When I was 15, I made a insane decision. That is take English Literature as my 12 subjects in SPM. Well, go a bit far from the topic.
What is English Literature? You are given short stories, poems, drama and novel. 4 session each and for each session, 3 types of question will be asked(all the 3 types of question are going to ask in all the 4 sessions)
Let say session A(short stories)
The 1st type question;
You are given a paragraph on the short stories(the short stories is attributed when you pursue your study in English Literature). Answer it. It is a simple question, since you just need to rephrase or reconstruct the information given(cannot copy directly), then 5 marks are awarded. Simple and easy isn’t? It is totally a bonus marks.
Let say session D(drama)
For 2nd type of question;
8 marks will be awarded if you can answer this question completely. Well, this question is about memorising all the important things in the drama. Example; how did James escape the prison? And then you need to describe whole the process and even the tools needed for James to escape the prison. It is quite tough but if you are a bookaholic, it is a easy task since u have read the drama during the 2 yrs repeatedly until the skin of the book drop. Ahahah
Let say Session C(novel)
For 3rd type of question;
This is the most toughest part in English Literature. 12 marks will be awarded for truly excellent students. Example Question; Human are cruel. And then you need to have your elaboration on the cruelness of human related with the novel you have read. It is related to critical thinking, and your idea must be good enough and even your language also very important(to derive your idea nicely). Quotes are also needed in this type of question to score a 11/12 or 10/12 for this part. 12/12 is like getting a band 6 in MUET.
Therefore, for those who are not confident in their English, do the English Literature. Sometimes, the result is nothing but a paper. By doing English Literature, you can obtain the power of critical thinking, which is always the lack for most of the students in Malaysia. Grammar mistake is not a problem in doing this subject. But, friendly advice, if you want to score a straight A+ in your SPM, DON’T TAKE ENGLISH LITERATURE!! For mediocre student like me, not going to score straight A+ in SPM but inspired to score at least 10A in SPM, do this subject. You will increase your ability in English directly since you have read all the novel, drama, short stories and poems!! P/s: the drama I read when I was 17 is Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Classic English!! Mad but fun!!
I found a blog post on SPM English Literature but I suspect the syllabus is outdated. Anybody has the latest syllabus of SPM English literature? If yes please reply to this post as it will be very useful to SPM 2015 candidates taking this subject on their own / self-study. Thank you in advance!