Applied Writing: Letter, Report, Notice and Dialogue
Applied writing covers the formal letter, the report, the notice and the dialogue. Each has a fixed shape, and most marks are lost on format rather than language.
Formats at a glance
- Formal letter (to the headmaster, BDO, health officer): sender's address, date, receiver's address, salutation, subject line, body in 2–3 paragraphs, closing, signature and name. State the purpose in the first line.
- Report: headline, byline, place and date, then a past-tense third-person account answering what, where, when, who, why and how. No personal opinion in a news report.
- Notice: the word NOTICE at the top, name of the institution, date, a short title, a body of 4–5 lines with the five Ws, and the name and designation of the issuer.
- Dialogue: speaker names in the margin, natural turn-taking, 6–10 exchanges, no long narration.
Worked example: notice
Institution: Bahadurpur High School. Date: 12 August. Title: Santali Cultural Programme. Body: A Santali cultural programme will be held in the school hall on 25 August at 11 a.m. Students of Classes IX–X may register with the undersigned by 20 August. The programme will include sereng (songs), dance and recitation. - Secretary, Cultural Committee. Note the five Ws and the signature.
Traps
Leaving out the date or signature; writing 'Dear friend' in a formal letter; putting a headline but no dateline in a report; writing a notice as a personal letter; letting a dialogue become a speech; using past tense in a notice for a future event.