened on the day that the president visited your school.
On your way to school one morning, you witnessed a road accident involving one of
your school mates. Write a composition on what you saw from the start of the accident
to the transport of your schoolmate to the hospital.
One day, while you were alone and asleep at home, fire broke out in your house.
Describe how you escaped, how the fore was put out and how your parents reacted on
their return.
On your return trip from holidays by bus, you lost your suitcase containing all your
clothes. Write an essay on this incident and how you finally found your suitcase.
WRITING AN ARTICLE AND A STORY/ CREATIVE WRITING
WRITING AN ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION
This is writing in which most candidates do the wrong thing. Most of them end up writing
letters to the editor of newspapers. An article suitable for publication is NOT a letter to the
editor of a newspaper. However, take note of the following considerations when writing an
article for publication:
An article is like any other composition/essay and must be written this way;
i. A topic/ title of the article written at the top of the page.
ii. Thoughts/ ideas divided into paragraphs
iii. Divide your thoughts/ideas into introduction, body and conclusion
However, you would have to do the following at the end of your article”:
If the article is for a school magazine, you would have to write your name and your
class/form at the end of your article. Eg Fatima Precious Mansaray, JSS3 Blue
If the article is for publication in a national/local newspaper, you would have to write your
name and the area where you live.eg Jenneh Mansaray, New London, Kossoh Town.
If the article is for publication in an international magazine/ newspaper, you would have to
write your name, location and the name of your country. Eg Susan Bintu Mansaray, Grafton,
Freetown, Sierra Leone.
CREATIVE STORY WRITING
Another popular question that appears in your paper to write on is that of a story. The
question may ask you to write a story that begins with a particular saying or end up with a
particular saying. For example you may be asked to write on the following:
1. “Write a story that end with the saying ‘I was caught red-handed’
2. Write a story that ends with the saying “it pays to be honest”
Here, you are going to be very creative. The story that you write may not be a true story but
you must sound to be telling a true story. You have to follow the guide lines that cover
composition writing
i. write the title of your story at the top of the page. You can get the title from the question.
Eg. “ It pays to be honest
“I was caught red-handed.”
ii. Divide your thoughts into paragraphs. Divide your story into introduction, body and
conclusion
iii. Use simple and compound sentences as best as you can
iv. Your story must sound very convincing.
