The 120-Word Noticeboard Notice
The English Society of your cadet college has drafted this notice for the main noticeboard: "The English Society is organizing an essay competition which is open to all the students of classes IX, X and XI. Interested students who are interested should submit their essays, which must not exceed 350 words, to the society's coordinator in Room 14 no later than 20 November. Prizes will be awarded to the winners of the competition on 5 December." The noticeboard allots 120 words per notice. Your teacher asks you to edit it: keep every factual detail, cut repetition, and fix the grammar. While editing you learn two things. Room 14 is booked for a physics practical on the submission day, so submissions must move to Room 9. The coordinator is travelling and has extended the deadline to 22 November by telephone; the prize date is unchanged. The society president also wants to add: "The best essay will be published in the college magazine", although the magazine committee has not yet approved this.
1. Rewrite the notice in 90 words or fewer and explain the edits you made for economy.
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Rewritten notice (about 40 words): Essay Competition - The English Society invites students of classes IX, X and XI to submit essays of not more than 350 words to the society's coordinator in Room 9 by 22 November. Prizes will be presented on 5 December.
Edits and why they save words without losing facts:
- "which is open to all the students of classes IX, X and XI" becomes "students of classes IX, X and XI" - the relative clause adds nothing and "the students of" is redundant before a class list.
- "Interested students who are interested" is a duplicated idea; one occurrence is deleted.
- "no later than 20 November" becomes "by 22 November" - same meaning in one word, and it also carries the corrected date.
- "Prizes will be awarded to the winners of the competition" becomes "Prizes will be presented" - the winners are already implied by "competition".
- The three sentences are merged, removing repeated subjects. The result leaves roughly 50 words of headroom, so a short heading and the society's name can be added without breaching the 120-word limit.
2. The room change comes from the timetable office; the new deadline came only by telephone. Decide what you publish today and defend the decision.
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Apply one rule first: publish only what can be traced to a written, accountable source, and treat the two items differently because their risks are different.
The room change is low-risk and already documented by the officer who owns the timetable. Confirm it in writing (even a forwarded message from the timetable office will do), then print Room 9.
The deadline is high-risk because a wrong date causes real harm in both directions. If you print 20 November when the true deadline is 22 November, students who would have entered lose the chance. If you print 22 November and the coordinator later refuses late scripts, the Society has broken a promise it made in his name. So obtain written confirmation from the coordinator before the board is printed. If the board must go up today, publish the documented date (20 November) and add one line: "Any change will be notified on this board." Then message the coordinator that a text or email is needed before any extension can be honoured. Never post two versions on different boards; conflicting notices destroy the credibility of every future notice you write.
3. Should the sentence about publication in the college magazine be included? Reason from the difference between a commitment and an intention.
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No, not in the form proposed. "The best essay will be published" is a commitment, and the Society cannot honour it: the magazine committee holds editorial discretion, may reject a piece for length, quality or space, and has not been consulted. A commitment made with someone else's authority is not generosity but a risk transferred to the winner, who may turn down other outlets or tell family that the essay is being printed.
An intention, honestly labelled, is different: "The best essay may be considered for the college magazine, subject to the magazine committee's approval" is a statement about what the Society will do (forward the essay), not about what another body will do. If the president insists on a publication line, that hedged version is the only defensible wording. Note also that printing a student's work normally needs the writer's consent, so the notice should not create an expectation of publication without it.
The better sequence is: ask the magazine committee in writing, and add the line only when approval exists. Until then, the prize itself is a sufficient incentive and the notice stays honest.