Counting syllables is not scanning: an anuṣṭubh answer with a missing scheme
A 4-mark prosody question asks: 'Identify the metre of the following verse and explain its scheme: "vidyā śreṣṭhā sadā loke vidyā dānaṃ viśiṣyate / vidyayā labhate sarvaṃ vidyā mokṣasya sādhanam."' The marking scheme allots 1 mark for the metre name, 1 for the syllable count, and 2 for the gaṇa-scheme and analysis. A candidate writes: 'The metre is anuṣṭubh because each pāda has eight syllables. It is also called śloka.' The candidate does not mark guru or laghu or mention the fifth-syllable rule. The teacher checks and finds the verse is an anuṣṭubh; the candidate's name and count are correct. The teacher must decide whether the missing scheme is a minor omission worth 3/4 or a major one worth 2/4, and whether to introduce the pathyā and vipulā varieties to a student who has not yet mastered the basic scheme.
1. Award marks and justify the treatment of the missing gaṇa-scheme.
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Award 2/4: 1/1 for the name, 1/1 for the syllable count, 0/2 for the scheme. The question explicitly asks 'explain its scheme', so naming and counting are only the entry point. The missing scheme is not a typo; it is the analytical half of the answer. A 3/4 would reward the correct name as if the scheme were optional.
2. Write a model answer in 50–70 words that would earn full marks, including the fifth-syllable rule.
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Model: The metre is anuṣṭubh, also called śloka. Each pāda has eight syllables, four pādas in all. In the scheme, the fifth syllable is the key: in the pathyā form it is laghu, and the sixth is guru; a pāda in which the fifth is guru is called vipulā. The analysis should mark guru and laghu rather than only count syllables.
3. The candidate protests: 'But I got the metre right.' How do you explain the difference between naming a metre and analysing it, in two sentences?
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Naming is recognition; analysis is demonstration. You recognized the family, but the examiner cannot see whether you can scan the line; in two sentences: 'Anuṣṭubh has eight syllables per pāda; the scheme is shown by marking the fifth syllable as laghu in pathyā and guru in vipulā.'