Yishun English Tuition for Sembawang Secondary School is a historical-title guide preserved on eduKateYishun. This page is not affiliated with Sembawang Secondary School and does not represent current school or centre arrangements. Its present role is to examine example quality: how students choose examples that genuinely demonstrate a claim instead of merely sounding relevant.
In writing and speaking, students often have examples but not useful evidence. The useful ideas here are example selection, evidence quality, explanation, argumentative writing, oral reasoning and transfer of learning.
The goal is not to collect impressive examples. It is to choose examples whose relationship to the claim can be explained clearly.
Relevant is not enough
An example can be about the right topic and still fail to prove the point.
The learner must be able to state exactly what feature of the example demonstrates the claim.
Specificity should serve explanation
Too vague and the example proves little. Too detailed and the paragraph becomes a story about the example itself.
Use only the detail needed to reveal the mechanism.
Worked argument lab
Claim: excessive notifications can reduce study concentration.
Weak example: “Many students use phones.”
Stronger example: “A student who checks messages every few minutes repeatedly has to reconstruct where they were in a difficult passage.”
The second example makes the mechanism visible.
One strong example can beat several weak ones
Listing examples creates breadth but may leave no room for reasoning.
A developed example often gives the reader more evidence than three unexplained references.
Counterexamples test claim quality
Ask whether the claim still holds in a case where the obvious example does not.
This can reveal whether the claim needs qualification.
Oral responses need examples too
A speaker can state a clear view and then ground it in one concrete situation.
The example helps the listener see what the abstract claim means in practice.
A practical example-selection routine
- state the claim precisely
- generate two or three possible examples
- ask which one shows the mechanism most clearly
- remove unnecessary detail
- explain exactly how the example supports the claim
- qualify if the example reveals a limit
Frequently asked questions
Do examples have to be real events?
Not always. Depending on the task, realistic scenarios can illustrate a mechanism, but factual claims should not be invented and presented as evidence.
Are famous examples better?
Not automatically. Familiarity matters less than relevance, accuracy and explanatory power.
How many examples should a paragraph contain?
Enough to support the claim clearly. One well-developed example is often sufficient.
Teaching Guide | Choose examples for what they prove
Select by mechanism, not prestige. Keep detail proportional and always explain the connection to the claim.
The goal is a learner who uses examples as evidence rather than decoration.
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