Salam Respected members of the prestigious forum!! I have lately joined this forum.
My name is Sadia Malik. I am a graduate in Modern Languages from NUML. Now I have started to prepare myself for M.A English from NUML but this time as a private candidate. It will be very pleasant and helpful for me to interact if somebody on this forum is interested for the same degree. My plan to appear for the Masters exam is for April 2012.
Probably my case is a bit unique. I had to leave the regular M.A English from NUML in the middle of my third semester, 4 years ago. Either I was weak or the opposing winds were hard, Allah knows better. I was better than mediocre students. Now I want to take the M.A English exam as an external candidate in April 2012. I am not doing job.
My memory and concentration level has quite decreased after such a long gap. How can I take myself to the level of excellence, attain in-depth knowledge and secure valuable grades? I am finding it really hard to restart. Kindly guide me.

As an external candidate of M.A English ( Linguistics and Literature) from NUML, one is supposed to take the exam of 10 papers consisting of a vast syllabus. So I want to be fully prepared and pass it in one attempt without wasting more time and money. Its not possible to just cram a few important questions and pass ( as it is possible in some other universities). The passing criteria of NUML is quite high - 50% pass percentage. I appreciate their standards as it makes their degree valuable regarding knowledge and job seeking.
I have just taken out two books and started studying from today.

1. 'History of English Language' by Albert C. Baugh
( Paper of General and Historical Linguistics)

2. 'Twelfth Night' - a Shakespearian comedy.
( Paper of Drama)

O Lord ! Help me to study well. Give me tips respected members especially M.A English.

Sadia you should not be worried about it. Postgraduation is not a competitive exam where failure would cost you a lucrative job. Moreover ,English literature is not an upheaval task to achieve.

well dear its very nice to hear that u r doing M.A ENGLISH. well i just completed my masters in english. if any help required dear then most welcome.

@ TRANPARENT

I dont have books as well as guidance for the essay paper which is taught in 4th semester in NUML. Kindly write the names of the books . Also tell me that what kind of essays are put forward to write an essay.

1. Literature related?
2. Social problems?
3. Political issues?

Moreover suggest me how to prepare the above mentioned paper.

The M.A English paper for external candidates April 2010 is in front of me. The maximum marks are 40 for this question. The question is following

Q. Give response to any two of the following questions clearly highlighting your thesis statement and building a strong argument in the favour of your thesis.
( 150 words each)

a. `Are actors and professional athletes paid too much ?

b. Should animals be used for research?

c. Is the death penalty effective?

My question is that how a thesis statement is written and then thesis is written with strong arguments?

I have asked for help in the above post from NUMLIAN M.A English people especially. If anybody else can guide me, you are most welcome.

Aslam-o-Alikum
dear,first of all i welcome you to the forum.

i think you must have experience of the way of teaching,paper checking standard and expectations of teachers as you have studied 3 semesters as a regular candidate.have you studied in Main campus?

Teachers demand a good expression,clarity of concepts, and to the point answer.

Buy books of NKM for novel,drama,classic poetry specially.Also take help from internet.

do consult past papers and make a list of important questions.

if you study poem,drama,novel ,short story...study about its themes first,once you have cleared your concept then study the text and relate the characters and important incidents with the theme or the main concept.
this way everything will become easy.then cram a few important quotes

for history subject,you need to cram some things like dates,places and the origin of the languages.
Again consult past papers and see what important areas you need to cover.

As far as essay is concerned,mostly argumentative and narrative essays are given.i don't remember the name of the book we used.i will tell you that later.

the topics you have mentioned are examples of argumentative essays in which you have to defend your stance.

c. Is the death penalty effective?

here are 3 thesis statements of this topic if you want to defend the topic.
basically,you need to clear your intention that you are for or against the topic.
thesis statement should be given in 1st or 2nd para of the essay.

As history tells us, capital punishment, whose definition is "the use of death as a legally sanctioned punishment," is an acceptable and efficient means of deterring crime. Today, the death penalty remains an effective method of punishment for murder and other heinous crimes.

Having the death penalty in our society is humane; it helps the overcrowding problem and gives relief to the families of the victims, who had to go through an event such as murder.

Justice mandates that criminals receive what they deserve, and this idea of reciprocity demands that justice enforcers use violence against a particularly brutal criminal, if of course it is deemed a fit penalty.

to read more about thesis statements see the link below.

Thesis Statement Help | ThesisTown.com

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@ SHOOTINGSTAR

1. I am really obliged for your warm welcome and directional guidance.

2. Please write down the name of the books for M.A English Essay paper also , as you wrote.

3. I have been a student at NUML Islamabad, the main campus.

4. I hope you will keep on guiding me backed by your knowledge during my preparation.

Thanks a lot again. Best of Luck for the academic / competitive as well as real life exams.

@ shootingstar

In the Syllabus booklet , the names of 3 books have been mentioned for Essay paper.


1. College Writing Skills with Readings
by John Langan

2. English Skills with Readings
by John Langan

3. The Creative Writing
by Andrew Motion

I hope it will help you to recall that which books have been used during 4th semester.

pleasure is all mine.It is my duty to help people with the little knowledge i have and i will always try to help you in the best of my capacities.

have you ever taught by Ma'am Ambreena in any semester?how was your experience?


we were also given 2/3 books for essay writing including the first one you mentioned but we never touched any except this one.
Patterns of College Writing by Laurie G.Kriszner and Stephen R. Mandell

Basically they are all for general guidance and to get the know how of essay writing.
you can see all the books and then choose the one which you think appropriate.

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Work until your idols become your rivals.

@sadia
well sorry dear i did my masters in english from punjab uni. so numl and ours secs are a bit different. so only few books are similar!

Salam courageneverdies ! ! I am addressing you particularly as well as all Numlian M.A English. Please guide me that how should I prepare M.A English Essay paper. I have neither books n notes for this paper nor guidance.

1. Please list the names of books for that Essay paper taught to regular students.

2. Please attach the notes which are dictated by teachers or collected through other sources.( You have provided excellent help to other external students)



The previous papers for external students are really confusing for example the following questions.


Q 1. Distinguish between the Narrative and the Descriptive types of Essays.
( Marks 20)

Q 2 Write two paragraphs on the benefits of internet. Each paragraph should be constructed around a topis sentence followed by supporting details.
( Marks 20)

Q 3. Distinguish between Expository and Narrative types of essays.
(marks 20)

I have no material on the above questions to answer.

I shall be very thankful for your gracious help.

@ M.A English Numlians

How should I prepare myself for that Essay paper ?

Is it possible to provide me the required notes and material to prepare?

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There are four prescribed books to Regular Students for Essay.

1. The Aims of Argument by Timothy W. Crusius & Carolyn E. Channell
2. College Writing Skills with Reading by John Langan
3. Reading and Writing Short Arguments by William Vesterman
4. Patterns for College Writing by Laure G. Kriszner & Stephen R. Mandell

The last one, however, was taught to us in the class. We studied the rest on our own (atleast our group

I think if you would read the book listed at # 4 above, you should be amply able to answer the questions regarding types of essays: Narrative, Descriptive, Argumentative, and Expository etc. All of it is taught from Patterns of College Writing.

I had once jot down all the important crux of these types in points. I am not sure where they really are, except for Argumentation, that I am attaching herewith as a sample. Do let me know that will this pattern suffice and was it helpful or not.

I shall try to find any more help regarding this issue.

Regards

Attached Files

Argumentation.zip (15.2 KB, 131 views)

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