Composition (Insha): Mazmoon, Khat, Darkhwast and Report
Insha is the writing section: a mazmoon (essay), a khat (letter) or darkhwast (application), and a report or similar applied piece. Format marks are fixed and easy; language marks come from correct Urdu and one clear idea per paragraph. More marks are lost here through missing format than through simple vocabulary.
Formats marked almost mechanically
- Khat-e-ikhwani (personal): address, tareekh, salutation (Aziz/Azizan), body, closing (Aapka/Aap ki), signature.
- Khat-e-daftari and darkhwast: 'Bakhidmat-e-Janab-e-Aali', a one-line mauzoo, then three paragraphs - ta'aruf, tafseel, darkhwast - and 'Aapka mati' with name and class.
- Report: a short headline, then paragraphs answering kya hua, kahan, kab, kaun, aur natija.
Mazmoon discipline
A tamheed of two or three lines, three body paragraphs each carrying one point with one example, and a natija that introduces no new idea. Respect the word limit; a long essay repeating the same point reads worse than a tight one.
Worked example
Darkhwast for fee concession. Paragraph 1: name, class, roll number. Paragraph 2: the facts - father's income and the number of dependants. Paragraph 3: the specific request plus thanks. Reasoning: the examiner looks for the mauzoo line and the request sentence. A candidate who writes movingly about the family's difficulties but never asks for the concession loses the format marks, because there is no darkhwast inside the darkhwast.
Traps
- using the personal register (Aziz) in an official letter;
- omitting the mauzoo line in an application;
- paragraphs that switch topic halfway;
- filling space with slogans instead of examples;
- beginning the essay with the dictionary definition of the topic word.