Marking a Bodo quiz notice: completeness, register and medium
A higher secondary school is hosting a district-level Bodo quiz. The notice must go on the school board and on the WhatsApp group. It must state: date (12 August), venue (school auditorium), reporting time (9:30 a.m.), eligibility (Classes XI-XII), team size (two), last date for names (5 August), and contact (the Bodo department). A student volunteer drafts: 'नोंसोर फैबाय। ख्विज् खेलायनि खातिर 12 अगस्ट आव स्कुलआव फैबाय। नोंनि मुं 5 अगस्टनि सिगां होबाय।' The draft mixes a Roman word 'quiz' written in Devanagari as ख्विज्, addresses readers as नोंसोर, and omits the venue and reporting time. A teacher says the draft is 'fine for WhatsApp'. Another says it is 'not a notice at all'. You have to mark it against a five-point checklist and return it for revision.
1. Mark the draft against the five-point checklist: what is missing, and what is wrong with the register?
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Against the five-point checklist, the draft fails four items: venue, reporting time, eligibility and team size, and contact. It gives the date and the name deadline, but not in a clearly marked position, and it omits the fact that teams are of two. The register is wrong for a public notice: 'नोंसोर फैबाय' directly commands 'you all' to come, which is appropriate for a WhatsApp reminder among friends, not for a notice that also goes on the board and may be read by parents and teachers. The mixed spelling 'ख्विज्' is not fatal, but it is inconsistent: if the notice is in Bodo, either use a Bodo word for the contest or keep the English loan in a stable, recognized form. The draft is therefore not 'fine for WhatsApp' either, because it still omits the venue and time.
2. List the revision priorities you would give the student. What should be kept short, and what must be added?
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Revision priorities: (1) use a third-person or impersonal opening, for example 'सोलोंगिरिफोरनो जानाय होबाय' ('It is informed to the students'), rather than 'नोंसोर फैबाय'; (2) put the six facts in separate lines so a reader can scan them; (3) keep verb forms consistent and avoid direct imperatives; (4) use one script policy - if 'quiz' is kept, spell it consistently and gloss it once; (5) end with a contact line naming the Bodo department, not a vague 'ask us'. The revision should be shorter than the draft, not longer: a notice is a checklist plus a register, not a letter. Award marks for the six facts, the impersonal register, and consistency, not for ornate Bodo.
3. The teacher says the draft is 'fine for WhatsApp'. How do you distinguish medium from register, and what rule would you give for the WhatsApp version?
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Distinguish medium from register: WhatsApp is a channel, not a style. The same notice can be sent on WhatsApp, but the board version must be impersonal and complete because it is read without context. A workable rule: 'The board copy is the master; the WhatsApp copy is the master plus a short alert line.' Do not let the alert line replace the master. For WhatsApp, a brief line such as 'केन्द्रीय खेलायनि खौरां जानाय' plus a screenshot of the full notice is acceptable; a message that drops the venue and reporting time is not. The teacher who says 'fine for WhatsApp' is confusing informality with incompleteness. The student should learn that the medium may change the opening line, but it does not remove the facts a reader needs.