Composition, letter writing, and creative expression
Composition and letter writing carry the productive marks: a nibandha, a patra, and a creative task such as a dialogue, picture description or story completion.
Nibandha (essay)
- Three-part structure: prastāvanā (2–3 sentences defining the topic), viṣaya-vistāra (body in 2–3 paragraphs, one idea each), upasaṃhāra (conclusion with a general observation).
- Use short, correct sentences. Two confident constructions beat five half-remembered ones.
- Keep one tense and one person throughout; use connectives such as ततः, अत्र, अपि, परं तु.
Patra (letter)
- Begin with place and date, then the address: प्रिय मित्र (informal) or पूज्य (formal).
- Open the body with a courtesy line (कुशलं तत्रास्तु / अत्र कुशलं तवास्तु), state the purpose, close with भवदीयः plus your name.
- Keep the person consistent: प्रिय मित्र takes त्वम् forms, पूज्य takes भवान्.
Creative expression
Dialogue, diary entry and picture description reward simple, direct Sanskrit: describe what is visible, then what is happening, then one reaction.
Worked example
A letter inviting a friend: "प्रिय मित्र, कुशलं तत्रास्तु। अस्माकं विद्यालये श्वः वार्षिकोत्सवः भविष्यति। त्वम् अवश्यम् आगच्छ।" Here भविष्यति is lṛṭ (future) agreeing with the masculine singular उत्सवः, and आगच्छ is the imperative addressed to त्वम् - subject, tense and person all agree, which is exactly what is marked.
Traps
- An essay with no conclusion, or a body that repeats the introduction.
- Mixing त्वम् and भवान् in the same letter.
- Ornate sandhi you cannot control; errors there cost more than plain simplicity.
- Ignoring the word limit and the points given in the question.