Situational Writing Formats

Even though situational writing formats have become increasingly less important for ‘O’ level English, it is still relevant as a totally wrong format may be penalised. To help students, the formats for situational writing is attached below.

Situational Writing Format: Informal Letter

1 North Buona Vista Drive, Singapore 138675	Sender’s address
10 April 2022	Date (spell out in full)
Dearest Aunt May,	Greeting (Use the term you address this person)
Paragraph 1	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate purpose and ask for a reply)
Love,	Complimentary Close (show your affection)
Peter Parker	Signature (Write name in cursive style)

Situational Writing Format: Informal Email

To:                    maybellereilly@gmail.com From:               peterparker@gmail.com	Sender’s email address Recipient’s email address
Subject:         Suggestions for gift	Subject (Main idea summary)
Date:               10 April 2022	Date (spell out in full)
Dearest Aunt May,	Greeting (Use the term you address this person)
Paragraph 1	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate purpose and ask for a reply)
Love,	Complimentary Close (show your affection)
Peter	Email Signature (Write name)

Situational Writing Format: Formal Letter

1 North Buona Vista Drive, Singapore 138675	Sender’s address
10 April 2022	Date (spell out in full)
Nicholas Fury Director S.H.I.E.L.D 1 Kay Siang Road, Singapore 248922	Recipient’s name, designation, organization and address (no need for address if the sender is from the same organisation)
Dear Mr Fury,	Greeting (Use the family name)
Introduction to Nanotechnology	Subject (Main idea summary)
Paragraph 1	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate purpose and ask for a reply)
Yours sincerely,	Complimentary Close
Peter Parker Peter Parker Director The Avengers	Signature (Write name in cursive style followed by full name, designation and organisation)

Situational Writing Format: Formal Email

To:                     nickfury@gmail.com From:               peterparker@gmail.com	Sender’s email address Recipient’s email address
Subject:         Proposal for Nanotech	Subject (Main idea summary)
Date:               10 April 2022	Date (spell out in full)
Dear Mr Fury,	Greeting (Use the family name)
Paragraph 1	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate purpose and ask for a reply)
Yours sincerely,	Complimentary Close
Peter Parker Director The Avengers	Email Signature (Write full name, designation and organisation)

Situational Writing Format: Report / Proposal

To:                    Nicholas Fury                          Director	Recipient’s name and designation
From:              Maria Hill                        Deputy Director	Sender’s name and designation
10 April 2022	Date (Spell out in full)
Introduction to Nanotechnology	Subject (Main idea summary)
Paragraph 1	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate and summarise points)
Submitted by: Maria Hill Maria Hill	Sign off (Followed by signature and full name)

Situational Writing Format: Article

Introduction to Nanotechnology	Title
By Maria Hill	Author’s name
Paragraph 1	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate and summarise points)

Situational Writing Format: Speech

Introduction to Nanotechnology	Title
Good morning/afternoon,	Introduction (Check-in / Context / Purpose)
Paragraphs 2 – 4	Body Paragraphs (Answer the question using the given visual stimulus. Explain and support your answer, using details from the visual stimulus and your own)
Paragraph 5	Conclusion (Restate and summarise points)

Conclusion

Ultimately, to score well for situational writing, you have to do more than just know the situational writing formats. Understanding the purpose, the audience and the context of the situational writing are more important. To find out more about the English syllabus, you can read more about the 1128 syllabus here. For more about the O level examination, you may click here.