Composition and Letter/Application Writing
Composition and Letter/Application Writing in the Assam ASSEB Higher Secondary Arabic paper tests planned writing in Modern Standard Arabic: a short essay on a familiar topic and a formal letter or application. Marks depend on task fulfilment, paragraphing, grammar, and appropriate register.
Essay structure
- Opening sentence states the topic and your angle.
- Two or three body paragraphs, each with one controlling idea.
- Connectors: awwalan, thāniyan, wa-min jihatin ukhrā, li-dhālika, wa-fī al-khātimati.
- Closing sentence returns to the question, not a new idea.
Letter/application format
- Sender and date (al-mursil, al-tārīkh).
- Recipient: ilā mudīr al-madrasa / ilā raʾīs al-lajna.
- Subject line: al-mawḍūʿ: ṭalab ijāza.
- Salutation: al-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatu Allāhi wa-barakātuhu.
- Body: reason, dates, request.
- Closing: wa-lā tansawnā min ṣāliḥ al-duʿāʾ, then name and class.
Worked example
Application for sick leave: ‘al-mawḍūʿ: ṭalab ijāza li-l-maraḍ. Aṭlubu min faḍīlatikum manḥī ijāzatan li-muddat thalāthati ayyāmin li-ʿillatin ṣaḥḥiyyatin.’ Reasoning: the subject is explicit; aṭlubu is a first-person polite request; muddat + genitive gives duration. Keep it to one page.
Traps
Dialect words; missing subject line; wrong pronoun in the closing; unsupported claims in an essay; and long sentences with no connectors. Proofread case endings and hamza.