A 10-mark editor letter: register, closing, idiom, and a content-rich script with six slips
Fifty-five scripts come in for a 10-mark formal letter to the editor of a local daily about repeated embankment breaches. The rubric is format 3, content 4, language 3. The recurring problems are: (i) an opening self-introduction, "মোৰ নাম ৰমেন ...", (ii) আপুনি and তুমি mixed within one paragraph, (iii) a letter closed with শ্ৰদ্ধাঞ্জলি, (iv) অনুৰোধ spelt অনুৰুধ, (v) the idiom চকুৰ পচাৰত used to mean "before our eyes", and (vi) কৰিছোঁ used where কৰিলোঁ is meant for a completed past action. Script M has the strongest content in the batch - four specific suggestions, two of them with figures - but carries six language slips, a self-introduction and শ্ৰদ্ধাঞ্জলি. Script N has flawless format and language but its content is one generic sentence: "চৰকাৰে জলภัย সমস্যা সমাধান কৰক"।
1. Mark M and N band by band, and say what the near-equal totals reveal.
Read the worked answer
Script M - 7/10. Content 4: four suggestions, two with figures, all tied to the breach - this is the only script that answers the question. Format 2: the self-introduction and শ্ৰদ্ধাঞ্জলি each cost part of a band; the addressee, subject line and sender block are correct, so not 1. Language 1: six slips across 3 marks, including a misspelling and one idiom error. Total 7.
Script N - 7/10. Format 3: complete and correct. Language 3: nothing to fault. Content 1: one generic sentence that could head any letter on any subject; it names the problem and asks the government to solve it, which is not a suggestion. Total 7.
What the tie reveals: the rubric is compensatory, and that is deliberate - but the feedback must not be. M must be told the ideas were right and the surface lost the marks; N must be told the surface was perfect and there was nothing underneath. If both receive "7/10, good" the two candidates learn opposite wrong lessons. Record the band profile, not only the total, on the mark sheet.
2. Correct the register, closing and idiom points, and say which of the six listed problems is not actually an error.
Read the worked answer
Corrections:
- (i) Self-introduction: a formal letter to an editor does not introduce the writer by name in the first line. Open with the purpose: "আপোনাৰ কাকতৰ জৰিয়তে চৰকাৰৰ দৃষ্টি আকৰ্ষণ কৰিব বিচাৰোঁ যে ...". The name belongs in the signature block.
- (ii) আপুনি/তুমি mix: a formal addressee takes আপুনি throughout, including its verb forms (আপুনি জানে, not আপুনি জান). One register, one letter.
- (iii) শ্ৰদ্ধাঞ্জলি: this is a condolence or tribute word. A letter to an editor closes with "ইতি, আপোনাৰ শুভাকাঙ্ক্ষী" or "আপোনাৰ বিশ্বাসী"। The choice signals the whole register, which is why it costs format marks.
- (v) চকুৰ পচাৰত means "in the twinkling of an eye", i.e. very fast, not "before our eyes". For "before our eyes" write চকুৰ আগত. An idiom is tested by putting it back in the sentence and asking whether the sentence now says what was meant.
- (iv) অনুৰুধ → অনুৰোধ: pure spelling, counted under language.
- (vi) কৰিছোঁ / কৰিলোঁ is NOT an error. কৰিছোঁ is present perfect ("I have done"), কৰিলোঁ is simple past ("I did"); both are standardAssamese. The marker who treats one as wrong is confusing a tense distinction with a mistake. It must come off the error list and, if the letter's time reference makes কৰিলোঁ the better choice, be noted as style, not deducted.
3. Write the board-style three-line instruction you would give the class so these six problems do not recur.
Read the worked answer
Instruction for the class, three lines:
- "প্ৰথম বাক্যই উদ্দেশ্য ক'ব, নিজৰ পৰিচয় নহয়; শেষ শব্দই সন্মান দেখুৱাব, সমবেদনা নহয়।" Purpose in the first line, respect in the last - this single rule removes (i) and (iii), the two most expensive errors.
- "এটা ঠাইনি, এটা সন্মান - আপুনি লিখিলে শেষলৈকে আপুনি।" One addressee, one level of respect; consistency is what the format band buys.
- "বানান আৰু বাগধাৰা এৰি দিয়াৰ আগত পঢ়ি শুনক।" Read the letter aloud before handing it in: the ear catches অনুৰুধ and catches চকুৰ পচাৰত where the eye slides over it.
Why three and not six: a rule the candidate can hold in working memory during the exam is worth more than a list of six prohibitions, four of which will be forgotten. Spelling is drilled separately through dictation, not through rules. And the class must be told explicitly that কৰিছোঁ/কৰিলোঁ is a choice, not a fault, or they will start "correcting" correct Assamese under exam pressure.