RBSE SS Punjabi Literature key terms

A Punjabi poem or verse composition, usually short and expressive, built on rhythm, imagery, and emotional intensity rather than narrative length. Prescribed poets are studied mainly through this form.

Metre or metrical pattern in Punjabi verse, determined by syllable count, stress, and pause placement. Recognising chhand helps a candidate scan a poem and explain its musical effect.

End rhyme, where the final syllables of lines match in sound. Punjabi poetry often uses paired rhyming lines, and identifying the rhyme scheme is a standard analysis task.

A poetic ornament or figure of speech that decorates meaning, such as simile, metaphor, or alliteration. Candidates must name the figure and justify it with a quotation from the poem.

Simile: an explicit comparison using words such as 'like' or 'as'. The two things compared stay distinct, and the point of similarity must be stated in analysis.

Metaphor: an implied comparison in which one thing is spoken of as if it were another, without a comparing word. Distinguishing it from upma is a frequent examination demand.

The aesthetic sentiment or flavour a poem evokes in the reader, such as love, heroism, pathos, or devotion. Naming the dominant ras and supporting it with lines is a standard long-answer requirement.

The underlying feeling, thought, or message conveyed by a literary work, as distinct from its literal wording. Candidates state the bhav in one clear sentence before elaborating.

A symbol: an object, person, or image that stands for a larger idea beyond itself. In prescribed Punjabi poems, symbols often carry cultural or spiritual meaning that must be decoded.

Imagery: the concrete sensory pictures a poet creates through language. Analysis describes the image and then explains the mood or idea it supports.

The Punjabi short story, a compact narrative with limited characters, a single central conflict, and a decisive ending. Prescribed stories are analysed for plot, character, and theme.

A character in a story or play. Candidates classify characters as central or minor and support their judgements with actions and dialogue from the text.

A summary or précis of a literary text, giving its essential content in condensed form and in one's own words. It is a common short-answer and composition task.

The central idea or issue a work explores, such as poverty, migration, or gender injustice. A theme statement should be a full sentence, not a single word.

Plot: the arranged sequence of events in a narrative, including exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. Plot differs from story because it reflects the author's ordering choices.

A one-act play: a short drama performed without interval, usually with few characters and a single situation resolved within one continuous action.

A play written for performance, structured in acts and scenes and driven by dialogue and conflict. Drama is studied as a performed text, so staging details matter.

Dialogue between characters in a play or story. In drama it carries plot, reveals personality, and creates tension, so quotations from dialogue strengthen answers.

Stage directions: the playwright's instructions about setting, movement, gesture, and tone, usually printed in brackets. They reveal mood and character intention without being spoken aloud.

The novel: a long prose narrative with multiple characters, developed settings, and interwoven events. Punjabi fiction study covers plot structure, character development, and social background.

A novella or short novel, longer than a short story but shorter and narrower than a full novel, often focused on one character's experience.

The conventional periods into which Punjabi literary history is divided, from early devotional verse through modern prose genres. Candidates should place major writers and works within the correct period.

Devotional mystical poetry in Punjabi, expressing love for the divine through earthly imagery and symbol. It is a foundational strand of the literary history syllabus.

Modernity in Punjabi literature, marked by new genres, individual expression, social critique, and experimentation from the late nineteenth century onward.

Noun: a word naming a person, place, thing, or idea. In Punjabi grammar, nouns are classified by type and by number and gender agreement.

Grammatical gender. Punjabi nouns and adjectives are masculine or feminine, and verb forms must agree with the gender of their subject or object.

Grammatical number, singular or plural. Punjabi plural formation varies by noun ending and gender, so agreement errors are common in composition.

Verb: the word expressing action or state. Punjabi verbs change for tense, aspect, person, gender, and number, so conjugation accuracy is central to language marks.

Tense: the grammatical marking of time as past, present, or future. Punjabi also distinguishes completed and continuing aspect within each tense.

Sentence: a complete unit of expression containing a subject and predicate. Candidates are asked to identify sentence types and correct faulty construction.

An idiom: a fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be derived from its individual words. Using idioms correctly in composition earns credit; literal translation usually distorts them.

A proverb or traditional saying that encapsulates folk wisdom in a fixed, often rhythmic form. Proverbs are frequently used to illustrate themes in prose and poetry.

An essay: a structured prose composition presenting ideas on a topic in organised paragraphs with introduction, development, and conclusion. Coherence and relevance carry most marks.

A letter, whether personal or formal. Format, salutation, body organisation, and closing are assessed, and formal letters require a precise, courteous register.

Subject matter or content: the material a composition actually covers. Examiners penalise essays that drift from the assigned topic into unrelated generalities.

A paragraph: a group of sentences developing one controlling idea. Paragraph unity and clear linking between paragraphs are basic requirements in Punjabi composition.

Punctuation marks such as full stop, comma, and question mark. Correct punctuation affects clarity and is separately assessed in grammar and composition sections.