Composition and Applied Writing (रचना): Paragraph, Letter, Dialogue
रचना asks you to produce, not reproduce: a guided paragraph on a familiar topic, a short letter, or a dialogue. Marks sit on correct endings, agreement and format, so simple sentences used correctly beat ambitious sentences used wrongly.
Paragraph
Structure: प्रस्तावना (opening statement), three or four supporting sentences, then उपसंहार (closing). Prefer लट् present and short compounds. Connectors: अत्र, ततः, अपि, परन्तु, अतः, यतः.
Letter
Standard order: place and date, सम्बोधन (प्रिय मित्र / आदरणीयः गुरुवर्य), greeting (स्वस्ति, कुशलं ते?), body, closing (भवदीयः / आपकाः), then your name. Use भवान् / भवती for polite address and त्वम् only for a close friend.
Dialogue
Alternate प्रश्न and उत्तर, each a full sentence. Vary verbs: किं करोषि? कुत्र गच्छसि? कियान् समयः? Open with a सम्बोधन in the vocative.
Worked example
प्रिय मित्र रमेश, स्वस्ति। अहं कुशली अस्मि। मम परीक्षा समीपे एव अस्ति। अहं प्रतिदिनं प्रातःकाले पठामि। त्वम् अपि सम्यक् पठ। परीक्षायाम् उत्तमं फलं प्राप्नुहि। भवदीयः, सुरेशः Reasoning: the address uses सम्बोधन (मित्र); परीक्षा is feminine, so समीपे अस्ति is used; पठ and प्राप्नुहि are लोट् मध्यमपुरुष for instruction; भवदीयः agrees with the masculine writer.
Traps
- Writing a letter with no सम्बोधन or closing.
- Shifting tense mid-paragraph without reason.
- Adjectives that do not agree with the speaker's gender: अहं कुशला अस्मि for a girl.
- Dialogue replies reduced to single words.