When writing an essay on the topic of 'lack of emotion' for 10th grade, what examples would students cite?

Writing an essay on the issue of 'lack of emotion' and proposing solutions to enrich the emotional world of young people is one of the questions in the 10th grade literature exam in Ho Chi Minh City, prompting candidates to share many inspiring examples.

Students are excited after the literature exam at Le Hong Phong Specialized High School (Cho Quan Ward).

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

This morning, June 1st, over 151,000 students in Ho Chi Minh City officially completed their first 10th-grade exam, Literature, with the theme "Colors of Emotion". A highlight of the exam was the 4-point question in the social commentary section, where students had to choose one of two options: either write about the issue of "lack of emotion, emotional rigidity, and apathy" among some young people today and propose solutions, or write an essay titled: "Understanding Emotions to Live with Love".

Dang Le Mai An, a student at Colette Secondary School (Xuan Hoa Ward), shared that overall, this year's literature exam was not only manageable but also relatable to young people like her who were born and raised in a technologically advanced era. Furthermore, the exam was relevant because An herself had become increasingly dependent on social media during the pandemic, even to the point where she felt, "I can only survive without it."

Therefore, An chose to write about the first requirement regarding "lack of emotion," proposing two solutions: firstly, to spend time exploring and understanding herself; and secondly, to talk with loved ones and not force herself to always be cheerful and happy to please everyone.

To make her proposed solution more convincing, An recounted that she cited the recent story of transgender beauty queen Nguyen Huong Giang, who won the title of 2nd Runner-up at the Miss Grand International (MGI) All Stars 2026 competition held yesterday (May 31).

"She not only dedicates herself to representing the LGBTQ+ community on the international stage, but she also always stays true to her own feelings, not thinking that losing means sadness, but instead expressing how happy she is because she gave it her all," An shared, adding that she had written six pages of text.

Standing next to An, Nguyen Thanh Thao, a classmate, said she chose to cite TikToker No. O. No (Pham Duc Tuan) – a content creator who has made many offensive statements about the elderly – as an example of "emotional barrenness," or more accurately, indifference. Regarding solutions, the student recounted the story of young people who are always willing to join hands to help flood victims and other vulnerable groups in society.

Parents were delighted after hearing that their children had done well on the literature exam at Ban Co Junior High School.

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

Dang Gia Han, a student from Le Quy Don Secondary School (Xuan Hoa Ward), also chose to answer requirement 1. She explained that due to her passion for reading psychology books, she chose to include an example related to a real-world experiment in her essay. The results of this experiment showed that when a joke is told to a group of people sitting directly opposite each other, if one person laughs, everyone else will laugh along.

However, if the group members are separated into individual rooms, the effect of shared laughter no longer occurs, and each person will have their own expression. This shows that we often ignore individual feelings in order to conform to the emotions of the majority, according to Han, and this is a worrying issue.

"The exam questions gave me a lot of inspiration to write," the female student added.

• Ho Chi Minh City Grade 10 Exam: Candidates cheer, say the literature exam was easy, and predict scores of 8 or 9.

Ho Chi Minh City Grade 10 Exam: Teachers wake up early to take attendance and are ready to write answers for the students.

Choosing to follow the second assignment, which was to write an essay on a given topic, Minh Hoang, a student from Ban Co Secondary School (Ban Co Ward), shared his regret at not having enough time to complete it fully. He only managed to present some arguments, evidence, and counter-arguments before concluding in the last 15 minutes of the class. In his essay, the male student mentioned the Ton Hoa Sen brand, the company behind the "Vietnamese Family Shelter" program, which was previously hosted by MC Quyen Linh and specializes in helping people in difficult circumstances.

Hoang said he learned about the program through TikTok trends, especially the phrase "I hope Ton Hoa Sen sees this" to refer to difficult circumstances that need help. The male student added that he hopes to "make up" for lost points in the upcoming English and math exams to secure a place at Hung Vuong High School (Cho Lon Ward).

This afternoon, over 151,000 candidates in Ho Chi Minh City continued with their second exam, a foreign language, with a total time of 90 minutes. Then tomorrow, June 2nd, those applying to general schools will complete their final exam, mathematics, in the morning, while those applying to specialized or integrated programs will take their corresponding exams in the afternoon.

Many candidates in Ho Chi Minh City felt that the exam questions were close to their lives.

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lam-de-van-lop-10-ve-thieu-cam-xuc-thi-sinh-neu-dan-chung-nao-185260601145817908.htm