Month: October 2021

2021 DSE English Writing Question 6 (Sample)

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6. Learning English through Popular Culture

You took part in a social media challenge called ‘The 21-day Gratitude Challenge’. For three weeks, you kept a journal about the things you were thankful for on a daily basis. After completing the challenge, participants are invited to share their experience on the 21-day Gratitude Challenge website. Write a blog post.

  • Explain why you accepted this challenge and what you hoped to achieve. 
  • Reflect on the 21 days and whether taking on this challenge has changed you in any way. 

Gratitude Makes Your Day

This year, the social media platform Instagram had held a local event called ‘The 21-day Gratitude Challenge’. When the event first came out, it swept through Hong Kong city. Hong Kong people were enthusiastic about participating in the challenge because they wanted to create and promote a culture of positivity and gratitude towards their fellow citizens. As one of the Hong Kong citizens, I would also like to take on the challenge to express my deepest gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives and contributed to the city and spread a message of hope around the city.  I hope that, by doing so, more teenagers can be encouraged to choose a positive attitude towards their lives and feel grateful for the good things they are still having in the city.

In the 21 days, I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow Hong Kong citizens and return their goodness by showing kindness, appreciation and support to them. For the first few days, I dedicated a handmade gift to my parents and gave a big hug to my siblings to express my thankfulness to them for giving me life and bringing me up with love and tolerance. The next few days, I went on to thank my friends for always being there for me in spite of my many weaknesses and character flaws by sending them a heartfelt thank-you note, offering them a treat, saying encouragement words to them and keeping them company. 

For the following few days, I expressed my appreciation and gratitude to the community helpers, who are doctors, nurses, teachers, journalists, musicians, artists, firemen, social workers, counsellors, postmen, construction workers, bus drivers, hairdressers, trash collectors, for their sacrifices and contributions to Hong Kong city, by giving a compliment to them and showing my admiration for their efforts. What’s more, I went to local shops and eateries and bought some local products to show my thankfulness and support to small local businesses such as café, bookshops, hawkers, groceries stores, street food stalls, wet-market stalls and so on because along with the community helpers, they make our lives easier and better and also promote our well-being. 

In the last few days, I expressed my gratitude to all the people above and returned their goodness by giving back to the underprivileged and disadvantaged in the Hong Kong society. I donated and gave second-hand books and clothes to the charity organisations. Then, I made and wrote encouragement cards to the children in the orphanage. On another day, I volunteered to help children from the grassroots family with their homework, followed by taking a meal to a homeless person.

Having successfully completed “The 21-day Gratitude Challenge”, I have found myself humbled by the gratitude that I expressed day by day. I am able to appreciate the others as well as the surroundings because I have come to the realisation that the contributions and sacrifices made by others should not be taken for granted.  Showing gratitude helps me look at the good and bright side instead of the bad and dark side even in times of adversity. Therefore, I have become a more resilient and contented person instead of a negative and grumpy one. 

2021 DSE English Writing Question 9 (Sample)

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9. Learning English through Drama

You want to be a screenwriter and have an idea of a TV drama series about three generations of a family.

Write a letter to the production manager at TV-Station X.

  • Introduce the characters, plot and setting of your TV drama.
  • Explain why you think this idea would be popular with viewers.

Dear Production Manager,

The Crossroad in the Triangle

I am writing to propose to you my idea of a TV drama series called The Crossroad in the Triangle which is about three generations of a lower-middle class family set in the present-time Hong Kong. The storyline centres on the university and working life of the female protagonist Suzy Lo whose adventure triggers conflicts and fights with the older generations of her family. It mainly depicts the difficulties and problems faced by the youth nowadays. I hope you would take my story into account. 

The drama series begins with Suzy Lo, a millennial born in 1997, having passed the public examinations with flying colours and feeling deeply vexed about which major study to take in the university. She has always dreamed about being a writer. However, Suzy knows very well that only the exceptionally talented writers can earn their livelihood from writing. Despite her excellent academic results, she doubts her creativity and ability in writing. Meanwhile, her parents, born in the 1960s, exhort her to study medicine at the University of Hong Kong because of the handsome salary and the high living standard that the profession guarantees. Still, Suzy wants to take a risk pursuing her dream partly because her 80-year-old grandma passively backs her up. It is later discovered that Suzy secretly changes her first choice of major study to English literature and her application gets accepted. Her parents are very furious about her decision. They have several quarrels over her future, with occasional flashbacks to their poor and hard lives in the 1960s when they had to work at the factories at an early age and could barely earn money to support their living. They try to remind Suzy of the golden opportunity that she now has of earning a decent living and securing a stable career. The first series ends with the confrontation. 

The second series follows Suzy’s university life and the problems she is faced with. In her final undergraduate year, Suzy finds the study too daunting and subsequently suffers from depression. Her parents blame Suzy for her illness. It leads to clashes with her parents again. Suzy feels guilty and painfully abandoned and looks for comforts and encouragement from her grandma who treats and tends her wounds with love and care. Suzy goes through psychotherapy and at the same time manages to pass the graduation examination. The second series ends with Suzy’s happy graduation. 

The final series begins with Suzy’s first job as a contributor to life and arts section of The Times and the challenges it poses and puts her through. She tries hard to keep up with hectic schedules and hit tight deadlines. After successfully passing the probation, Suzy suddenly experiences writer’s block and runs out of inspiration. She believes that she has reached her limits and regrets having chosen the less travelled road. Grandma discovers that Suzy cries hysterically in the bedroom and learns that she wants to give up her dream. Grandma recalls her arranged marriage at an early age when her life was mostly arranged and decided by her parents. She had no options available to choose what to do with her life. Grandma shows her appreciation for the courage of her granddaughter to choose her own way of life regardless of the strong disapproval of her parents. The final series ends with the grandma’s motto “For one thing, be prepared and responsible to bear any consequences due to one’s choice of road. Once you have chosen, commit to it and pay all the price for and efforts towards your goal no matter how many times you fail, because in the end, you have nothing to lose but only learn better.”

I believe that the proposed TV drama series would be popular with viewers and become a great hit because of several reasons. There is a growing cultural trend among the current teenagers that one should live out one’s dream instead of the wishes of one’s parents or the favours of the society. Yet, in the pursuit of dreams, they are afraid of failure, fragile and easy to succumb to the pressure of the surroundings. They hope that someone would understand and encourage them to become who they want to be in spite of how many times they fail. The series depicts not only the generation and communication gap between the new generation and the old generation but also the many trials and errors, fears and doubts, struggles and hardships experienced by the new generation when they grow up to become an adult. As there are many monologues about the inner world of the female protagonist in the series, the old generation can understand more about the thoughts and beliefs of the new generation and be more sympathetic to them. Therefore, I believe the TV drama series would certainly click and resonate with the current generation of adolescents as well as the old generation. At the same time, teenagers are in need of a role model who can set a good example for them to imitate. From the protagonist, they can learn the proactive and resilient attitude to overcome any obstacles at the time of adversity.

Given the originality and novelty of the plot, I hope that you would consider the story. If you are interested, please feel free to contact me at 9876 5432 and I would send the whole drama scripts to you for your perusal. 

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong