Rachana: essays, letters, reports, translation
ഉപന്യാസം (essay)
Three blocks: ആമുഖം of two or three sentences that define the issue; a body of two paragraphs, the first on causes and the second on consequences or examples; a single-sentence ഉപസംഹാരം that states a position. One idea per paragraph, joined by ഒന്നാമതായി, അതുപോലെ, എന്നാൽ, അതിനാൽ, ഉദാഹരണത്തിന്.
കത്ത് (letter)
Personal: സ്ഥലം, തീയതി, പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട ___, three short paragraphs, then സ്നേഹത്തോടെ, name and address. Official: sender's address, date, recipient's designation and address, വിഷയം in one line, salutation മഹോദയാ, body in two paragraphs, close with വിശ്വസ്തതയോടെ. The വിഷയം line is the single most commonly omitted element.
റിപ്പോർട്ട്
Headline, then place and date, then a lead sentence answering what, when, where and who, then detail, one quotation, and the reporter's name.
പരിഭാഷ
Translate meaning, not word order. Convert idioms into Malayalam idioms, keep names and numbers unchanged, and hold one tense across the passage.
Worked example
The library will remain closed for two days due to the festival. → ഉത്സവത്തോടനുബന്ധിച്ച് ലൈബ്രറി രണ്ടു ദിവസം അടച്ചിടും. Reasoning: due to becomes യോടനുബന്ധിച്ച് rather than a literal നിമിത്തം; English future passive becomes an active Malayalam future; the time expression moves to the front, which is the natural Malayalam order.
Traps
- An essay with no ഉപസംഹാരം reads as unfinished.
- Missing date, missing വിഷയം, or a signature above the name instead of below.
- A report with no lead sentence - the reader cannot find the event.
- Word-for-word translation that keeps English word order.
- Exceeding the word limit and losing marks for the tail of the answer.