Insha / Tahrir: Formats, layout marks and controlled composition
Formats you must be able to produce
Mazmoon (essay), khaka (sketch), report or nazar, khat (rasmi and ghair-rasmi), darkhwast (application), ishtihar (public notice), kahani, safarnama, and tarjuma-e-hal. Each carries layout marks before a single sentence of content is judged, so the skeleton comes first.
Where the marks sit
- Format and layout: address, date, salam, title, signature, as the format demands.
- Content: three to four developed points, each with a reason or an example.
- Language: correct tazkeer-o-tanees, wahid-o-jam'a agreement, izafat, and connectives such as lekin, is liye ke, is ke ilawa, chunanche.
- Length: match the demand; a ten-mark mazmoon is not a three-line paragraph.
Worked example: rasmi khat
Task: write to a college principal requesting an Urdu literary week.
Reasoning: a formal letter has fixed blocks. (1) sender's address, (2) date, (3) receiver's designation and address, (4) salam, (5) matn - an opening line naming the purpose, one paragraph of reasons, one paragraph of request, a closing dua line, then (6) signature with name and class. A usable matn opener: 'Banda-e-mutmain ke taur par guzarish hai ke ...' Keep every verb in the aap form; a single tum or tu loses the politeness marks immediately, however good the content.
Traps
A rasmi khat written in ghair-rasmi tone; a missing date; no closing request line; an essay with a title but no paragraphing; confusing ishtihar (public notice, no inside address) with darkhwast (addressed application); writing far below the word limit; inserting English words where an ordinary Urdu word exists.