உவமை or உருவகம்: Grading the Six-Mark Appreciation Item
A six-mark appreciation item prints a two-line verse on the question paper: 'கடல் போல் பெரியது அவன் மனம்; மலை போல் உயர்ந்தது அவன் புகழ்.' Candidates must name the அணி, identify the உவம உருபு, name the two things compared in each line, and say in about sixty words what the comparison reveals. Item analysis over 74 scripts shows: 28 name the figure உருவகம், justifying it with 'the poet compares the mind to the sea'; 9 name உவமை but stop at 'போல் is used', with no comparison points and no comment on effect; 6 name உயர்வு நவிற்சி; 31 give usable answers of mixed quality. Your co-marker proposes a binary scheme - 6 for a correct label, 3 for anything else - and wants to finish tonight. You must replace it with a four-band analytic rubric, decide the 28 உருவகம் scripts, and give the panel a partial-credit rule that will survive a parent's revaluation request.
1. Write the four-band, 6-mark analytic rubric. State explicitly how the six marks are distributed across the four things the question actually asks for.
Read the worked answer
Distribution first: 1 mark label, 1 mark உவம உருபு, 2 marks comparisons, 2 marks effect.
- 6: names உவமை; names போல் as the உவம உருபு, noting it occurs in both lines; names both comparisons (மனம்–கடல், புகழ்–மலை); explains the effect - the sea supplies vastness and depth, the mountain height and permanence - and ties 'பெரியது' and 'உயர்ந்தது' to those vehicles.
- 4–5: all four elements present, one thin - typically the effect reduced to 'he is great' without saying in what respect.
- 2–3: correct label plus one comparison point, or correct label plus உவம உருபு with no effect.
- 0–1: wrong label with no usable justification.
The label carries one mark only, because labelling is one word of work while the analysis is the language skill being tested. Sixty per cent of the marks sit on comparison and effect. A lucky label must not carry the answer.
2. Decide the score for the 28 scripts that name உருவகம். Show the test that separates the two figures, and say what you award.
Read the worked answer
Award up to 3–4 each, but never the label mark. Start every one of the 28 at 1 and read on.
The test: உருவகம் drops the உவம உருபு so that tenor and vehicle fuse - 'அவன் மனம் கடல்'. Here போல் is printed twice, openly signposting the comparison, so the figure is உவமை. That single mark is lost, and it is lost for a diagnostic reason, not a careless one.
The other five marks remain available, because the question also asks for the comparison and its effect, and many of the 28 will have written 'மனம் கடலைப் போன்றது, புகழ் மலையைப் போன்றது' - correct, and asked for. Where the comparison points are right and an effect is attempted, award 3–4; where கடல் and மலை are merely named with no function, award 2. Give the class one model answer framed around the single question: is the comparison word present? If yes, உவமை.
3. One of the nine scripts reads 'உவமை; ஏனெனில் போல் உள்ளது.' What is the score and the one sentence of feedback?
Read the worked answer
2/6. Feedback line: '“போல் உள்ளது” என்பது மட்டும் போதாது - எது எதனுடன் ஒப்பிடப்படுகிறது, அந்த ஒப்பீடு தரும் பொருள் என்ன, என்பதையும் எழுதுங்கள்.'
Reasoning: the candidate has identified the உவம உருபு by name, which earns its mark, and the label is correct. But naming the marker is not using it. The script never says that மனம் is the tenor and கடல் the vehicle, never pairs புகழ் with மலை, and never explains what 'பெரியது' means once the sea is invoked. Both comparison marks and both effect marks are therefore unavailable. Two marks preserves the correct identification and, just as importantly, tells the candidate through the mark itself that the shortfall is analytical rather than factual. The feedback sentence must make that explicit, or the candidate will assume the answer was too short rather than too thin.