Copying a sentence from the extract shows you can find it, not that you understood it. This lesson gives a three-part plan that turns the extract into an answer of your own.
It is the last lesson in the cluster on literary comprehension. It builds on explaining character actions using textual evidence.
What is the three-part plan?
Plan before you write. Each part has one short line.
- Point: answer the question in a short sentence of your own.
- Evidence: a few words from the extract, in quotation marks.
- Explanation: say in your own words how the evidence supports the point.
Worked example: copied answer and planned answer
The extract is original.
Hujan turun dengan lebat. Cikgu Salmah menghulurkan payungnya kepada Amir, lalu berjalan pulang dengan baju yang basah kuyup.
Question: What kind of person is Cikgu Salmah?
| Copied answer | Planned answer | |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Cikgu Salmah menghulurkan payungnya kepada Amir, lalu berjalan pulang dengan baju yang basah kuyup. | Cikgu Salmah seorang yang prihatin. Dia “menghulurkan payungnya” kepada Amir, yang menunjukkan dia mengutamakan keselesaan murid berbanding dirinya sendiri. |
The plan behind the second answer is short.
- Point: prihatin (caring).
- Evidence: “menghulurkan payungnya”.
- Explanation: she gives up her own shelter for the pupil.
The copied answer names no trait and offers no explanation. The planned answer uses only three words from the extract.
The mistake that costs marks
The slip is to start writing at once and let the extract lead. The first sentence is copied, the second is copied, and the answer ends without a point.
Writing the point first fixes this. Once the point is down, every other line has a job: the quotation supports it, and the explanation links the two.
Check yourself
Plan and write an answer to the question.
Adi menggenggam kertas keputusan itu lama sebelum melipatnya dan menyimpannya di dalam beg. Dia tidak menoleh ke arah rakan-rakannya yang sedang bergembira.
Question: How does Adi feel about his results?
Answer
Plan: Point: disappointed. Evidence: “tidak menoleh”. Explanation: he avoids his friends because he does not want to share the results.
A full answer: “Adi berasa kecewa dengan keputusannya. Dia ‘tidak menoleh’ ke arah rakan-rakannya, yang menunjukkan dia mahu mengelak daripada berkongsi keputusan itu dengan mereka.”
What to study next
Test the whole cluster with the literary comprehension practice set. The BM essay plan builder helps you practise planning for longer answers.
Log answers that lean on the extract in the mistake log and paper-error review. For a teacher to turn your copied lines into your own words, see online one-to-one Bahasa Melayu tuition.