Introduction
To put it simply, GP is quite similar to English in secondary school, with the fiction / narrative writing and comprehension truncated out. However, GP is more than just a combination of your general knowledge and linguistic skills. At its core it is about understanding others opinions and expressing yourself persuasively but with nuance. This is what's different for GP compared to O Level English. It's not enough to just argue for your stand, you've got to argue in a way that is fair and even-minded. If you have managed to get away with sweeping generalisations and logical fallacies in your secondary school writing, you won't be able to do the same for GP; the demand for quality content is higher.
We are aware of the syllabus changes due to take effect for A-Levels starting 2024. We’ve made the relevant updates below.
Examination Structure
There are two papers you take in GP, each 1 hour 30 mins. Paper 1 is essay writing and Paper 2 is comprehension. During the exam period, both papers are typically taken on the same day with a break in between. Most students' experience is that 1hr 30min is pretty rushed, so expect to write till roughly the last moment, especially for Paper 2. Manage your time well!
Paper 1: Essay Writing
Differences from secondary school
Instead of 4 essay questions in O Level English, you get to choose one from 8 questions in GP to do. Some students consequently love to narrowly focus on a tiny few pet topics since they have a high probability of coming out. The problem is, in GP, choosing questions shouldn't just be about topic mastery, but also question type. Some questions are phrased in very sadistic ways by teachers, especially for popular topics that students love to do, like Science and Technology. Do NOT fall for this trap! My suggestion is that you specialise in a few pet topics, but read more broadly on other topics as well just in case.
Whereas there used to be narrative questions sometimes in O levels, all questions in GP Paper 1 are argumentative.
Content-wise, you'll be expected to write more than you did in secondary school. While there aren't any hard requirements for the length of your essay, it's typically recommended that you write around 4-5 body paragraphs. Beyond just breadth, the depth of your analysis and reasoning has to be greater than in secondary school.
A lot of GP teachers are pretty nit-picky when it comes to whether you have truly answered the question so do read the question very carefully as they often have multiple requirements. I wish someone told me this when I first entered JC.
Examples of how to Analyse Paper 1 Questions:
Alarmingly, the 21st Century is an age of walls. Discuss. (adapted from HCI 2019 C1 BT)
It's not enough for a student to demonstrate in each body paragraph that the 21st Century is an age of walls. You need to link this convincingly to why this is or is not alarming. Otherwise your content marks will suffer!
There's also room for nuance and many different stands:
The 21st century is not an age of walls, nothing to be alarmed about (hard to argue for but theoretically possible)
The 21st century is an age of walls, but this should be welcomed (hard to argue for but theoretically possible.
The 21st century is an age of walls. We should be concerned but not alarmed (note the nuance between concerned and alarmed).
The 21st century is an age of walls. We should be alarmed.
“Ageing populations present more opportunities than challenges.” How far do you agree? (adapted from HCI 2019 C2 BT1)
This question isn't just about the pros and cons of ageing populations; you must compare the relative weight of them, so ideally you would have paragraphs that compare benefits and drawbacks together. It's quite difficult to have all your paragraphs doing this, but you should at least have a few that do.
Common Mistakes in GP Paper 1:
Forgetting to address a requirement of the question adequately - refer to the above section analysing the question of “Alarmingly, the 21st Century is an age of walls. Discuss.”
Improper use of examples / irrelevant information
Students have this problem with making good use of examples. All examples have a lot of details, but you should include only the important ones and those that actually support the argument you are making. Do not try to force-fit your essay based on the examples you have memorised!
It’s great to use knowledge you have gained from other subjects like History, Economics and Geography, or even your own interests, to use in your GP essays, but make sure you:
Explain key technical terms properly (e.g. externalities in Economics, historiography in History etc.)
Don’t ramble on. Some students tend to include a lot of irrelevant details when talking about something that really interests them. Just include the relevant details!
Include an explanation that makes your evidence relevant to your argument - otherwise it will just sound like a content dump.
You may take a look at our sample essays or others available online to have a feel of what kind of questions they ask (the document is in the Academic Resources page under the GP tab; it is called “GP_HCI_Sample Essays_Ho Song Yee, Judith Ko”).
Paper 2: Comprehension
Starting from 2024 A-Levels, GP comprehensions will now include 3 passages instead of 1-2.
Comprehension is broken into 4 parts: Short Answer Questions (SAQs), Summary, Connection of Ideas and Application Question (AQ).
SAQ is very similar to those in secondary school.
E.g. What does the author mean when he says “______” (line 34) or What does “____” suggest about the author's attitude towards zoos?
There are common question types and corresponding general structures of how to answer them, so do pay attention in class when they're taught!
Summary is somewhat similar to secondary school; it's also 8 marks.
However, it's no longer 1 point = 1 mark; you often have to provide around 15-16 points to get the full marks. Usually, you don’t have to get all the possible points found in the passage.
(Not seen in secondary school) Connection is a new feature of the recently-updated syllabus. You will be asked to draw connections between Passages 1 and 3, and 2 and 3. 4-6 marks are dedicated to it, so it will likely only be 1-2 questions.
(Not seen in secondary school) Application Question (AQ). It's pretty interesting! It's the last question in Paper 2, carrying 12 marks, which in one way or another will ask you to evaluate the views expressed by the author.
There are many evaluative tools to use like short term VS long term, national context, theoretical VS practical etc. but at its heart you have to show nuance and maturity. Don't bash the author without giving credit, or completely agree with the author while being blind to his / her faults. You must have balance and nuance in your writing!
A Level GP passages almost always make controversial statements that can be refuted if you think about it.
E.g. Agree with the author's concern over a particular trend, but find that the author exaggerates the problem. Disagree with the author but acknowledge that in the future it may become a problem because of some factor. Agree that the author's proposed solution is useful, but find that she is too optimistic.
Write 2-4 body paragraphs referring to different arguments the author makes. You can mostly agree or mostly disagree with the author overall. Do provide reasoned explanations and relevant real-world examples (based on your knowledge of current affairs).
Do manage your time well because a lot of students don't finish their AQ.
Exam and Study Tips
A lot of students wonder how to study for GP. I think it's a long term process. During non-examination periods, build up your content by reading the Straits Times and other sources. Synthesise information from school resources and condense them into notes. The importance of practice in GP exceeds most other subjects in my opinion, so do practices for essays and comprehension passages, submit them to your teacher, and consult them for feedback (really important!). A few weeks before the exam, study the comprehension skills and structures again, read a lot of model essays and essay outlines, and memorise your own notes.
It's good to read newspapers, but only read articles that are relevant for GP, if your intention is just to improve GP (most JC students do not have the luxury of time to read for enjoyment). From the articles you read, pick out good and useful vocabulary that you're likely to use in an exam and record them down in a booklet to improve your word choice as well.
At the end of the day, however, GP is more about the skills rather than the content. You'll find that even with the most ATAS content packages from your $100/hr GP tuition centre, the content fed to you will not be useful until and unless you learn how to make use of it, repackage and reframe it to bolster your arguments, and pair it with mature analysis.
Contributed by Ho Song Yee (FMSS'18 | HCI'20)
90RP and A for GP in 2020 A levels
High Distinction for GP under the Hwa Chong Diploma
Edited by Judith Ko