Essay topics:

Class A

I What are you most proud of EITHER in yourself or your family or in your country.
2 What makes you laugh? Write an essay or a story.
3 Can war be justified?
4 What the modern man/woman wants. Write an essay or a story.
5 Modern methods of farming and food production are having a huge effect on the lives of people throughout the Commonwealth. Write about the positive and/or negative effects which they are having on YOUR society.

Class B

1 Machinery.
2 Have you talked to someone about their childhood? What did you discover and how does their childhood compare with yours?
3 Around the corner…
4 The Commonwealth is full of inspiring people. Choose someone from your country who inspires you and share your enthusiasm with your reader.
5 Crisis, danger and opportunity. Discuss or write a story.

Class C

1 What do you think you will be doing in ten years time?
2 What book have you EITHER liked OR disliked? Why did you like or dislike it?
3 Write a story ending ‘How we got away I'll never know’.
4 Imagine you are moving to another Commonwealth country. How would you spend your last day in your own country and your first day in your new home (apart from packing/unpacking)?
5 What local custom(s) or tradition(s) of your people/community would you be most sorry lose in modern life? Why do you value it?

Class D

1 Imagine that your head teacher is ill and you are in charge for a week. What happens?
2 Write a poem or play called 'The Magic Shell' or 'Fire!’
3 Invent something that would help either your local community or the world at large.
4 You are a new born animal. Describe a day in your early life.
5 Imagine that a pen-friend from another Commonwealth country is coming to stay with you for the first time. Write a letter to them telling them what you have planned.

Commonwealth Question

The theme for Commonwealth Day 2004, ‘Building a commonwealth of freedom’, raises important issues of democracy, human rights, citizenship, building communities and development. Write an essay or story on what it means to be free.