GP J1 Term 3

1. GP J1 Term 3 Home Based E-learning Module 1 – MYE Post-mortem

2. GP MYE P1 – Question Selection Which question did you choose?Why did you choose that question? Was it because… • Size matters. Discuss. • Tourism brings more harm than benefits. Do you agree? • Examine how new forms of recreation have impacted youths negatively. • Man has paid a huge price for modernity. Discuss this issue with reference to Singapore. • Divorce is a curse upon societies. Is this a fair comment? • Teachers today face an unenviable task. To what extent is this true? • If Singapore fails to open its doors, it is setting itself up for failure. Comment. • Is new always better? • To what extent do you agree that people practise charity for pragmatic reasons? • We need the elderly more than they need us. Do you agree? • Can fear be desirable? • Is the world of fiction good for children? Discuss with reference to books. • You fully understood the question’s key requirements • You have some knowledge/ read the notes/ did some revision on the topic • You like/have strong views concerning the topic in general • You are certain of the approach to take for this particular type of question (eg. expository/comparative/ evaluative/absolute proposition etc.) • You dislike all other questions **Number the above criterion in order of importance

3. Criteria for Question Selection • You should select a question based on the criteria in the following order of importance… 1 • You fully understood the question’s key requirements • You have some knowledge/ read the notes/ did some revision on the topic • You are certain of the approach to take for this particular type of question (eg. expository/comparative/ evaluative/absolute proposition etc.) • You like/have strong views concerning the topic in general • You dislike all other questions 2 3 4 5 • Steps to take in Question Selection: • Cancel away 6 questions that do not fulfil criterion 1, 2 & 3 • Further cancel away 3 questions that do not fulfil criterion 1, 2 & 3 • Of the remaining 3 questions, do a quick brainstorming exercise to check if you have sufficient points to answer the question. • Select the question for which you have the most ideas.

4. GP MYE P1 – Question Types • Size matters. Discuss. • Tourism brings more harm than benefits. Do you agree? • Examine how new forms of recreation have impacted youths negatively. • Man has paid a huge price for modernity. Discuss this issue with reference to Singapore. • Divorce is a curse upon societies. Is this a fair comment? • Teachers today face an unenviable task. To what extent is this true? • If Singapore fails to open its doors, it is setting itself up for failure. Comment. • Is new always better? • To what extent do you agree that people practise charity for pragmatic reasons? • We need the elderly more than they need us. Do you agree? • Can fear be desirable? • Is the world of fiction good for children? Discuss with reference to books. Do you recall what the different question types are? • Discursive • Evaluative (to what extent/how far/how true) • Absolute Propositions (only, never, best…) • Comparative (A / B, A … than B, A > B) • Conditional (If …, there would be…) Your Task: Identify the question types of the questions in the GP MYE P1

5. GP MYE P1 – Question Types Do you recall what the different question types are? Discursive • Size matters. Discuss. • Tourism brings more harm than benefits. Do you agree? • Examine how new forms of recreation have impacted youths negatively. • Man has paid a huge price for modernity. Discuss this issue with reference to Singapore. • Divorce is a curse upon societies. Is this a fair comment? • Teachers today face an unenviable task. To what extent is this true? • If Singapore fails to open its doors, it is setting itself up for failure. Comment. • Is new always better? • To what extent do you agree that people practise charity for pragmatic reasons? • We need the elderly more than they need us. Do you agree? • Can fear be desirable? • Is the world of fiction good for children? Discuss with reference to books. Comparative • Discursive • Evaluative (to what extent/how far/how true) • Absolute Propositions (only, never, best…) • Comparative (A / B, A … than B, A > B) • Conditional (If …, there would be…) Discursive Ab Prop Ab Prop Evaluative Ab Prop Conditional Your Task: Identify the question types of the questions in the GP MYE P1 Ab Prop Evaluative Comparative Did you get them all correct? Discursive Discursive

6. GP MYE P1 – Question Types Confused? Take note… • A single question can be an amalgam of different question types. For example: • Absolute proposition+evaluative • Science isperfect. To what extentDYA? (SAJC2005J2PE) • Conditional + Absolute proposition • If Singapore fails to open its doors, it is setting itself up forfailure. Comment. (MJC2009J1MYEQ7) • If all people were of one race, there would be no discrimination. DYA (ACJC2005J2PE) • Comparative + evaluative • Attitude, not aptitude determines one’s altitude. How far DYA? (SAJC2006J2PE) • Identifying question types simply helps you to take note of: • what keywords to consider • what approach to be best taken for your essay.

7. Now let us consider… a) Discursive Questions • Discursive questions are direct in nature. • There are relatively lesser problems in interpreting what the question is exactly asking for. • You do still need to take note of the key words, so as to establish the topic and scope of your essay. Your task: Underline the key words & ‘unpack’ the key requirements for Q3. Q3) Examine how new forms of recreation have impacted youths negatively.

8. What are considered NEW forms of recreation? Q3) Examine how new forms of recreation have impactedyouthsnegatively. • What are some new forms of recreation that are POPULAR amongst YOUNG PEOPLE and therefore have had great impact on them? • Possibly popularised in the last 10-20 years, eg. PSP, online social networking – blogging, Facebook • Possibly linked to technological advances, eg. online gaming, X-box games • Possibly linked to adventure, eg. extreme sports, parkour How have these new forms of recreation had an UNDESIRABLE impact on youth? Show a cause and effect relationship

9. Possible arguments for Q3 • The addictive nature of such forms of recreation • Eg. Virtual pets have to be monitored round the clock; facebook accounts have to be updated to maintain others’ interest; collaborative/competitive nature of working with or against other players in online gaming sites can make it hard to take a break. • Caused many youths to neglect studies, families and even real-world social life. Some even have to undergo counselling to stop their addictions to the Internet. • The use of gratuitous violence and sex in online games to attract gamers • Eg. Grand Theft Auto, Super Columbine Massacre, Halo III • While these violent games are not deliberately targeted at the young, the popularity of these games among youths plus youths’ immaturity makes them vulnerable to desensitization towards violence and sex. • Studies have shown that playing violent video games increases aggressive behaviour. • An extreme example: 18 year old Devin Moore killed 3 policemen after playing Grand Theft Auto for months non-stop. Read http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/17/60minutes/main702599.shtml for more details.

10. More possible arguments for Q3 The difficulty of monitoring what youths do online… • Many young people use the Internet as a space to get to know more people, spending long hours online. Furthermore, some young people are unable to make a clear distinction between their private and personal space. • Some youths post intimate details of themselves or chat up strangers unknowingly allowing online sexual predators to prey on them. • More about online sex predators here… http://www.asiaone.com/Digital/Features/Story/A1Story20070925-26978.html • http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,205685,00.html • The difficulty of monitoring 24/7 what youths do online, coupled with the autonomy today’s busy parentsallow them causes some to get into trouble with the law. • Some examples: • Many illegally download songs or movies on illegal file-sharing sites. • Others access gambling or sports betting websites, racking up thousands of dollars in debt

11. Parkour Kite-surfing Snowboarding Stunt-biking More possible arguments for Q3 • Young people seek increasingly challenging and dangerous forms of extreme sports as recreation, viewing conventional sports as boring and passe. In fact extreme sports are defined by the high levels of risk and danger involved. • Such extreme sports include skateboarding, mountain climbing, storm-chasing, kite-surfing, snowboarding, parkour/free-running, BMX stunt-biking • While extreme sports are not the sole domain of young people, they are extremely popular amongst this group. Furthermore, youths’ lack of maturity and experience results in them taking less safety precautions and suffering more injuries.

12. Pitfalls for Q3… • The question specifically states NEW forms of recreation, so please do not focus on conventional forms of recreation that have existed for a long time, eg. sports, shopping, etc. • The forms of recreation discussed should have a direct negative impact on youths. Your points should not concern recreational activities undertaken by adults that have an indirect impact on youths. One bad example: • “The opening of the IRs in Singapore poses harm to young people as many adults will be addicted to gambling, and those who are parents will neglect their children.” (Relevance to NEW forms of recreation? Relevance to impact on YOUTHS?) • While it is alright to begin your brainstorming process by thinking of what constitutes new forms of recreation that impact youths, your essay should not be driven by different examples of different new forms of recreation. An example-driven essay looks like this: • SV1: Online gaming is dangerous for youths… • SV2: Online social networking is dangerous for youths… • SV3: Extreme sports is dangerous for youths… • While many new forms of recreation that impact youths concern the Internet, you should not limit your discussion to only the Internet. Be careful not to make these mistakes!

13. Q & A for Discursive Questions Q1: Is there a need for a stand for discursive questions? A: Depends. If the question has directly stated to look at an issue positively/negatively, then there is no need for one, eg Q3. However if the question allows for a stand, of course you need one! Q1)Size matters. Discuss. Q11) Can fear be desirable? Q12) Is the world of fiction good for children? Discuss with reference to books. Do the above discursive questions require a stand?

14. Q & A for Discursive Questions Q2: Must OVs and rebuttals be given? A: Depends. If the question has directly stated to look at an issue positively/negatively, then giving an OV and a rebuttal is not necessary but can be used to add some depth to your arguments. • eg Q3. “…While extreme sports are not the sole domain of young people, they are extremely popular amongst this group…” • However if the question requires a stand, then of course including OVs and rebuttals are necessary! Q1)Size matters. Discuss. Q11) Can fear be desirable? Q12) Is the world of fiction good for children? Discuss with reference to books. Do the above discursive questions require OVs and rebuttals?

15. Your task in groups of 3: • Pick either Q1, 11 or 12. • Underline the key words & ‘unpack’ the key requirements. • Decide on how best to brainstorm the points. • Organise your points into an essay plan with at least 3 SVs & 2OVs with rebuttals/concessions AND examples for each point. Q1) Size matters. Discuss. Q11) Can fear be desirable? Q12) Is the world of fiction good for children? Discuss with reference to books.

16. How to hand my essay plan in? • Upload your essay plans on Student submissions under the Wizlearn workbin where you downloaded this module. • Alternatively, email your essay plans to teosiokkuanjanice@gmail.com