Writing: Letter, Notice, Report, Paragraph and Guided Composition
What the writing section tests
Writing is tested through a formal or informal letter, a notice, a report, a paragraph, and guided composition. Marks depend on format, content points, organisation, register, and language accuracy.
Core rules
- Letter: sender's address, date, salutation, body, closing, signature. Formal letters use 'Yours faithfully' with 'Dear Sir/Madam'; informal letters use 'Yours lovingly' or 'Yours affectionately' with a name.
- Notice: heading NOTICE, date, title, body of 4–5 lines, name and designation. Use impersonal tone and passive voice where suitable.
- Report: headline, byline, date and place, lead paragraph answering what/when/where/who, then details. Past tense.
- Paragraph: one controlling idea, topic sentence, supporting examples, closing sentence; no bullet points.
- Guided composition: use every clue; do not invent a new storyline that ignores the prompts.
Worked example
Task: notice for a lost library book. Weak: 'I lost my book. Please find it.' Better: 'NOTICE\nLost Library Book\n15 August 20XX\nA copy of the Class X English textbook was left in the reading room on 14 August. Finder may hand it over to the class teacher or the librarian. - A. Rao, Class X B.' Reasoning: it names the object, place, date, action, and gives a signature line.
Traps
- Mixing formal and informal register.
- Omitting date or signature in a notice.
- Writing a report in the future tense.
- Ignoring two of the four content points.