Composition marking: a fine letter in the wrong format, and a copied letter
The Class 10 mid-term composition section is 20 marks: a formal letter to the headmaster (10), a short essay or paragraph (6), and a dialogue (4). The letter task asks pupils to request permission to hold a Konkani poetry recitation on Mother Language Day, in about 100–120 words. The rubric you inherited allocates 2 marks for format, 4 for content and 4 for language. Pupil A writes excellent content with a clear request, but uses an informal opening, no 'To, The Headmaster' block, and 165 words. Pupil B's letter is short, perfectly formatted, and turns out to be copied almost verbatim from a printed letter in a guidebook found in the desk. Pupil C handles the dialogue task with four turns, all relevant, but writes them as a paragraph with no speaker labels. The headmaster wants the section average reported and does not want any parent complaint about 'subjective' composition marking.
1. Mark Pupil A and state your word-limit policy, so that the 165-word issue is handled the same way for all 40 pupils.
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Pupil A: 8/10. Format 0/2 (no addressee block, informal salutation - the format marks are precisely for these), content 4/4 (clear purpose, reason, specific request, courteous close), language 4/4 (accurate and readable, length is not a language error).
Word-limit policy, applied uniformly: the instruction says 'about 100–120 words', so treat ±10% (90–132 words) as compliant. Beyond that, deduct one mark once, never per extra word and never in both content and language - a double deduction for one feature is what makes composition marking look arbitrary. Above 200 words, deduct 2.
So Pupil A, at 165 words, falls in the −1 band: 7/10.
Write the deduction on the script with its reason ('ಉಲೊ ಮಿತಿ ಪಾರ್ - 1 ಮಾರ್ಕ್') and record the policy on the rubric you submit with the marks. Reasoning: the headmaster's concern is comparability; a published band converts a judgement into a stated rule, and the rule - not your mood - carries the deduction.
2. Pupil B's letter is copied from a guidebook. What mark, and what process, given that you must also report a section average?
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Award 0 for the letter, record the reason, and exclude the script from the section average only if your school's correction policy allows exclusion; otherwise report the average with the zero and a footnote. Do not award format marks: format marks are earned by a pupil producing a correct format, not by a printed page having one.
Process, minimally adversarial:
- Keep the evidence - note the guidebook page and the identical phrasing, and initial it.
- Tell the pupil privately, in one sentence, what went wrong: the work submitted was not his own; ask for a rewrite under supervision.
- Re-mark the supervised rewrite for feedback only, and record it as such in your register - this is what stops a parent complaint escalating, because it shows the pupil was given a chance to demonstrate the skill.
- Report the average with the zero included but with the note 'one case of copied work, re-tested'; a silently adjusted average is indefensible if challenged.
Reasoning: the examinable skill is composing, and copying supplies no evidence of it; but the process must leave a paper trail and a re-test, or the penalty looks punitive rather than evidentiary.
3. Pupil C's dialogue is relevant but written as a paragraph without speaker labels. How many of the 4 marks, and what does that tell you to reteach before the board exam?
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Award 2/4. The dialogue convention carries marks: 4 marks split as convention 1 (speaker labels, turn-taking layout), relevance and development 2, language 1. Pupil C loses the convention mark and half of development, since a paragraph makes it hard to see whose turn is whose; relevance and language are fine.
What to reteach - the three visible features of the dialogue form:
- Speaker name followed by a colon, starting a new line for each turn (ಪಾತ್ರದ ನಾವ್: …).
- Minimum four turns, each responding to the previous one, not four unconnected statements.
- Register: a pupil addressing a teacher uses the respectful form; a pupil addressing a friend uses the familiar form.
Drill: give a paragraph version and have pupils convert it to labelled turns in five minutes - the conversion makes the convention obvious and gives you a model answer for the key.
Reasoning: awarding 2 rather than 0 protects relevance marks and matches the rubric; the missing convention is a format gap, and it is the cheapest four marks in the paper to secure, so it is worth reteaching even though only one pupil in 40 missed it.