Composition / Essay Writing (Rachana)
Composition / Essay Writing (Rachana) is one full-length Manipuri composition, usually chosen from five or six topics: descriptive, narrative, reflective, argumentative, and sometimes a letter-to-the-editor style piece. Marks are split roughly between content, organisation, language and presentation.
Plan before you write (five minutes)
Choose the topic you have concrete material for, not the one that sounds impressive. Jot four to six points and group them into three paragraphs plus introduction and conclusion.
- Introduction: define the topic in one or two sentences and state your angle.
- Body 1: your most concrete point, with a local example.
- Body 2: a second point, plus a comparison or counterpoint.
- Conclusion: restate the angle and end with a forward-looking suggestion or appeal, not a summary.
Language control
Manipuri is verb-final: keep the main verb at the end of each clause. Vary sentence length. Use connectors for sequence and contrast (অৱশ্যে, তাৰ পিছত, কিন্তু, সেয়ে). Use one or two idioms correctly rather than five approximately.
Worked example
Topic: a festival in your locality. Reasoning: choose Ningol Chakouba or Lai Haraoba, but do not merely describe. The introduction states what the festival does for the community; each body paragraph gives one example (food and gathering; songs and rituals; the return home); the conclusion says what would be lost if it stopped. That point of view is what separates a top-band essay from a list.
Traps that cost marks
- Reproducing a memorised essay that only half fits the topic.
- All description, no point of view - organisation marks disappear.
- Overrunning the word limit and leaving no time to proofread.
- Sudden switches between formal and colloquial register.