Unit - 3
Basics of Effective Communication (Reading, Writing, Thinking)
Reading is the cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from them. It is the ability to understand text, decode its meaning and compare with what the reader already knows.
Knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are very essential to be a good reader. Attention span, the ability to understand the meaning of a word from context, the ability to co-relate thoughts and ideas, the ability to follow the flow of words, and the ability to identify various literary devices are the fundamental skills required for efficient reading.
Types of Reading: Skimming, Scamming and Fast Reading
Skimming and Scanning are reading techniques that use rapid eye movement to shuffle quickly through the text for relevant information. Although they both use the same technique they are quite different methods of reading.
Skimming
Skimming is the process of rapidly reading a text in order to get a general overview of the content. Skimming helps comprehend the general information within a text or a particular section of the text.
Before skimming, one should prepare oneself to read rapidly through the pages. One should not read every word; but special attention must be paid to typographical cues-headings, boldface and italic type, indenting, bulleted and numbered lists.
One should be alert for the names of people and places, key words and phrases, dates, nouns, and unfamiliar words.
Skimming involves the following steps:
1. First the table of content or the chapter overview must be read to get the structural overview of the text.
2. Main headings of each chapter must be glanced through. All headings of charts and tables must be read.
3. After glancing through headings, the whole introductory paragraph must be read followed by the first and last lines of each succeeding paragraph. For each paragraph, only the first few words of each sentence must be read to locate the central idea.
4. Words indicated with boldface or italics must always be read.
5.When something significant is found, the whole sentence containing it should be given priority. One should not waste time reading extraneous details while skimming..
6.All chapter summaries must be read at the end if provided.
Skimming may help understand the text at the most basic level but to get the complete idea of a topic it should always be read completely. Skimming is useful for reading news articles, finding source material for research papers, previewing and reviewing or getting a general idea from a long selection of texts.
Although skimming can save hours of work, it is not advisable to skim often. This is because while skimming one may miss important points or finer shades of meaning.
Scanning
Scanning, like skimming, also uses keywords and organizational cues, but while the objective of skimming is a big picture view of the text, the objective of scanning is to locate and collect particular facts.
It is necessary to skim the text first to decide if it is likely to contain the facts you need. While skimming one should concentrate on table of contents, summaries, indexes, headings, and typographical cues. If after skimming it is established that the text has relevant information, it can be scanned.
Following are some rules to be kept in mind while scanning:
1. It is essential to know what one is looking for. If there is a keyword or a phrase attached to the topic, one should start with that word or phrase and begin the scanning process.
1. Only one keyword should be used during one scan. If there is a need for multiple keywords than multiple scans should be conducted.
2. The eyes should rapidly float around the page until the required keyword or phrase is found.
3. After finding the desired keyword, the text surrounding that keyword should be read carefully.
The process of scanning could be tiring as it requires a lot of concentration. One should not let their attention wander while scanning as they might lose track of the keyword or phrase. Scanning is very useful during research projects to find particular facts or fact-heavy topics.
Fast Reading or Rapid Reading
Rapid reading or Fast reading usually involves techniques for moving the eyes faster in order to gather information more quickly. This might include Skimming and Scanning.
How to do Rapid Reading
To begin rapid reading, it is often recommended to start with a book that you find relatively easy to understand with a consecutive story. Have a timer to hand, and read a few pages at your normal speed, and just notice how long you spend on a page.
Then set your timer for half that time, read as quickly as you can down the page and move to the next page each time your timer goes off, and just see how much information you get. The first couple of pages might seems a bit overwhelming, but once the panic subsides, you’ll be amazed at how much you can pick up if you go quickly. And once you’ve doubled your speed, you can double again … and again. You only need to read enough to know what it’s about and to get as much information as you need.
Below are some things that must be done before starting fast reading:
1. Get into a good state – sit up straight, take a deep breath, relax, and smile.
2. Open your peripheral vision by keeping your gaze on the opposite wall while relaxing your eyes and trying to see both ears at the same time. Notice how much more you can see to right and left without moving your eyes.
3. Hold the book at a 45-degree angle in front of you – and a little bit further away than normal.
4. Begin to fast read to speed up your eyes and your brain before you start. That means glancing quickly down each page in 10 seconds or less for several pages. You shouldn’t be understanding what you’re looking at – the aim isn’t to read at that speed (yet), simply to get your eyes and brain working quicker, so when you read more slowly, you seem to have more time – which allows you to read more quickly than you do ‘normally’.
Importance of Reading
Reading for the main idea:
You should develop skills to identify the main idea or the central idea in what they read. This skill is necessary to get the main idea, identify the theme and get the implied meanings of the paragraph.
Activities to identify the main idea:
- Underlining key words.
- Selecting the topic sentence.
- Writing the title.
- Turning the sub heads or subtitles into a question (The answer to the question may give the main idea of the paragraph)
- Locating the function words that tie the sentence together. e.g then, therefore, but, etc.
Reading for detains:
Along with reading for and stating the main idea you must learn to read for details.
Activities to accomplish reading for details ask the you to;
- Look at a picture and then describe what they see at the picture.
- Note the details in a paragraph after stating the main idea.
- Identify irrelevant sentences.
- Analyse the paragraph to make a formal outline.
- Carryout simple directions on how to do something.
- Respond to directions.
- Elicit answers concerning the details, develop chart, diagram or map of the sequence of events.
Reading for organization:
Good readers will understand the organisation of what is being read. They arrange the ideas in logical order. The key helps to recall the information is organization. Reading the content areas depends upon proficiency in organisation skills. A Good reader knows how paragraphs are organized.
Activities that help you learn in a logical order what you are reading:
- Organizing information about a given subject (eg) characteristics of animals)
- Grouping a series of details about a main idea.
- Developing an outline for a story with heading and subheadings.
- Arranging records, directions or ideas in sequential orders.
- Arranging various bits of information about a selected topic and grouping them into an information story.
Reading for summarising and outline:
Summaries help to pressure the essential facts and ideas in capsule form. They retain important information. So, you should develop summarizing skill. Outlining is another way of organisation. It is closely related to summarising activities to develop summarizing skills. Summarise a message to be sent as a telegram. Selecting the main idea from the choices you give them. Do exercise for writing an outline. Read a small poem and select the best summary from the choices you give them
Reading Comprehension
Reading is the cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from them. It is the ability to understand text, decode its meaning and compare with what the reader already knows.
Knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are very essential to be a good reader. Attention span, the ability to understand the meaning of a word from context, the ability to co-relate thoughts and ideas, the ability to follow the flow of words, and the ability to identify various literary devices are the fundamental skills required for efficient reading.
An efficient reader is like a bus driver who knows when to go slow, when to accelerate speed, how to negotiate hair-pin bends on ghat roads etc. An efficient reader knows there are different levels of comprehension too as these are different reading materials. To become an efficient reader, one should be able to employ different study techniques. Reading is an act of communication between writer and reader. It is an act in which the reader grasps the information the writer passes on to him.
Comprehension is the correct association of meanings with word symbols. It is the selection of the correct meaning suggested by the text It is a thinking process. It is thinking through reading. Students should lead and get complete meaning. There are two situations that arise while reading a passage. The pupils may find a reading comprehension passage difficult for them. The teacher should know about the difficulties beforehand and prevent their occurrence.
Some common difficulties are:
- Students are not able to concentrate on what they read.
- They are not able to recognize words. Noisy surroundings, inadequate lighting and uncomfortable seating arrangements.
- Unfamiliarity of the subject matter (eg) a child from a city may not understand a passage on farming and a village child about road signal systems.
- In effective questioning and answering techniques.
- Lack of appropriate guidance by the teacher Steps for the comprehension skills. These are various steps followed for the construction of comprehension.
Barriers to Reading
Some of the barriers to effective reading are as follows-
1. Lack of grammatical and linguistic competence: Many people cannot read effectively because they fail to decrypt grammatical and lexical units of language in the text. They lack the ability to differentiate and recognize the words, sentences, expressions, used in the text. It hampers the process of reading. The reader may stop reading further if he fails to understand the text grammatically.
2. Lack of motivation: Reading for information and knowledge requires motivation and discipline. Many people think reading as boring and time-consuming task. Lack of proper motivation and goal may create barrier to reading.
3. Lack of concentration: Many a times a reader finds himself reading a passage or a page and later realizing that he had not understood the meaning of it at all. This happens due to a lack of concentration while reading. One of the main reasons for this is that the reader might be lost in his thoughts while he is reading. Reading is psycho-linguistic process and therefore requires careful attention of the reader.
4. Proper light and ventilation: A reader has to struggle a lot to read in dim light or dark rooms. If proper ventilation is not there in the reading room, reader may feel suffocated or tired.
5. Subject of interest: People often prefer reading texts that they are interested in. If one is reading a topic which is not according to his preferences, he may find himself losing interest gradually.
6. Articulating the words and sentences loudly: Many readers have habit to articulate loudly or murmur the words in the text. They buzz each word which creates a barrier to speed reading. Putting finger, pen or any object on the words and sentences while reading: Many people put their finger or pen on the text while reading. They move the finger or object from word to word which lowers down the process of reading.
7. Narrow eye span: Readers often read the text one word at a time with independent eye shift between each and every word. They have narrow eye span. It not only decreases the speed of reading but also affects the comprehension. Shorter the eye span, slower the speed and comprehension. Readers require proper training and techniques to expand their eye span.
Strategies for Reading
Below are some fundamental reading strategies:
1. Previewing: Previewing refers to take a quick glance at a text before actually reading it. It enables readers to understand the organizational structure of a text. Previewing includes the process of skimming through the text and looking at the headings, table of contents (if any) and typographical cues to get the general idea of what the text is about.
2. Contextualizing: Contextualizing refers to the process of placing the text in its appropriate historical, biographical and cultural background. When one reads a text, they often tend to look at it through the lenses of one's won background, leading to a misjudged or biased reading of the text. Contextualizing helps one eradicate this problem by understanding the scenario and purpose for which the text was written.
3. Questioning: Asking questions while reading a text helps one remember and understand what they have read up to that moment. Questions should be asked after the end of each paragraph and they should deal with the general gist of that paragraph and not with little details contained inside it.
4. Reflecting: While reading, one's personal beliefs or opinions may be challenged by the text. Here it is important to reflect on one's unconscionably held beliefs and values and how the text affects them. As one is reading the text for the first time, an X should be marked in the margin at each point where they feel a personal challenge to their attitudes, beliefs, or status. A brief note should be made in the margin about what one feels or about what in the text created the challenge. After marking, the text should be read again to find out any patterns one has regarding personal beliefs.
5. Outlining and summarizing: Summarizing a text is a great way to ascertain if one has grasped the intended meaning of the text. While outlining deals with the general overview of the text, summarizing is the process of writing down what one has understood about the central idea of the text in their own words thereby forming a new text in itself. Although summarizing begins with outlining, it always ends with creating its own independent text. Outlining focuses on a close analysis of each paragraph, however, summarizing requires creative synthesis. Outlining and summarizing shows how reading critically can lead to deeper understanding of any text.
6. Evaluating an argument: Evaluating involves the process of testing the logic of a text, its credibility and emotional impact. Writers make assumptions which they want the readers to accept as true, although a critical reader must always evaluate and question what he reads.
One should not accept the details within a text as they are presented before him, he should always be prepared to question and assess the text at every step. This will help the reader to grasp any hidden meanings within the text.
7. Comparing and contrasting related readings: Comparing the text one reads with other texts helps the reader to get a better understanding of the text. Sometimes authors refer to similar incidents but with different perspectives. Comparing various texts helps the reader shine new light on a particular subject letting him explore it more deeply. This might also lead to a change in the readers opinions regarding the topic.
Improving Reading Comprehension Skills
Reading comprehension is a skill, and like other skills it can be improved over time. With reading comprehension, practice is the mantra, the more you read the better you'll be at understanding a text. Below are the seven main strategies which will help you hone your comprehension skills:
- Improve your vocabulary
- Come up with questions about the text you are reading
- Use context clues
- Look for the main idea
- Write a summary of what you read
- Break up the reading into smaller sections
- Pace yourself
1. Improve your vocabulary
The basic unit of a sentence is a word. Therefore, it is necessary to first understand the meaning of words in order to understand the meaning of sentences and ultimately the subtle meanings within the text. To improve your vocabulary, you can:
- Take an online vocabulary quiz to assess your current level of vocabulary understanding
- Use flashcards to quiz yourself on words you don’t know once or twice a week
- Make a point to use newly learned words in verbal and written communication
- Read as much as possible to improve your ability to guess what a word means in a certain context
- Make a list of unfamiliar words as you read and look them up in the dictionary
2. Come up with questions about the text you are reading
If you ask yourself questions while reading a text, it will help you get more invested and allow you to get a deeper understanding of the text. It will also allow you to explore themes, motifs and other components of text that you otherwise wouldn’t inquire about. The following are examples of questions you could pose as you read:
- Why was that location chosen to start the book by the author?
- What kind of relationships do characters share with each other?
- What do we know about the main character up to this point in the book?
- What are the themes consistently recurring throughout the book? What do they mean?
The more specific your questions, the more likely you will gain further insight into the text and its meaning.
3. Use context clues
Using context clues is a great way to understand what you are reading even if you don’t know all the vocabulary being used. Context clues can be found in the words and sentences surrounding the word that you aren’t familiar with. To use context clues, you can focus on the key phrases or ideas in a sentence and deduce the main idea of a sentence or paragraph based on this information. You can also look for nearby words that are synonyms or antonyms of the word you don’t know.
4. Look for the main idea
Identifying the main idea of a paragraph or article can help you determine the importance of the article. Understanding why the author has written what he has written will help you develop a deeper understanding of the text. While reading, pause after every paragraph and try to decipher the central idea behind the paragraph. Then, try to use your own words and describe the paragraph for further understanding.
5. Write a summary of what you read
Summarisation is a great way to increase your knowledge of what you have read. Summarizing requires you to decide what is important in the text and then put it in your own words. Summarizing allows you to determine if you truly understand what you have read and better remember what you have read in the long term
6. Break up the reading into smaller sections
Breaking up a text into small sections is a great way of understanding the text more easily if the text is complicated. For example, you could read two paragraphs at a time and then pause to quickly summarize what you just read in your mind. Breaking up what you are reading can help you feel less overwhelmed and give you a better chance of truly comprehending the information in the text.
7. Pace yourself
Set realistic goals for yourself while reading by pacing yourself and allowing yourself some room to breathe. Literary texts require a deep understanding of the subject matter and pacing will be especially helpful for understanding literary texts. Set a goal for yourself that you know you can meet each day. For example, instead of trying to read a full hefty book in two days, try reading 4 chapters in one day. This allows you to reach your goals and also provides adequate time for you to process what you are reading between each session.
Tips to make the most of your reading comprehension practice
Reading is a fundamental part everyday life. These tips can help you make the most of your time when practicing your reading skills.
a. Eliminate distractions: When you are distracted, your ability to comprehend what you are reading is negatively impacted. When reading—even if it’s a simple email—the focus should be solely on the text as concentration is an essential element of the cognitive process. This will help you learn to hold your attention on what you read and enable you to know whether you understand what you are reading.
b. Read a book below your reading level: Starting with books below your reading level will allow you to develop a baseline of your reading comprehension and build on that. Instead of starting with books that contain complicated subjects, read something that interests you, is comfortable and that you can easily comprehend. You can take online quizzes to determine your current reading level.
c. Re-read text to ensure understanding: If you finish a sentence or paragraph and realize that you don’t understand what it was trying to convey, take the time to re-read it until you do. Try to read more slowly the second time around and look up definitions for any words you don’t know the meaning of.
d. Read aloud: Reading aloud comprises of both visual and audio cognitive processes which helps you with your reading comprehension practice. It also forces you to slow down and gives you more time to process what you are reading.
Example for Reading comprehension:
Read the following comprehensions and answer the questions:
In the 16th century, an age of great marine and terrestrial searching, Ferdinand Magellan led the first journey to sail around the world. As a young Portuguese noble, he worked for the king of Portugal, but he became involved in the quagmire of political conspiracy at court and lost the king’s good deed. After he was removed from service by the king of Portugal, he started to serve the future Emperor Charles V of Spain.
A papal decree of 1493 had allocated all land in the New World west of 50 degrees W longitude to Spain and all the land east of that line to Portugal. Magellan afforded to provide evidence that the East Indies fell under Spanish power. On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships. More than a year later, one of these ships was searching the landscape of South America looking for a water route across the continent. This ship sank, but the outstanding four ships searched along the southern peninsula of South America. Lastly they found the passage they wanted near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan called this passage the Strait of All Saints, but today it is recognized as the Strait of Magellan.
One ship abandoned while in this passage and came back to Spain, so fewer sailors were advantaged to look at that first panorama of the Pacific Ocean. Those who stayed back crossed the meridian now identified as the International Date Line in the early spring of 1521 after 98 days on the Pacific Ocean. During those long days at sea, many of Magellan’s men died of hunger and disease.
Later, Magellan became worried in an insular disagreement in the Philippines and was murdered in a tribal battle. Only one ship and 17 sailors under the authority of the Basque navigator Elcano survived to finish the westward voyage to Spain and thus show once and for all that the world is round, with no cliff at the border.
1. The 16th century was an age of large ______ exploration.
- Cosmic
- Land
- Mental
- Common man
- None of the above
2. Magellan lost the favour of the king of Portugal when he became involved in a political ________.
- Entanglement
- Discussion
- Negotiation
- Problem
- None of the above
3. The Pope separated New World lands between Spain and Portugal along with their location on one side or the other of an made-up physical line 50 degrees west of Greenwich that extends in a _________ direction.
- North and south
- Crosswise
- Easterly
- South east
- North and west
4. One of Magellan’s ships searched the _________ of South America for a passage across the continent.
- Coastline
- Mountain range
- Physical features
- Islands
- None of the above
5. Four of the ships sought after a passageway along a southern ______.
- Coast
- Inland
- Body of land with water on three sides
- Border
- Answer not available
6. The passage was found near 50 degrees of ________.
- Greenwich
- The equator
- Spain
- Portugal
- Madrid
7. In the spring of 1521, the ships crossed the _______ now called the International Date Line.
- Imaginary circle passing through the poles
- Imaginary line parallel to the equator
- Area
- Land mass
- Answer not available
Key Takeaways
- Reading is the cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from them as well as the ability to understand text, decode its meaning and compare with what the reader already knows.
- Knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are very essential to be a good reader.
- Reading is an act of communication between writer and reader. It is an act in which the reader grasps the information the writer passes on to him.
- One should develop skills to identify the main idea or the central idea in what they read. This skill is necessary to get the main idea, identify the theme and get the implied meanings of the paragraph.
- Good readers will understand the organisation of what is being read. They arrange the ideas in logical order. The key helps to recall the information is organization.
- Many people cannot read effectively because they fail to decrypt grammatical and lexical units of language in the text.
- Many a times a reader finds himself reading a passage or a page and later realizing that he had not understood the meaning of it at all. This happens due to a lack of concentration while reading.
- People often prefer reading texts that they are interested in. If one is reading a topic which is not according to his preferences, he may find himself losing interest gradually.
- Previewing refers to take a quick glance at a text before actually reading it. It enables readers to understand the organizational structure of a text.
- Contextualizing refers to the process of placing the text in its appropriate historical, biographical and cultural background.
- Asking questions while reading a text helps one remember and understand what they have read up to that moment.
- Summarizing a text is a great way to ascertain if one has grasped the intended meaning of the text. While outlining deals with the general overview of the text, summarizing is the process of writing down what one has understood about the central idea of the text in their own words thereby forming a new text in itself.
- Evaluating involves the process of testing the logic of a text, its credibility and emotional impact.
- The basic unit of a sentence is a word. Therefore, it is necessary to first understand the meaning of words in order to understand the meaning of sentences and ultimately the subtle meanings within the text.
- Using context clues is a great way to understand what you are reading even if you don’t know all the vocabulary being used. Context clues can be found in the words and sentences surrounding the word that you aren’t familiar with.
Marks of punctuation play an extremely significant role in giving proper meaning to the language. Use of incorrect mark of punctuation or even wrong position of mark of punctuation can change the meaning of the sentence totally and sometimes even change the sentence to absolute nonsense.
Punctuation is essential for the following reasons:
- Punctuation separates sentences.
- Punctuation shows us when to pause.
- Punctuation shows us where to place emphasis.
- Punctuation clarifies the meaning of the sentence.
Ambiguous, unpunctuated sentences can change the meaning and confuse the reader.
The comma is considered a real villain among marks of punctuation. Incorrect position of comma can give different meaning to sentence depending upon where it is positioned.
Let us see the following sentences:
- Let us eat, daddy.
- Let us eat daddy.
In the primary sentence daddy is being called for dinner. On the other hand, in the next sentence, daddy himself has become a thing to be eaten. Slip of comma in this case has changed the primary sentence to absolute non-sense.
- Hang him, not let him free
- Hang him not, let him free.
In above sentences, just changing comma by one place has entirely misrepresented the meaning of the sentence.
In 1872, incorrect placement of comma cost millions of dollars in import duties to US government. In a tariff act approved in 1872, list of duty-free items added: “Fruit plants, tropical & semi tropical.”
A government officer put the mark of comma at wrong place, which made the sentence read: “Fruit, plants tropical & semi tropical.”
Importers productively contested in the courts that the course as written meant that all tropical & semitropical plants were free from expense of duty.
Next pairs of can also encourage anybody on the subject of right use of marks of punctuation sentences:
- The murderer protested his innocence an hour after he was hanged.
- The murderer protested his innocence. An hour after, he was hanged.
The primary sentence without comma is an absolute nonsense. It means that the murderer protested his innocence after he was hanged!
- Private- No swimming allowed.
- Private? No. Swimming allowed.
In the second sentence, addition of a question mark and full stop has transformed personal possessions to public possessions.
- I am sorry you cannot come with us.
- I am sorry. You cannot come with us.
- The butler stood by the door & called the guests’ names.
- The butler stood by the door & called the guests names.
- The criminal, says the judge, should be hanged.
- The criminal says, the judge should be hanged.
Changing the comma by just one place has entirely misrepresented the meaning of the sentence. In the next sentence, it is not the criminal but the judge who should be hanged.
& finally
- The inspector said, “The teacher is a fool.”
- “The inspector,” said the teacher “is a fool.” (Here the inspector is called a fool)
The above given sentences are to show the significance of use of not only correct mark of punctuation, but their right position also.
The term precis comes from a French word “précis”, which can be translated as "precise, clear, up to the point”. Therefore, the word precis in the context of writing means a summary of any writing piece, be it a book, an article, or a novel. What is typical while writing a precis is the outline of the main points and arguments presented in the given text. A precis does not contain a deep or critical analysis of the text, but it nevertheless objectively explains the situation narrated in a text.
Precis vs. Summary
A precis and a summary are quite similar to each other but they do contain certain major differences which set them apart. Below are the two main differences between a precis and a summary:
- A summary consists of a number of brief statements which covers the main points of the text. It has no pre-defined word limit. A precis on the other hand, has its own title and should be 1/3 of the total words of the original passage.
- A summary is a sort of general overview of the contents of a passage. Here only the main events in the passage are discussed. A precis, however, focuses on every detail and analyses a particular situation.
Rules
Below are the fundamental rules to be followed while writing a precis:
- Understand the theme of the passage
The first and the most important thing is to thoroughly read and comprehend the purpose of the passage. Once you understand the theme, it is easier to grasp the key ideas in the passage, which will help you remember them while writing the precis.
2. No copying from the passage
It is important in precis writing to use your own words and not copy from the passage. If you find certain sentences in the passage that you would like to incorporate in your precis, you need to understand them and then craft that sentence in your own words. Key words can be used but entire sentences should always be avoided.
3. Carry clarity and conciseness
One of the most fundamental rules of writing a precis is clarity. The sentences should be clear, concise, meaningful and too the point. They should reflect the central ideas from the passage.
4. A reflection of your intelligence
The precis should be written in such a way that it flaunts your writing skills. The use of language, vocabulary and structure of sentences should be perfect. A good precis will provide the readers a good impression of your writing skills and it will also make the precis comprehensible to the readers.
5. Be original
Each and every sentence in the precis should be one's own creation with no plagiarism whatsoever. If you find a significant idea or motif from the passage that you want to include in your precis, read the passage again and again and try to re-construct the idea from your memory using your own words.
6. Use of indirect speech
A precis must always be written in indirect speech since it employs the perspective of a third person. Direct speech leaves a personal impact and should be avoided while writing a precis.
7. Use facts and statistics
To maintain the credibility of the text, try to include all the numbers and facts you read in the text. It will also help you enhance the quality of your writing and will build the interest of the reader in your precis. Therefore, any of the facts and numbers should not be missed while writing the Precis.
8. An analysis of the various sections
Divide the text into sections and try to analyse each section carefully. A careful analysis of each section will let you draw in closer to the main themes and concepts in the text. Further, you can only mention the crucial content of the passage, if you have read it thoroughly and have identified the areas which carry high proportional value.
9. An interpretation of the original passage
Always conclude the passage by providing your own understand instead of the writer's perspective. The conclusion has to be from your own point of view but should still be in the third person as if spoken by a third party. It is your interpretation of the text that gives meaning to the precis.
10. The size of the precis
The size of a precis should always be one third of the original passage. While writing the precis one should always be aware of the word count but one should also be able to retain the individuality of the passage in the prescribed word limit.
Precis Format
A precis should be short and concise and comprises of three parts: The introduction, the main body and the conclusion.
The Introduction
- The introductory sentence of a precis should mention the author’s name along with the article/book title. It should also include the date of publishing in parenthesis. After that, the topic that you want to discuss in your precis has to be elaborated using a few key words. Extravagant detailing of the topic should be avoided.
- In the introduction, try to include a rhetorical verb outlining the author’s primary purpose (e.g., “assert,” “argue,” “deny,” “refute,” “prove,” disprove,” “explain”). This will give a strong definition to the facts and concepts you are about to present in the main body of your precis.
- It is important to include the thesis statement of the text in the introduction. A thesis statement is the main idea or crux of a particular text. This thesis statement will be elaborated in the main body by providing facts and evidences in its favour.
The Main Body
- The main body should include clarification of how the author formulates and further explains the main themes in the text. It should be informative enough to incite the reader's interest and short enough to retain that interest.
- It should include a sentence that states the purpose of the author in writing the text. Phrases such as “in order” are helpful in developing this sentence.
- Describe how the author establishes his connection with the readers. Always keep the audience for whom you are writing in mind while writing a precis. This includes the using vocabulary and structuring sentences according to the needs of your audience.
- All key points and arguments must be contained in this section.
The Conclusion
- Present a finishing remark of 2-3 sentences to shed light on the author’s intended idea for the book or passage.
- Give a 1-sentence restatement of the major claim which the author used to develop their evidence in the reading.
Steps for Writing a Precis
Below are the steps involved in writing a precis
Step 1: As discussed, the very first step of Precis writing is to form a clear understanding of the passage. You should fully acquaint yourself with the subject first in order to get the meaning behind a passage before starting to write a precis.
Step 2: While reading the content, make sure you highlight the important points of the passage. It will help you in keeping track of the important information that needs to be written in your Precis. Also, you should omit the information, which you feel is not important for your Precis.
Step 3: Further, you need to remember that logical ordering is highly important when it comes to precis writing. Additionally, a logically organised text helps in making things much clearer to your audience and they tend to understand your take in a processed way.
Step 4: If you have some names to be mentioned in your Precis, remember, they should be with the designations, as it helps to increase the credibility of the content. In case, the designations are not mentioned in the passage, you can write the first name.
Step 5: Moving on, the word count of the passage should be taken into account, because one- third of the same has to be written in Precis. Therefore, conducting a word count before beginning the precis could be beneficial.
Step 6: Now, prepare the draft of your Precis by jotting all the important points together. While writing always remember to maintain the flow of your concepts and you should not miss any important information you have gathered while reading the passage.
Step 7: Before finally submitting your Precis, make sure you review all the details carefully. Also, you must do a thorough check of your grammatical and structural errors. Furthermore, one thing not to miss is to mention the total count in a bracket after the end point of your Precis.
The main purpose of technical writing is to present the process, methods and ideas in the most suitable and understandable format for the target audience. Hence, the language used to present the content should be clear, accurate, correct and descriptive.
For technical writing, good technical knowledge to be backed up by an equally good writing style.
It’s not only the content but also the style of presentation that makes up good writing. Each individual has a unique style of writing. However some features of style are common to all good writers.
Clarity of thought is the most important feature be of good writers. It is important to understand the Subject clearly before start writing, in order to be able to convey the message to the reader without any ambiguity.
To identify the Audience is the other important factor. Being aware of the rreader's perspective and level of understanding will help select suitable words and description so as to make the document interesting and comprehensible to the reader.
Economy of words is the third factor. Selecting the words that fits best into the context, avoiding wordiness, and using one's judgement to decide the appropriate length of sentences and paragraph makes a piece writing an effective mode of communication.
Spelling is another aspect of writing. People often attach little importance to spelling. Typographical errors are to be strictly avoided in any piece of writing. An incorrect spelling not only conveys a poor impression of the writer as a communication, it may also distort the message.
Choice of words
The choice of words reflects our clarity of thoughts. When we think, we need words. We give form to object and action through words.
It is the perception of an individual that gives shape to language and Communication. For technical writing we must choose denotive words- which are recognized for standard meaning as given in the dictionary, and are agreed upon by people over a period of time.
These words are objective in nature and are interpreted in one way. They are without emotional overtones.
Since in technical writing the purpose is to express rather than impress, the words be which reflect clear and direct meaning must be used.
Sentences
As we know, paragraph are constructed out of various sentences. Dependo upon the type of these sentences, paragraph are classified as Descriptive, Narrative Expository
Description – Description is a spoken or written representation of a person, object or event. The description mode of paragraph development uses descriptive prose to provide a physical picture or functional view of the subject. While a paragraph on physical description develops a picture by identifying the shape, size, colour, material, volume, texture, position, etc., One on functional description provides a clear, concise view of the various functions of its subject.
Narrative- Narration is a form of spoken or written English. When you speak or tell the real or imaginary events in sequence, in an interesting or dramatic be manner, you are using narrative sentences. Though narrative sentences and paragraph are used in general communication, they are not very common in technical communication as the latter adopts a matter- of – fact style as compared to the dormer’s fictional style. However, a narrative paragraph treats the sequence of events as a topic and hence includes the writer’s view or comments as well.
In fact, a narrative essay is a judicious and harmonious blend of narration and reflection. While a novel or a story may not restrict itself to the sequence big events in their original order, a narrative essay presents the events in the same sequence in which they have occurred.
Expository- When you wish to explain a concept or provide a detailed explanation of some practice, etc., You can resort to the expository form of writing. It may also be called informative or explanatory writing containing information and examples or illustrations to support that information.
Definition- A definition is a statement giving the meaning of a word or term. Definition of terms are the foundation of technical writing. A precise set of terms is used in technology, and only with a common understanding of those terms can information be communicated clearly. It’s used to clarify the meaning of a term in a compact and straightforward manner.
Definition are of two types- Simple and Extended.
A Simple definition is a very short and gives only the term, the class to which it belongs, and it’s
Distinguishing characteristics.
An extended definition, is a paragraph or more and includes examples, procedures, and description, in addition to the term, type, and distinguishing characteristics. Definition are also expanded by using methods such as comparison and contrast, analogy, example and derivation.
Classification- A classification paragraph is developed by breaking the main idea into specific categories. It is generally be used when we want to introduce a variety of ideas. In such a case we start with giving an overview of what is coming.
Length of Paragraph
Length of appearance does not determine whether a section a paper is a paragraph. In fact, it is not only the number of sentences, but also unity and coherence of ideas among the sentence that make a paragraph a paragraph. For instance, in some styles of writing, particularly journalistic styles, a paragraph
Can be one sentence. As long as that sentence expresses the papers central idea, the sentence can serve the function of a paragraph.
In general, a paragraph should be short. In fact, paragraph with unity eventually become short. In addition, writing marked by short paragraphs is inviting to the reader’s eyes as they preferred to read text with frequent paragraph breaks.
The length paragraph generally depends on its contents or what must be included to achieve unity and the type of document it is part of. Research on readability suggest an average length of 8 lines for long documents such as report s. Shorter paragraphs are appropriate for messages sent through letters, emails, and other means.
“Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said.”
-Dale Carnegie Writing Introduction and Conclusion
Writing Introduction- An introductory sentence in a paragraph gives the purpose/ essence of the paragraph, an introductory paragraph of an essay presents the main topic of the essay. In a paragraph the first to one or two sentences aims at introducing the core idea by catching the attention of the readers. Similarly, in essay the first paragraph containing five six sentences provides an insight into what the rest of the essay talks about.
An introduction performs the following functions:
- Serves as a preview to the rest of the text.
- Grabs the attention of the reader.
- Develops an interest in reader to read the rest of the text.
- Acts as a map directing the reader into the text.
- Defines the purpose and scope of the topic of the text.
Writing Conclusion- Conclusion is a last part of an essay or the last one or two sentences of a paragraph. It summarizes the entire text as to bring the reader again to focus on the main idea. In speech, you can conclude by your words or change of tone. But in writing you need to use effective words and phrases in your sentences so as to leave a lasting impression in the minds of your readers.
A conclusion is a restatement and it served the following functions:
- Serves as a summary of the text.
- Leaves a lasting impact on the reader.
- Brings the reader again to the focus of the text.
- Does not add any new ideas but reemphasizes the stated ideas.
Blog Writing
Blog is an abbreviation that is widely used, but the original term is weblog. A blog is a personal online diary or you can say journal which lets people and companies to share their thoughts and ideas. It also works as a medium of communication through which people can share videos, games, images, music. On the other hand, you can allow visitors to comment on your blog and you can reply to those comments. You can do everything on your blog without the need of any programming knowledge. Often blog is a regular website where news is regularly posted. Blogging is one of the most popular hobbies.
In simple terms, blogging is the act of posting content on a blog or posting comments on someone else’s blog.
Now, blog writing means writing a content to be published on a blog. Through blog writing, bloggers get the opportunity of reaching hundreds or even thousands of people each and every day.
With the developing online market, blogs have become a vital part of it. Apart from announcing your products and services, you can blog to just get SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits.
Benefits of blogging:
- SEO boost up
- Reach out to target audience
- Communication with customers
- Builds rapport with customers
- Brand awareness
- Create material for social media
- Use of content relaunching and/or content repurposing
- Generate alternate income
Disadvantages of blogging:
- Time-consuming
- Constantly requires fresh ideas
- Payoff is delayed
- Blogging in and of itself won’t generate income
The origin of blogs
Blogs were first a sort of diary on the web in the early days of the internet. They were often used as a travel report. Because they were online, it was an ideal way to keep everyone informed about the trip.
Who is a blogger?
You call the writer of a blog, blogger. Every blogger gives the weblog it’s own character and that makes the blogs interesting. A blog often has a regular audience with thousands of visitors a day.
What are popular blogging topics?
The topics of blogs vary widely. The emphasis is no longer on a diary or travel report, although these blogs are still being updated. The topics of blogs differ from fashion, recipes and shopping to informative blogs and professional new sites. Many celebrities and famous people, such as presenters, comedians and politicians keep a weblog.
Almost all the information you are looking for on any topic can be found on the internet through blogs.
Blogging is also a marketing tool
Many companies have also discovered blogging to inform, inspire and entertain their customers. A weblog can attract customers to a company website. If the content of the blog is good, it ensures customer confidence and better brand awareness. A blog is a kind of intermediate form between a traditional, static web page that only provides information and an internet forum in which more interaction is possible. A blog is expected to be regularly updated with a new blog post. Each blog post will then receive an appearance date.
Why would you blog?
The list of reasons is endless. You can blog if you like writing and you want to collect information in an organized way or you want customers for your company.
What is blog writing
It depends on the blogger how he writes a blog and how much information he or she puts in it. Blogs that many readers do not only contain good information, but are also fun to read. If you want to start a successful blog, it is necessary to write well.
Sample:
Email Writing
Emails are basically letters sent electronically. They can be long or short, formal or informal. Although for business purposes only formal emails are considered important.
Emails have become a dominant form of communication. Being able to write polished, relevant email is now a critical skill in college and work.
Formal Email:
- Written for a professor, colleague, manager, etc.
- Must always be professional.
- Accurate grammar, punctuation, and spelling necessary
Example:
Dear Professor Johnson,
I was unable to attend class today due to a doctor’s appointment. If you have a moment, can you let me know what I missed and what homework I need to complete on Friday?
Thank you,
Julia Smith.
Email Format:
Greetings / Salutation:
A formal email greeting is similar to a letter greeting. When you write a letter to a stranger, you put the question “Who Can Worry About You”? When applying for a job, you were addressing the person, “Dear Hiring Manager.” If you know the name of the recipient, you put “Mr. Dear Mr.M /. Smith. "For formal greetings, you should not use the recipient's first name or the informal greetings" Hello "or" Hello."
Physical Categories/ Body Paragraphs:
It is important to remember that the email needs to be shorter.
- I hope that all goes well for you.
- Thank you for your prompt response.
However, in official emails it is best to understand the point. Depending on the topic, you should have four main roles and each paragraph should have one point. In your last paragraph you should provide a "thank you" or "call to action" depending on the topic of your email.
- Thank you for your help with
- Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you.
- Please feel free to call me or email me if you have any questions. If this can be taken care of immediately.
Closing:
As a greeting, the closing of the official email can be the same as the closing of the book. However, unlike mourning, there are many ways to close.
- Thank you
- Very humbly
- Sincerely
It is also helpful to add your post (if any) and a phone number under your name in paragraph 4.
For example:
Yours sincerely,
Julia Smith
President of Student Body
Menlo College
(555) 555-5555
Tips:
DO NOT use a contract.
Example: no, no, I'm not, I'm not.
- DO NOT write about all the coins.
- Use structured vocabulary and sentence structure. DO NOT use slang.
Close email at least twice and get a second opinion if possible.
References:
1. Communication Skills by Sanjay Kumar and Pushpa Lata, Oxford University Press.
2. Business Communication by Meenakshi Raman and Prakash Singh, Oxford University Press.
3. Technical Communication by Meenakshi Raman and Sangeeta Sharma, OUP.
