What if my essay is short of words?

Add relevant detail or one concrete example instead of repeating yourself or padding with off-topic lines.

How do I decide what to expand?

Expand the moment closest to the theme and strongest in feeling; summarise the rest.

S4 Chinese, DSE Paper 2 Writing, Paper 1: narrative elements and proportion

2026-10-31

Ten items on openings that set the scene, first person narration, portrait description, transitions, proportion, argument structure and endings.

Focus　Open with time, place and people; write personal experience in the first person; portrait detail must serve character; add a transition between paragraphs; write the turning point in detail; an argument needs claim, evidence and reasoning; cut what drifts off topic.

01　Paper details (check answers afterwards)

Item	Detail
Questions	10
Suggested time	25
Difficulty mix	Foundation 4 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 2 · Error redo 1
Chapter	Chapter: S4 Chinese: DSE Paper 2 Writing
Level	S4 to S6

02　Questions (10 items)

FoundationWhat must a narrative opening establish?
FoundationWhich person should the topic my first time be written in?
FoundationDescribing dress, appearance and expression is which kind of description?
FoundationIf two paragraphs jump too far apart, what should you add?
IntermediateWhat is the worst fault in an essay about one small incident?
IntermediateWhat are the three basic parts of an argumentative essay?
IntermediateAn essay needs 600 words and one paragraph drifts off topic: what should you do?
ChallengeA 800-word essay ends with 200 words: what share of the essay is the ending?
ChallengeWith 45 minutes in total and 10 spent planning, how long is left for writing?
Error redoAn ending says only that the event is worth remembering: why is that empty?

03　Answers and one-line notes

#	Answer	One-line note
1	Setting such as time, place and people	Without a clear setting the later events cannot land, so one opening paragraph is enough.
2	The first person, I	A personal experience reads best in the first person, which also allows inner feeling.
3	Portrait description	Portrait detail should serve character, not pad the word count.
4	A transition sentence or paragraph	A transition carries the result of one paragraph into the next so the essay flows.
5	A flat list of events with no proportion	Write the turning moment in detail and compress the rest, or nothing stands out.
6	Claim, evidence and reasoning	A clear claim, concrete evidence and the reasoning that links them are all required.
7	Cut it rather than keep it for length	Off-topic writing drags the overall impression down, so replace it with relevant detail.
8	25%	Two hundred out of eight hundred is one quarter, which makes the ending top heavy.
9	35 minutes	Planning beyond ten minutes eats into the time needed to write the script.
10	It has no concrete content and does not answer the theme	A good ending returns to the key words of the topic and says what changed.

04　What to do after marking

After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.

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