Ingenious conception, win the grand prize
Deng, who was the editor-in-chief of the literary supplement department of Changjiang Daily, participated in the evaluation of Chu Cai's composition many times.
He recalled that in 2004, the grand prize was first set up in the competition, and * * * 10 contestants won this honor, among which the youngest winner was 9-year-old Li of Wuhan Primary School, and his work "Home Visit" won the recognition of the judges with the clever idea of combining reality with reality.
Home Visit is an easy proposition to write but easy to generalize. Most of the children's writing is very real, and the characters are generally relatives and friends who come to visit. This theme is not new. If you can't grasp the character and characteristics of the characters, it is naturally not easy to be shortlisted.
In a semi-classic and semi-vernacular sentence, Li tells a timeless and personally experienced version of Zhuge Liang's tearing down Ma Su: in The Heroes of the Three Kingdoms, he sets himself as the general of Ma Su and Shu, and leads himself to the battlefield 1700 years ago through the visit of another virtual "uninvited guest". He tried to persuade him to fight several times, but it was hard to change history. The author uses dreams to unfold the plot and write the characters and stories vividly. The thinking, subtle changes and clear and rigorous layout of the whole article for thousands of years not only reflect the author's unique thoughts, but also show that the author usually pays attention to the observation of life and the accumulation of knowledge.
True feelings, childlike interest is the most touching.
Song Jihong, the former judge of Chu Cai's composition contest and director of the hotline news department of Changjiang Daily, said that in recent years, most of the winning compositions of primary and middle school students are narratives that can "move people with emotion".
Primary and junior high school students, because of the lack of delicate thinking and experience, writing argumentative papers is not dominant. Because their views and logic are easy to be superficial and naive, it is difficult to convince people.
On the contrary, because they have less experience, simple thinking and less secular constraints, they have more advantages in imagination and innovation. Therefore, if you can express your true feelings in the narrative, it is easier to impress the judges.
One of the judges said that primary school students' compositions should be imaginative, childlike, reflect the characteristics of children's growth and conform to their psychology. Because of age, children's thinking ability in images is stronger than rational thinking ability, so they often write some language that goes against common sense, which is the performance of childlike interest. For example, a student wrote that his mother urged his son to get up. "You should not get up when the sun rises too high." The son replied, "You can turn off the sun!" Very funny, very childlike.
There is great competition in writing argumentative essays in senior high schools.
Song Jihong said that unlike junior high school students, the advantage of senior high school students lies in argumentative writing.
Compared with junior high school students, senior high school students' language description ability has not obviously surpassed, and it is difficult to show their superiority in writing narratives, so it is difficult to win prizes. But high school students' thinking and knowledge are close to those of adults, and they have the ability to think deeply about things. In the discussion of things, it can also better reflect unique opinions and innovative consciousness, and show personality.
When high school students write argumentative essays, they can try different thinking angles, among which reverse thinking is easier to succeed. Although the conventional thinking mode can also be successful, it is also easy to be similar to others. Reverse thinking itself is an innovation and a breakthrough of common sense. As long as it can be justified and quoted properly, it is easier to attract the attention of the judges.
Occasionally, there are wonderful sentences.
Children who participate in Chu Cai competition are generally fluent in written language. If an article has one or two wonderful sentences, it will be unforgettable and the composition score will be high. For example, a student expressed his greed and wrote: I want to taste all the raindrops falling from the sky, which is very profound.
It is impossible for primary and middle school students to write articles with profound views, but as a top-notch composition competition, if the composition is properly refined, the theme will be sublimated better. For example, in last year's essay "The Pole on the Street", many candidates wrote that the life and dress of the pole were better, but it did not sublimate. One candidate added two postscripts and put the pole in the social background, feeling that he was extraordinary.
Form innovation wins favor.
Chu Cai encourages innovation in form. Last year, in the third grade of junior high school, a candidate wrote an essay "Missing the Village", with several subheadings, such as chicken, cow, dog, cat and donkey, which were divided into several parts. This form of innovation is very good, and the article won a special award. There are also students who imitate postmodern writing and black humor in the test paper. But if the candidates don't master it well, they will be self-defeating. You can't innovate for the sake of formal innovation, but the form and content must be appropriate.
● What is the gap between failed compositions?
"Safe and sound" is a taboo.
Deng Youdi, who has participated in the evaluation of Chu Cai composition contest for many times and the former director of the evaluation Committee, said: stable articles are difficult to be shortlisted.
In the composition competition, we often encounter some very familiar topics. It is easy to follow old stories and well-known viewpoints when writing such topics, so as to be "stable". But being too "stable" is the taboo of competition composition.
The selection criteria of Chu Cai's composition are "new, true, profound, lively and interesting", and the importance of the five words is arranged in order. "New" refers to new materials, new themes, new ideas and new languages; "Truth" means to have a true feeling, the main plot is in line with the authenticity of life, and there are insights, and the views can stand the test of scrutiny and time; "Deep" means that the theme and viewpoint are profound, the story is tortuous and expressive; "Vivid" means vivid words, fluent style, good rhetoric and meaningful sentences; "Fun" means strong interest, love to watch and listen, and have the childlike interest of children of corresponding grades.
The purpose of Chu Cai Contest is to "discover and cultivate writing seedlings". It is difficult for primary and middle school students to cover everything in the competition. As long as they have one or two bright spots in these five aspects, they may be shortlisted. Deng Youdi suggested that primary school players should put the word "truth" first, junior high school players should win with creativity, and senior high school players should be good at analysis.
It is not appropriate to set "frame" and "model essay"
Song Jihong introduced that in an essay entitled "Please give me some time" last year, most students wrote about how their families set various tasks for themselves, and they had no free time. In the detailed description, we also write more about how harsh and strict our parents are with themselves, how dissatisfied and how confused they are. As a result, one or two of these articles were rated as high scores at first, but later, because there were too many such articles in structure and content, these articles, together with the previous ones, were lowered.
It is difficult for such students to get high marks because they violate the taboos of "framework" and "model essay". A good composition by Chu Cai means new materials, new ideas, new ideas and new languages. However, some students regard various writing patterns learned in excellent model writing and composition training classes as "guidelines", and imitating them in writing will inevitably lead to "clustering" of writing patterns, languages and contents. This kind of article can only be eliminated.
Fully conceive the "woodcutter"
Song Jihong said that in previous composition competitions, some students were eager to pursue the length of the article and rushed to write as soon as they got the topic. I ended up writing four or five pages. Although the text is beautiful and the story is touching, the structure is chaotic, and it is difficult to get high marks because of the lack of early conception. On the contrary, although some students' articles are short and pithy, they are well-organized, well-described, touching in content and clear in reasoning, and become award-winning works.
Before writing, students might as well use 1/3 to conceive the topic and think about the general structure and content before writing, so as not to waste time.
It is difficult to be excellent when writing the same subject.
One judge also considered the following points undesirable:
Lack of life experience, narrow and similar writing topics. The composition must write about life and write about your own unique feelings. Last year, many candidates happened to "demonize" their mothers in "Give me some time", which is typical. Most students always write about school and family and pay little attention to society, which is related to their narrow life circle, but even if they write these things, they should choose a good starting point.
The narrative is dull and there is no use of image thinking. In narrative, students are more abstract and straightforward, but less descriptive. Candidates should use sensory experience to describe it.
Pupils' adult compositions. This is reflected in both language and cognition. For example, junior students use languages such as "facing the loess and facing the sky", which hurts spring and mourns autumn at an early age. Pupils should not say what adults say, otherwise it will look awkward, and it is best to meet their age characteristics.
● How to seek novelty in the same composition?
Over the years, Chu Cai Competition has been divided into 10 grade groups, and generally there are three or four questions to choose from in each grade, which inevitably leads to the situation that thousands of people write a proposition at the same time. Therefore, how to avoid "similarity" makes every player take pains. The judges think that superficial descriptions should be avoided.
Deng said that it is worth every player's efforts to find a breakthrough with new ideas after winning the championship.
Threesome is a proposition in the third grade of the last Chu Cai contest. Many contestants quoted Confucius's "three must learn from each other's strengths" in their articles, and they also wrote it from the perspective of modesty and eagerness to learn. Lin Tongxue, from Singapore, expressed the view that if you want to be invincible in the "variables" of interpersonal communication and achieve a harmonious situation of "win-win" with others, you must participate in the competition with a mature mentality, rational thinking and optimistic and open-minded attitude. This composition is full of the author's actual experience and understanding of life, and the writing from small to large shows the author's wise philosophical vision, which is commendable.
● Can the network language be used?
Last year, a topic was "new words on campus". Many candidates use online languages, such as "7456" (which makes me very angry). The judges are open to online language, but excessive use of online language is not good and will lead to controversy. Candidates can occasionally use one or two more suitable ones on the basis of language norms.