Notice or Letter? Two Formats, One Set of Facts
Rahul is secretary of the Eco Club of a government high school in Nagaon. The headmaster has asked him to do two things before Friday: put up a notice about a tree-plantation drive, and write to the headmaster asking permission to use the school field.
The facts are fixed. The drive is on 5 June, begins at 7:00 a.m., sixty saplings have been donated by the district Forest Office, students of Classes IX and X will take part, and everyone must bring a water bottle. The notice must fit a box of about five lines (roughly 50 words), must not carry Rahul's personal signature, and must name the issuing body. The letter must run 120–150 words in formal register.
Rahul's draft opens the notice with 'Dear friends, we are very happy to inform you…' and closes 'Yours lovingly, Rahul'. In the letter he writes, 'I want you to allow us the field.' He has used 78 words for the notice and 96 for the letter.
1. Rewrite the notice within the word limit and list the conventions Rahul broke.
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Conventions broken: (a) a notice is not a letter - no salutation, no 'Dear friends'; (b) no personal sign-off such as 'Yours lovingly'; (c) it is issued by a body, so it must be signed with name and designation under the club's name; (d) it must lead with the essentials - what, when, where, who - and omit persuasion; (e) it must obey the box limit, which rules out 'we are very happy to inform you'.
Model notice:
NOTICE ECO CLUB, NAGAON HIGH SCHOOL 3 June 20XX TREE PLANTATION DRIVE A plantation drive will be held on 5 June at 7:00 a.m. on the school field. Sixty saplings donated by the District Forest Office will be planted by students of Classes IX and X. Participants must bring a water bottle. Rahul Das Secretary, Eco Club
Note that the letter provides the reason; the notice provides the instruction. Mixing the two is what pushed him to 78 words.
2. Rewrite the opening and closing of the letter, and state the register rule Rahul keeps breaking.
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The rule: a formal letter to a person in authority uses indirect, deferential request forms and never states a demand as a personal wish. 'I want you to allow us' is grammatical but wrong in register - it treats the headmaster as a subordinate answering to Rahul.
Weak: I want you to allow us the field. Better: I request that the Eco Club be permitted to use the school field for the plantation drive on 5 June.
Weak opening: I am Rahul of Class X. I am writing to say… Better: I am writing on behalf of the Eco Club to seek your permission to hold a tree-plantation drive on the school field on 5 June at 7:00 a.m.
Closing: Thanking you, / Yours faithfully, / Rahul Das, Secretary, Eco Club. 'Yours faithfully' pairs with 'Dear Sir'; 'Yours sincerely' needs a named recipient. Substituting modal passives ('be permitted', 'may kindly be granted') for 'I want' is the single cheapest fix he can learn before Friday.
3. Rahul's letter is 96 words and must reach 120. What should he add, and what must he not add?
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Add substance, not padding. The letter is thin because it states the request and nothing else. It should also give: the exact duration needed (say 7:00 to 10:00 a.m.), the number of participants (about eighty from Classes IX and X), supervision arrangements (two teachers will accompany the group), the source of the saplings (District Forest Office, sixty saplings), and the reason the field is needed rather than the roadside (space for digging pits and for a demonstration on planting depth). Each of these is a fact already implied by the notice and answers a question the headmaster would otherwise have to ask.
He must not add: adjectives of enthusiasm ('a wonderful and memorable event'), appeals to school spirit, repeated thanks, or a second request buried in the same letter. Neither should he pad by writing out '5th June 20XX' in three different ways. A letter gains length from information the reader needs, never from enthusiasm the reader has not asked for.