WBBSE Madhyamik First Language Santali cheat sheet

Gadya passages in the Madhyamik Santali paper are drawn only from the prescribed prose lessons; identify the lesson from the first line before answering detail questions.

For 'who said this to whom' items, trace the speaker through the dialogue markers in the passage rather than guessing from content alone.

Theme questions on prose usually ask for the central idea in one or two sentences; state the idea plus one textual support.

Character questions require both a trait and an incident: name the trait, then cite the action in the lesson that proves it.

Distinguish between the author's own voice and a character's opinion when the question asks 'according to the writer'.

Sequence-of-events questions: arrange by the order in the printed lesson, not by logical or historical order.

Vocabulary-in-context items in prose passages are answered from the surrounding sentence, not from the dictionary meaning in isolation.

For 'why did X do Y' questions, the answer is normally a cause stated in the preceding or following sentence of the passage.

Padya questions test line meaning, central theme, and devices; a full answer names the device, quotes the line, and explains the effect.

Common devices to check in Santali poems: upama (simile), rupaka (metaphor), punarukti (repetition), anuprasa (alliteration), and manobhab (personification).

Simile is marked by an explicit comparison word; metaphor states the comparison without it - the presence or absence of the comparison word decides the label.

Refrain (ghurani/ punarukti) lines usually carry the poem's emotional key; quote the refrain when asked for the main theme.

Theme answers should link the poem's subject to a human feeling or social message, not merely summarise the scene.

Metre and rhyme questions: count syllables per line and note the end-sound pattern before naming the rhyme scheme.

When asked about the poet's purpose, connect the poem's closing lines to the message; the conclusion usually states the intent.

Do not attribute a first-person line to the poet automatically - in lyric poetry the speaker may be a persona.

Keep a lesson-wise list of author name, title, and one-line context; Madhyamik objective items frequently pair author with title.

Santali literary history questions may ask about the author's period, region, or contribution to Santali letters; answer only from the prescribed textbook notes.

Match the genre to the text: prose lessons are narrative or reflective; poems are lyric or descriptive - genre questions follow this split.

Character names, place names, and key objects in each lesson are high-frequency objective items; memorise them per lesson.

For 'the title is justified because…' answers, give two reasons drawn from the plot and one from the theme.

Author-context items: distinguish the writer of the lesson from any character who narrates it in the first person.

Objective questions on the textbook's foreword or introduction are answered from the prescribed edition only.

When two authors share a theme, note the difference in treatment - the exam may ask for contrast, not similarity.

Sandhi: identify the meeting point of two sounds at a word boundary, then name the change - vowel meeting (swara sandhi) versus consonant meeting (byanjan sandhi).

Samas: decide whether the compound's meaning is dominated by the first member, the second member, or neither; that decision fixes the samas type.

Karak: the case relation is decided by the verb's demand - kartā (doer), karma (object), karan (instrument), sampradan (recipient), apadan (source), adhikaran (locus).

Verb forms: match person and number with the subject; Santali verb endings change with subject person, so the ending is the diagnostic.

Sentence transformation: active to passive moves the object to subject position and changes the verb ending accordingly; keep tense unchanged.

Direct to indirect speech: shift pronouns to the reporter's viewpoint and adjust time and place words in the reported clause.

Negative and interrogative transformation must preserve the original proposition; only the sentence type changes, not the truth value.

For 'correct the sentence' items, check agreement, case marker, and word order in that order - most errors sit in one of these three.

Idiom questions ask for the figurative meaning, not the literal words; answer with the sense the idiom carries in Santali usage.

Synonym items: choose the word that fits the sentence's register, not merely a near-equivalent listed in a glossary.

Antonym items are safest when you supply the negative prefix or the paired opposite found in the textbook glossary.

One-word substitution: identify the defining feature in the phrase and match it to the single Santali term that names that feature.

Homophone traps: two words sounding alike but differing in meaning are tested by sentence context; read the whole sentence before choosing.

Word-formation: note whether the word is a base, a derived form, or a reduplicated form - reduplication often signals emphasis or repetition.

Idioms with body-part or nature imagery are frequent; learn them as whole units rather than word by word.

For 'use the word in a sentence' tasks, the sentence must show the tested sense, not just contain the word.

Essay structure: introduction stating the topic, two or three body paragraphs each with one point and one example, and a conclusion that restates the stand.

Paragraph writing requires a single topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a closing sentence - no new topic may enter mid-paragraph.

Word limits are part of the mark: a Madhyamik essay is normally expected in the range the question paper specifies; stay within it.

Choose topics with concrete local examples (festival, agriculture, education, environment) so the body has specific detail rather than generalities.

Cohesive devices - connectors of addition, contrast, cause, and result - must appear at paragraph openings to earn organisation marks.

Avoid mixing registers: a formal essay keeps full sentences and avoids conversational fillers throughout.

For descriptive essays, organise by spatial or temporal order; for argumentative essays, organise by point and counterpoint.

The conclusion must not introduce a fresh argument; it should close the stand taken in the introduction.

Formal letter format: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, subject line, salutation, body, closing, and signature - each on its own line as prescribed.

Report writing answers the five Ws in the opening paragraph, then gives detail in the body, and ends with the reporter's name and designation.

Notice format: name of the institution at the top, the word NOTICE, date, a heading, a short body of two or three sentences, and the issuer's name and designation.

Dialogue writing must alternate speakers, keep each turn short, and stay on the given situation; no narration inside the dialogue.

Letter body: state purpose in the first sentence, give detail in the middle, and close with the requested action.

Report language is impersonal and past tense; notice language is impersonal and future or imperative.

In dialogue, use the register the situation demands - formal for officials, informal for friends - and keep it consistent.

Word limits apply to notices and reports specifically; an overlong notice loses format marks even if the content is correct.