By Victor Ochieng’
vochieng.90@gmail.com
Imaginative Composition is a compulsory question, tested in English Paper Three, question one. It tests writing skills inherent in students. Basically, candidates should showcase originality, ingenuity and creativity in the use of the queen’s language – English.
Being a passionate penman from the sultry shores of the large lake, this in an ambit of English that I cherish, like fish. In the recent past, when I was teaching English in colossal city where roads have evolved to storeyed status, I penned a book titled Write Right English Composition Guide for Secondary Schools. Permit me to share some good guidelines.
• Correct choice of question
In a standard exam like KCSE, the examiner gives candidates large latitude of choice. The question is presented as 1 (a) or (b). There can be a narrative – where a candidate is given a started or ended composition. Different types of essays can be tested: Descriptive, argumentative, discursive, expository, compare-and-contrast, et cetera. As perfectly captured in the Spot On Writing Skills for Secondary Schools by Angeline Kioko, Martin Njoroge and Professor Austin Bukenya. The fascinating question in this section is the one that asks students to validate a proverb or a wise saying. When writing a story to validate the winsome wit and wisdom hidden in an aphorism like hard work pays, candidates are not expected to explain the meaning of the proverb per se. Instead, the student should weave words that perfectly brings out the two-fold structure and infrastructure of a proverb: Proposition part, which is hard work and completion part, which is payment. In a nutshell, the candidate scores if s/he can weld words about a character who toiled and moiled, then later accessed hard work.
• Of originality, ingenuity and creativity
A student should create a story obeying the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, “Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing.” In order to pique originality, ingenuity and creativity in writing, figures of authority should introduce learners to the wonder of the written word. Learners must read widely and wildly. Teachers should ensure that learners focus on the four-fold skills, which are close cognates: Listening, reading, speaking and writing. Learners can learn language and lingo of writing when they watch useful programmes on Television and listen to well-narrated didactic documentaries on digital sites.
• Employing literary elements
Just as we see in genres like short story, novella and novel, a carefully-crafted composition is a colourful cocktail of various literary elements like the title, setting, plot, character, theme, moral lesson, style and techniques. Albeit, when writing an imaginative composition, the better writer must treads with caution. In an exam situation, if it is a started composition, giving the story a title is misguided. Why? Because in such a situation, the examiner expects the candidate to specifically begin with the given words in the question. The setting of the story must be clear like crystal – answering questions such as when and where? When focuses on time, while where puts puissance on place. The story must have the plot or story line. In a well-written story, the narrator must be able to create characters, develop and give them traits. Through nemesis, the writer-cum-narrator is allowed to glorify virtues and vilify vices inherent in characters. For instance, an industrious character should access success. While a character who is lazy and lackadaisical, should reap fruits of lassitude. As we read the story, we should be able to see the main ideas coming out like honesty, integrity, corruption, pride, et cetera.
• Areas of critical focus
The story should be clustered in paragraphs. By and large, we have block and indent formats of paragraphing. When writing an imaginative composition, it is advisable to stick like a tick to the indent format. To be a better writer, blend different types of sentences. Use good handwriting, which is decipherable. Candidates who write like doctors prescribing medicine mess and miss the mark. To write right, one has to maintain an upright sitting posture, grip the pen properly, shape and perch letters on paper as expected. Letters should not be faint like fading festoon of flowers. In addition, good grammar rife with glamour should be used. Grammar and its usage focuses on stupendous sentence structure, correct spelling, right tense and proper punctuation.
• On style and technique
A good composition can be compared to preparation of a delicious meat stew. A better writer is equivalent to a cook with good culinary skills. There are ingredients that must be mixed in the right proportion. Or else, the whole broth can be spoilt. In writing a composition, the writer identifies a particular style which is spectacular in the eyes of the reader. This aspect is enhanced through manifold writing tools and techniques. The writer should create mental images in the reader through skilful use of styles classified as imagery, which include: similes, metaphors, personification, pathetic fallacy, vivid description, symbolism and hyperbole. The writer is also allowed to use figures of speech like irony, oxymoron, paradox, metonymy, synecdoche, proverbs, wise sayings, et cetera. There is a sweet secret: Double word phrases, phrasal verbs, creation of conflict and mature sense of humour — work wonders.
In the whole scheme of things, there is one warning: these features of style must be used sparingly. Why? If you remember the analogy of the meat stew, then you know: they are not the meat, but the ingredients that add taste and flavour to the mouth-watering stew.
• Things to avoid
Good writing is governed by a raft of rules and regulations – rubric. Somehow, woe betide the writer who chooses to contravene the rules of creative writing. In imaginative compositions, there are things students should shun. Through wise use of euphemism and litotes, students should shun, obscenity, taboo topics and erotic scenes. Students should desist from settling conflicts through pious approach. They should avoid stories that set in heaven and hell. It is wrong to be sentimental and emotional. It is vague to write that you died. Ambiguity – lacking clarity in writing – should be avoided. Shun misuse of vocabulary like saying that food was ‘sweet’. Instead, use correct and accurate words like delicious, luscious, tantalising, yummy, et cetera. Do not be bombastic. For there are no merit ticks allotted to use of high-flown language. Instead of saying you were ‘flabbergasted’, and perhaps you are even oblivious of the spelling, just use the simple word ‘shocked’ or phrasal verb ‘taken aback’. Avoid stories that set in the forest and nettlesome tales about rape. Avoid the use of oral narrative style like ‘once upon a time’ or ‘there ends my story’. Avoid clichés – overused expression that sounds meaningless. Readers are tickled by sense of originality, ingenuity and creativity. So, instead of saying Ochieng’ is black like charcoal. You can blend simile, humour with hyperbole and say: Ochieng’ is dark like a thousand midnights. Avoid short forms and abbreviations like ‘don’t’ and KCSE. Please, spare us your proactive laziness. Get it right. Write it in full. Avoid verbosity: Choose words with clock-like precision. Avoid redundancy – unnecessary repetition like ‘repeat again’. Do not confuse homophones like ‘sit’ and ‘seat’. Or ‘herd’, ‘heard’, ‘hard’ and ‘had’. It is also important to avoid confusion of English variety – British and American spelling systems. Orthography, the spelling system, permits us to stick to one spelling system – British spelling. So, it is ‘centre’ not ‘center’; ‘colour’ not ‘color’; ‘cosy’ not ‘cozy’. Use of sheng slang is erroneous. Mother tongue influence and direct translation should not be allowed to be allowed to litter the script.
The writer is the author of Write Right Composition Guide for Secondary Schools.
