PSLE model composition: A difficult decision
This page shows a model PSLE composition about a difficult decision. Plan and write your own parts first. Then open the model and read the notes on where it earns marks.
Topic: A difficult decision
Typical pictures: a test paper, two friends, a worried face
The plan in one line
During an important test, a girl sees her best friend cheating. She must choose between staying silent and telling the teacher. Then she lives with what her choice costs.
A real dilemma has two choices, and both cost something. If the right choice is easy and costs nothing, there is no real decision. Your Content marks will suffer.
Your turn: set up the problem
Show the situation and the two choices. Both choices should cost your character something.
✍️ Your turn
Write the opening of 'A difficult decision'. Set the scene and show the problem your character faces. Make it clear that both choices have a cost. Aim for 4 to 6 sentences.
Your turn: the moment of choosing
Slow this moment down. Show your character torn between the two choices before they act.
✍️ Your turn
Write the paragraph where your character decides. Show the struggle through the body, such as trembling hands or a racing heart. Show the choice as it happens, rather than summing it up.
Your turn: an honest ending
Avoid an ending where everything is suddenly fine. Show the cost, and what your character comes to accept.
✍️ Your turn
Write your closing paragraph. Show what happens because of the decision, including what it cost. End on what your character understood about doing the right thing.
The model composition
Reveal the model composition
The examination hall was silent except for the scratching of pens and the ticking of the clock on the wall. I chewed the end of my pencil, working through the final section, when a small movement caught my eye. Beside me, my best friend Mei was slipping a folded scrap of paper out from under her sleeve.
My heart lurched. On the paper, in tiny handwriting, were the answers. Mei had been struggling all term, and I knew how terrified she was of disappointing her parents. Part of me wanted to look away and pretend I had seen nothing. She was my closest friend, after all. But another part of me knew that staying silent was its own kind of choice.
For the rest of the paper, I could barely concentrate. My conscience tugged at me from both directions. If I told the teacher, I might lose my best friend forever. If I said nothing, I would be helping a lie win. When the bell rang, my hands were trembling as I walked, slowly, towards the teacher's desk.
"Mrs Tan," I whispered, "I think I need to tell you something." The words felt like stones in my throat. Later, Mei would not look at me, and for weeks the space beside me felt painfully empty. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, and I cried more than once. Yet deep down, I knew I had chosen honesty over comfort, and slowly, I began to make peace with the fact that doing the right thing does not always feel good, but it is still right.
Where the marks are
Content (18 marks)
| What scores | Where it is in the model |
|---|---|
| Two choices that both hurt | She can tell on her friend, or let a lie win. Examiners reward a decision that costs the character something. |
| The choice is shown, not summed up | The slow walk to the teacher's desk and "the words felt like stones in my throat" show the moment step by step. |
| An honest ending | The friendship does not suddenly heal, and the narrator "cried more than once". A realistic ending reads as mature and earns Content marks. |
Language and organisation (18 marks)
| What scores | Where it is in the model |
|---|---|
| Worry shown through the body | "My heart lurched", "hands were trembling" and "words felt like stones". The writer never just says "I felt worried". |
| Sentence length used on purpose | "My heart lurched." is short. It comes after a long, calm opening, so it stands out. |
| Strong words that suit a P6 pupil | "Conscience tugged" and "chosen honesty over comfort" are strong but natural. |
| A closing line that fits the topic | "Doing the right thing does not always feel good, but it is still right." |
Practise: check your own draft
- Plan a different decision where both choices cost something. Try owning up to breaking something, or keeping a secret.
- Check that your character does not want either choice. If one choice is easy, it is not a real dilemma.
- Check your draft. Is the moment of choosing slowed down, or rushed into one line?
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