A/L General English and Literature Examination Centre

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A new A/L question every MondayQuestion of the Week

A/L General EnglishLetter to the editorWeek of 5 October 2026

Plan a letter about roadside litter

Litter along the roads in your town has become a serious problem. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper (about 200 words) describing the problem, its effects, and two practical solutions.

For this week, write a plan and an opening paragraph only.

Show the model answer

Plan

Paragraph 1: reason for writing; the problem in one sentence (roadside litter along the main road and near the bus stand).

Paragraph 2: the effects: blocked drains and flooding after rain, mosquitoes, a poor impression on visitors.

Paragraph 3: solution 1: covered bins at bus halts, emptied on a fixed schedule by the council.

Paragraph 4: solution 2: school and community clean-up days, with fines for dumping enforced.

Paragraph 5: closing appeal to readers and the authorities.

Opening paragraph

Sir, I write to draw attention to the litter that now lines the main road through our town, particularly near the bus stand and the market. Plastic bags, food wrappers and bottles are thrown from vehicles and left by passers-by, and the problem has grown steadily worse over the past year.

How it would be marked

Format: a letter to the editor opens with Sir or Dear Editor and ends with the writer's name and town. The writer's address and date appear at the top.

Planning earns its time: a five-paragraph plan guarantees that the problem, the effects and two solutions are all covered. Letters written without a plan often give one solution only.

Tone: formal and reasonable. Complaints that insult the council lose the reader's sympathy.

Opening: state the purpose in the first sentence. I am writing this letter to tell you about something delays the point.

Marking notes written by RCF English to explain what earns credit. They are not an official marking scheme.

A/L LiteratureUnseen poetryWeek of 28 September 2026

An unseen poem: 'Rain on the Tin Roof'

Rain on the Tin Roof (an unseen poem written for this question by RCF English)

At first a knock, polite and small,

a stranger testing at the door;

then fists, then drums, then no pause at all,

the whole sky falling on the floor.

My mother lifts her head and smiles.

The paddy drinks. The well will rise.

Tonight the noise is worth the miles

of dry and dust-white August skies.

How does the poet present the arrival of the rain, and how does the mood change between the two stanzas? Refer closely to language and technique.

Show the model answer

The poet presents the rain's arrival as a growing visitor. In the first stanza it is personified as a stranger who knocks polite and small, suggesting caution and unfamiliarity after a long dry season. The sequence then fists, then drums, then no pause at all builds through repetition and rising force, and the listing imitates the quickening sound on the roof until the hyperbole the whole sky falling on the floor makes the rain overwhelming.

In the second stanza the mood turns from noise and near-alarm to relief. The short, calm sentences The paddy drinks. The well will rise. slow the rhythm and show the practical value of the rain for a farming household. The mother's smile turns the sound into good news. The final lines weigh the noise against miles / of dry and dust-white August skies: the long vowels and the image of dust suggest weeks of hardship, so the rain becomes welcome rather than threatening.

How it would be marked

Credit for: identifying a technique (personification, repetition, hyperbole, sentence length, imagery), quoting it briefly, and explaining its effect. Naming a device without explaining it earns little.

Answer the whole question: both how the rain is presented and how the mood changes. Many answers do the first well and forget the second.

Structure: one paragraph per stanza works well here, with a sentence linking them.

Common mistake: retelling the poem (First the rain comes, then the mother smiles). Every sentence should say how or why, not only what.

Marking notes written by RCF English to explain what earns credit. They are not an official marking scheme.

Try the question before opening the answer. Every question, passage and poem here was written by RCF English.

1. Know the syllabus and the examination

A/L General English

What the subject is, what it examines, and where to start.

A/L Literature syllabus

The syllabus and how the papers are organised.

Prescribed texts

The texts section for A/L Literature.

Examination guidance

How the Literature examination works and what examiners look for.

2. Answering technique

General English writing

Letters, essays, reports and summaries.

General English reading

Comprehension, inference and vocabulary in context.

Critical appreciation

Writing about an unseen poem or passage.

Answer development

Building a point into analysis that earns credit.

Essay questions

Planning and arguing a Literature essay.

Context questions

Placing an extract and explaining its significance.

3. Frequently made mistakes

General English: common mistakes

The grammar and usage errors that recur most often.

A/L Literature: common mistakes

Narration instead of analysis, unsupported claims and other costly habits.

4. Model answers and self-assessment

A/L Literature model answers

Worked Literature answers with commentary.

General English self-assessment

Check where you stand before you plan revision.

Assessment rubrics

Classroom rubrics for writing and Literature answers you can use to check your own work.

5. Timed practice

A/L Literature papers

Past papers and marking material in the paper library.

General English practice

Practice that marks itself and explains each answer.

All papers

Browse the full library by section, term, province and year.

Use with any past paper

Examination timer

Open a past paper, set the time printed on it, and start. You will be told at halfway and with ten minutes left.

Plan your week

My A/L study timetable

Replace the list with your own subjects, mark the ones that need extra time, and print the result. Your choices stay on this device.

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