Descriptive Essay and Precise Writing
The descriptive paper tests structured writing rather than decorative language. It usually combines an essay with precis writing, and sometimes a letter, report or paragraph. Marks come from relevance, organisation, grammar and fidelity to the passage.
Essay rules
- Open with context and a clear thesis in two or three sentences.
- Build three or four body paragraphs; each should make one claim, support it with an example or data, and link back to the thesis.
- Use Haryana or Indian examples where relevant, but do not invent statistics.
- Close by synthesising the argument; do not introduce a new point.
- Keep a formal register and vary sentence length.
Precis rules
- Read the passage twice and underline the central idea and supporting points.
- Reduce to about one-third of the original length unless a different limit is given.
- Use your own words; retain the author's meaning, not your opinion.
- Write in the third person and avoid examples, quotations and figures unless essential.
- Supply a short title if asked.
Worked example
Passage: Digital public infrastructure has changed welfare delivery in India. Aadhaar-based authentication and direct benefit transfer reduce leakage, but exclusion due to poor connectivity and missing documents persists. Digital delivery must therefore be paired with offline alternatives and grievance redress. Model precis: Digital public infrastructure has improved welfare delivery and reduced leakage, yet connectivity and documentation gaps can exclude beneficiaries; offline alternatives and grievance redress are therefore essential. Reasoning: The precis keeps the benefit, the caveat and the remedy, drops illustrative detail, uses own words and stays near one-third length.
Traps
- Exceeding the word limit.
- Copying whole phrases from the passage.
- Adding personal opinion or new examples in a precis.
- Writing an essay without a thesis or with unsupported claims.
- Ignoring the title and paragraphing.