While most people consider essays to contain either mere fantasies (in the case of fiction), or cold, hard facts (in the case of non-fiction), the content of essays can also be an indicator of the writer’s mental and emotional state. This fact has long been used by test graders across the United States to check for signs of child abuse, depression or even threats of violence.

But it seems that only recently (i.e. since the 1999 Columbine High School incident) has more stress and sensitivity been placed on this kind of “mental and emotional screening”. In fact, since the September 11 terrorist attacks, more and more of these “crisis papers” are appearing.

The interesting thing about this is that not only can you see the mental and emotional state of the writer from essays, but also from any form of written response, such as math or science questions - though the conclusions drawn are far more limited.

So, perk up when you’re writing your essays. After all, you never know when you’ll be recommended for counseling for writing an angst-filled essay in your exams.

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This is going to be an essay plan built for an essay titled: How True Is It That Sport Divides More Than It Unites? Like all essay plans, this is merely a basic framework for the essay. That means detail and examples will be sparse, to ensure that content points stand out clearly.

• Stand: True to some extent.
  Elaboration: Sports events often become a show of power or superiority for certain countries, as well as the arena for them to compete for glory.
  Examples: Consider the all-dominating nations, United States and China. Both regularly top the charts in major sporting events, such as the Olympics.

Content Points:

1. Competition to host world-class sporting events tends to foster animosity between competing countries
   Elaboration: After all, these events are a source of both prestige and money for the winning (host) country. It is not surprising that the governments of losing nations would harbor some sort of animosity towards the winning nation.
   Examples: Although China was once vying to host the olympics, the Olympics Committee gave it to Sydney.
2. International sporting events bring out and exacerbate political differences between competing countries
   Elaboration: Assasinations of athletes and violent retaliations are not uncommon due to political differences.
   Examples: Take for example the assassination of Israeli athletes at the Munich Games and the Soviets, in retaliation to the US boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games, boycotted the 1984 Games during the Cold War period. The Soviet Union with Cuba, East Germany and 14 other countries boycotted the Olympics when the US was hosting it.
3. Differences between countries and athletes arise when biased judging occurs
   Elaboration: Sporting results that are deemed partial or unfair can cause differences between nations to arise.
   Examples: At the Athens Olympics, supporters had to be appeased when Alexi Nemov was given a low score for a spectacular gymnastics routine. A South Korean gymnasts, a clear winner, also lost the gold medal to his US counterpart.

Counter Points:

1. Sport plays a role in uniting individual countries.
   Elaboration: A sporting achievement can rouse a nation’s people together, especially a multi-racial nation.
   Examples: The matches by Singapore’s table tennis player, Li Jia Wei, at the Athens Olympics, brought Singaporeans together as one people and brought out the pride of the people for the country.
2. International live telecasts have helped to connect viewers from all over the world
   Elaboration: Satellites have brought about a global viewership for sporting events. People of all nations and races now watch the same event at the same time - a feat unprecedented before the advent of live telecasts. This is a wonderful expression of unity between people of all nations.
   Examples: Live telecasts of the World Cup and the Olympics have helped to connect viewers from all over the world - characterized by differences, division, competition and hostility.

Given that each content and counter point can be used to fill one paragraph, the total paragraph count for an essay written using this plan should be seven - 1 introduction, 1 conclusion and 5 content and counter paragraphs. This essay plan, therefore, should be most suitable for short essays, like those written for ‘A’-Level General Studies or General Paper examinations.

His face was streaked with tears. His chest heaved as he tried to stifle a sob. I groaned inwardly. Self-conscious, he swiped his sweaty palm at his face and pulled himself together. He even managed a tiny smile. As I rested my head on a soft cushin, he stumbled across the room and settled down next to me. He put his arms around me, intending to share his sorrow, but I had to pity for him. It was kind of hard to sympathise with him. After all, I know him all too well. You could even say that I could see right through him; every thought, emotion, and intention glared like a bunch of neon lights on a dark, starless night. It was not exactly ESP either. I would not be so fortunate as to be bestowed such a lovely, oh-so-wonderful gift. It was not hard to get to know him; he trusted me with all his secrets, but I felt used, I felt like an object to him, inanimate - something to fall back on when no one else would spend the night with him, or sit with him at the dinner table or even watch a couple of old sci-fi flicks with him on boring Saturday nights.

His latest girlfriend had left him. She was wise enough to break the news to him via the telephone. Five simple words, usualy spoken incessantly in soap dramas on the idiot box had left him a blabbering, stuttering fool.

“I’m breaking up with you,” Clarissa had spoken apathetically over the telephone. My sharp ears caught every single word she said in her strangely unfeeling, indifferent tone, which did not change even when Terrence burst into tears, crying out, begging her not to leave him. The only other time I had seen him reduced to tears was when his wife refused to sign the divorce papers.

As I lay there on the couch, dog-weary of the continuous stream of complaints flowing out of his mouth, my mind drfted back to the day when I had first met and fell in love with my beloved (and now, slightly resented) Terrence.

It was a day just like any other. I was strolling around in a pet shop when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a distinguished-looking man walking towards me. He had a brilliant smile, one like a thousand sunbursts. It was that smile that drew my attention. As he approached me, I saw that confident, determined look on his face which, I would later discover, was the quintessence of his personality that got him right up to the top rung of the corporate ladder. With that look on his face, he got pretty much what he wanted most of the time. On that day, he wanted me. I could tell from his expression.
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The life of a diamond: Explosively transported by Earth’s “pipes” to the surface, discovered by an astute prospector, and then chiseled to perfection before being purchased by the consumer. It differs little with organised public transport. From the very first bus service in Nantes, France , thousands (if not more) have been challenged to perfect one of the most important discoveries in the modern world.

Akin to the lasers that labor upon the rigidity of a rough, unrefined diamond, we ponder upon the increasingly tricky issues regarding Singapore’s public transportation. Today, perhaps the most exigent of these is the issue of convenience of public transport against its cost of implementation and maintainance, as Singapore strives towards fully integrated public transport – a system that provides door-to-door public transport services .

As always, perception comes into play. To public transport providers, many forms of convenience have always had some direct relation to costs, more specifically to investment and maintainance cost. With high supply-side costs, sustainable social welfare maximization then necessitates the transfer of a portion of this high cost to the end-user. However, with the Public Transport Council (PTC) managing end-user cost through two variables completely unrelated to convenience – Inflation and Consumer Average Monthly Earnings – end-users do not directly experience the cost incurred by suppliers in providing such convenience. Passengers have little reason to see a positive relationship between convenience and cost.

Yet, while unseen, increasing the number of operational buses and taxis to ensure high availability and frequency definitely necessitates substantial investment and higher running costs. Hidden social costs in the form of air pollution from additional vehicles also cannot be discounted . Moreover, the accompanying facilities are not exempted. The five-station MRT extension line to be built in the Marina South area is expected to cost S$1.4 billion . However, with the government funding such infrastructure development, the public again finds little need to consider the supply cost of wider networks (although taxpayer money is the main source of government funds).
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