Writing Skills: Essay, Letter, Notice, Report, Précis, Review
Formats you must reproduce exactly
Marks are lost on layout before a single good sentence is read.
- Notice: boxed, four to five lines, about 50 words. Institution name, heading NOTICE, date, subject in capitals or bold, body (what, when, where, whom to contact), name and designation of the issuer. No salutation, no invented address.
- Report: headline, byline (name and place), opening sentence answering what/when/where/who, then detail in past tense and third person, factual, closing line on consequences or follow-up.
- Letter to the editor: sender's address, date, 'The Editor', newspaper name and place, subject line, 'Sir/Madam', three short paragraphs (problem with evidence, consequence, suggestion), 'Yours faithfully' with your name.
- Précis: about one-third of the original, own words, third person, no examples or quotations, single paragraph, one idea per sentence.
- Review: title and creator, genre, a spoiler-free summary in two sentences, evaluation of craft rather than mere liking, recommendation with reasons.
- Essay: thesis in the introduction, one controlling idea per body paragraph with a topic sentence and evidence, conclusion returning to the thesis.
Worked example
Task: a notice for an inter-house quiz. Reasoning: box first; heading QUIZ COMPETITION; date and venue precisely; eligibility; how to register and by when; issuer's name and designation. Draft: 'NOTICE / 12 August 20XX / Inter-house quiz on 25 August in the assembly hall at 2 p.m. Teams of three, Classes XI–XII. Register with the undersigned by 20 August. - Secretary, Literary Club.'
Traps
Writing an essay where a notice is asked; decorative language inside a report; placing the subject line below the salutation; a précis longer than the limit or containing quoted phrases.