Assessment of Literature in Hougang Secondary

For the Secondary 2 Express students, their SA1 grade for Literature will comprise of 5 CA components and a mid-year examination.

The 5 CA components are:
1. A written test on technical terms like "speaker vs poet", "alliteration", etc and identification of imagery in 2 short unseen poems
2. An analysis of the use of metaphor in "The Sea" by James Reeves, written in a table form
3. Group skit on a bullying scenario in "Cause and Effect" by Andrea Wilson"
4. A type-written essay on "Why do the characters in "Cause and Effect" bully?"
5. MCQ quiz on 5 of the stories in "Little Ironies" by Catherine Lim

Out of the above 5, the first two are what I would term the more "traditional" modes of testing, as they focus on ensuring students understand the use of certain traditional literary devices. Task 3 focuses on the active, performative side of Literature as students are given free reign to craft a story for each character and then act it out, based on the information given the poem. Task 4 veers slightly into a comprehension task as there are no actual literary devices used in the poem. The poem basically hints at the reasons why people bully, and the way the content was presented makes it seem as though the poetic form was not really necessary. In that sense, this task is more or less a comprehension task as students need only pick out the reasons from the poem then write it out in an essay form. Task 5 is definitely comprehension-based and could have worked just as well for an English lesson.