ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

GRADE 10

TASK 5: Writing - Essays TOTAL: 50

DATE: 3 May 2023

EXAMINER: Mrs Barnard-Bresler MODERATOR: Mr Van Zyl

Name and Surname: __________________________________________________

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Write an essay on one of the topics below.

2. Your essay should be approximately 350 to 400 words long.
3. Your essay must show proof of planning, drafting and a final copy.
4. The word count is not as important as a carefully crafted and planned essay.
Ensure that your essay reads logically and develops an idea.
5. Several types of essay are represented by the topics. You must identify the
type of essay and conform to its format and stylistic requirements.
6. Adjust your style of writing to the audience, the content and the context.
7. Pay special attention to language issues during the final editing of your essay:
8. Paragraphs are not optional: write proper paragraphs.
9. Check your work for common spelling errors.
10. Ensure that you punctuate properly: punctuation marks are not there to make
words look pretty. The use of apostrophes, full stops and commas is especially
important.
 TOPICS:

1. Choose one the following opening lines of famous novels and write your own
essay:
1.1. ‘I am an invisible man.’ (Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man)
1.2. ‘The story so far: in the beginning, the universe was created. This has
made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a
bad move.’ (Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the
Universe)
1.3. ‘Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.’ (Zora Neale
Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God)
1.4. ‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’ (Dodie Smith, I Capture the
Castle)
1.5. ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession
of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ (Jane Austen, Pride and
Prejudice)
2. It’s not real, and you don’t exist.
3. ‘Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger.’
4. You’re like a blister: you only show up when the hard work is done.
5. Some days even the devil sits back and admires my work.
6. The voices are back. Excellent!
7. In my defense, I was left unsupervised…
8. The pictures reproduced below may evoke a reaction or feeling in you or stir your
imagination. Select ONE picture and write an essay in response. Write the
question number (8.1, 8.2, 8.3 or 8.4) of your choice and give your essay a title.
There must be a clear link between your essay and the picture you have chosen.
8.1.

8.2.
8.3.
 RUBRIC/MEMO

English Home Language: Essay (50)

Criteria Exceptional Skilful Moderate Elementary Inadequate
27–30 22–23 15–17 9–11 3–5
Outstanding/Striking response beyond Very well–crafted response Satisfactory response Inconsistently coherent response Totally irrelevant response –Confused
CONTENT AND normal expectations and unfocused ideas
PLANNING Intelligent, thought-provoking and Fully relevant and interesting Ideas Ideas are reasonably coherent and Unclear ideas and unoriginal Vague and repetitive
mature ideas with evidence of maturity convincing.
(Response and
Exceptionally well organised and Very well organised and coherent Reasonably organised and coherent Little evidence of organisation and Unorganised and incoherent
ideas)
coherent (connected) including (connected) including introduction, including introduction, body and coherence
Organisation of ideas introduction, body and conclusion body and conclusion/ending conclusion/ending
for planning
Awareness of 24–26 18–21 12–14 6–8 0–2
purpose, audience Excellent response but lacks the Well–crafted response Satisfactory response but some Largely irrelevant response No attempt to respond to the topic
exceptionally striking qualities of the lapses in clarity
and context
outstanding essay
Mature and intelligent ideas Relevant and interesting ideas Ideas are fairly coherent and Ideas tend to be disconnected and Completely irrelevant and
30 marks convincing confusing inappropriate
Skilfully organised and coherent Well organised and coherent Some degree of organisation and Hardly any evidence of organisation Unfocused and muddled
(connected) including introduction, (connected) including introduction, coherence including introduction, body and coherence
body and conclusion/ending body and conclusion and conclusion
LANGUAGE, 14–15 10–11 6–7 2–3 0
STYLE AND Tone, register, style, vocabulary highly Tone, register, style and vocabulary Tone, register, style and vocabulary Tone, register, style and vocabulary Tone, register, style and vocabulary
appropriate to purpose, audience and very appropriate to purpose, audience appropriate to purpose, audience and not appropriate to purpose, audience less appropriate to purpose, audience
EDITING context and context and context
and context context
Tone, register, style, Language confident, exceptionally Language is effective and a Appropriate use of language to convey Very basic use of language Language incomprehensible
vocabulary impressive consistently appropriate tone is used meaning.
appropriate to Virtually error-free in grammar and Largely error-free in grammar and Tone is appropriate Tone and diction are inappropriate Vocabulary limitations so extreme as
purpose/effect and spelling spelling to make comprehension impossible
context Highly skilfully crafted Very well crafted Rhetorical devices used to enhance Very limited vocabulary Exceptionally limited vocabulary
Word choice content
Language use and 13–12 9–8 5–4 1–0
Language excellent and rhetorically Language engaging and generally Adequate use of language with some Inadequate use of language
conventions,
effective in tone effective inconsistencies
punctuation, Virtually error-free in grammar and Appropriate and effective tone Tone generally Little or no variety in sentence
grammar, spelling spelling appropriate
Skilfully crafted Well-crafted Limited use of rhetorical devices Exceptionally limited vocabulary
15 MARKS

STRUCTURE 5 4 3 2 1
Features of text Excellent development of topic Logical development of details Relevant details developed Some valid points Necessary points lacking
Paragraph Exceptional detail Coherent Sentences, paragraphs Sentences and paragraphs faulty Sentences, paragraphs exceptionally
development and well-constructed well-constructed
sentence Sentences, paragraphs exceptionally Sentences, paragraphs logical, varied Essay still makes some sense Essay still makes sense Essay lacks sense
well-constructed
construction
5 MARKS