Composition (Insha): Essay, Letter and Precis
What Insha tests
The composition paper offers a choice of mazmoon (essay), khat (letter) and khulasa (precis). Each is marked for structure, relevance and correct Urdu, not for length alone.
Core rules
- Mazmoon in three movements: muqaddama (two or three sentences defining the topic), body (three or four paragraphs, one point each with an example), khatima (a conclusion adding no new point). Hold one dominant tense and use muhawara sparingly and correctly.
- Khat comes in two registers. Khat-e-dostana, to a friend or relative, opens with an enquiry after health, umeed hai aap khairiyat se honge, and closes with baaqi khair plus dastakhat. Khat-e-akhbari or rasmi, to an editor or officer, opens Janab-e-Muhtaram, states its business in the first line, and signs off aap ka mukhlis, with no personal health enquiry.
- Khulasa rules: about one-third of the original, in your own words, third person, no comment, no quotation, with a title of two or three words.
Worked example
Task: write a khat-e-akhbari to an editor about irregular water supply.
Reasoning: the register is formal, so drop the health enquiry. Address Janab-e-Muhtaram, state the grievance in sentence one (which locality, since when), give two concrete effects, request publication or action, and sign aap ka mukhlis with name and address. A candidate who opens with the friendly enquiry loses register marks even with flawless Urdu.
Traps
- Exceeding the precis word limit; examiners cut marks for length.
- Writing a full essay when a paragraph is asked for.
- Omitting pata and tarikh on a letter.
- Using a muhawara whose meaning you are unsure of; one wrong idiom spoils the answer.