Appreciation marks: distinguishing உவமை from உருவகம் in a four-line stanza
You are the subject expert finalising the key for a 6-mark appreciation question in a 3-hour Tamil paper. The question prints this stanza, written for the paper: "மலைமுகம் வெளிறியது மழைக்காற்றில்; / ஆறு இளைத்தது; ஆனால் நெல் வயல் / பொன்னிறம் கொண்டது - அதைப் பார்த்து / உழவன் கண் கலங்கினான்." The inherited rubric gives 2 marks for theme, 2 marks for any two அணிகள் named with textual evidence, and 2 marks for showing how those அணிகள் shape feeling. Candidate Priya writes: (1) "ஆறு இளைத்தது is உருவகம் because a river cannot be thin like a person"; (2) "பொன்னிறம் is உவமை because the field is compared to gold"; (3) "The tears prove the farmer is happy after harvest." Candidate Aslam writes a fluent 110-word paragraph on farmers and rain but names no அணி. Forty-two scripts are double-marked and moderation is tomorrow.
1. Rule on Priya's three claims and award her a mark out of 6.
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Claim 1 - accept the observation, correct the label. Giving a river the human state of becoming thin is ஆளுமைப்படுத்தல், which the key should treat as a form of உருவகம். She quoted the words, so she earns 1 of the 2 அணி marks.
Claim 2 - reject. உவமை requires an உவம உருபு such as போல, ஒப்ப or ஒத்த. "பொன்னிறம்" contains none; it is an implicit comparison/colour image (உருவகம், படிமம்), not உவமை. No mark for a wrongly named அணி, even if the quotation is right.
Claim 3 - "prove" overstates. Tears can be relief, pride or exhaustion; the stanza sets a weak river against a golden field, so mixed joy and anxiety is the defensible reading. She identifies the harvest feeling, so theme = 1 of 2; she links image to feeling only loosely, so appreciation = 1 of 2.
Total: 1 (theme) + 1 (அணி) + 1 (appreciation) = 3/6. Record on the key: "ஆளுமைப்படுத்தல் counts under உருவகம்; bare colour words are not உவமை."
2. Apply the same rubric to Aslam's paragraph and write the comment you would place on his script.
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Aslam has retold the situation rather than analysed it. His paragraph may show he understands the rain–harvest tension, so theme = 1 or 2 depending on whether he quotes or points to the stanza. Because he names no அணி and offers no textual evidence, the 2 அணி marks are 0. If he describes the farmer's feeling without linking it to an image, appreciation = 1; if he merely says "farmers work hard", appreciation = 0. Most such scripts should land at 2/6, not 4, because fluency is not the criterion. Length is not penalised: the question sets no word limit. Comment: "நீங்கள் காட்சியை விவரித்துள்ளீர்கள்; மதிப்பீடு என்பது கவிதை நுட்பத்தைக் காட்டுவது. 'ஆறு இளைத்தது' போன்ற தொடரை மேற்கோள் காட்டி, அது ஏற்படுத்தும் உணர்வை எழுதுங்கள்." This tells the candidate exactly which rubric row failed.
3. Draft the one-paragraph marking note that both raters will follow, covering the two trap answers.
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Suggested note: "Award அணி marks only when the device is correctly named and supported by words from the stanza. உருவகம்/ஆளுமைப்படுத்தல்: accept for 'ஆறு இளைத்தது' because a human bodily change is given to a river. உவமை: do not accept for 'பொன்னிறம்'; no உவம உருபு (போல, ஒப்ப, ஒத்த) is present, so at most it is உருவகம்/colour imagery. Appreciation marks require a link between a quoted image and a feeling; accept joy, relief, anxiety or mixed feeling for the farmer's tears only if the script points to the contrast between the weakened river and the golden field. Do not award a third அணி: the rubric caps device marks at two. Total the three rows out of 6; no half marks. Re-mark any script where 'உவமை' was accepted for 'பொன்னிறம்'." This makes the ruling reproducible across 42 scripts and gives the appeal committee a written basis.