CBSE FREAK

CREATIVE WRITING Creative writing can be described as a piece of writing that expresses one's thoughts and feelings in a creative and imaginative manner. Creative writing doesn’t follow the conventional techniques of writing. A creative writer may express his thoughts the way he wants, without following the constraining demands of a factual or probable development of an explanatory write up. Important aspects of creative writing: 1. Imagination:  Imagination is an important element of creative writing. Imagination of  a creative writer is well reflected in his view or perspective, his  choice of words, the comparisons he makes, the images and tone he uses  as well as the novelty of his ideas. 2. Novelty:  To say things in a new way is one of the most important aspect of  creative writing. It makes the writing pleasurable to the reader.  Novelty may reflect in the words, sentences, phrases used. 3. Exaggeration: It is one way in which a fact is distinguished from the fiction

Letter-writing “Letter writing is an important channel of communication between people who are geographically distant from one another.” Letter writing was the only means of communication between people in the earlier times when technological advancement like telephone and email were not carried out. Letter is generally of two kinds: 1. Formal Letter: These are business or official letters. They are written to convey official information or to complain about something. These letters are written to public agencies in order to communicate about the requirements in civic life. A letter to request change in one’s address is an example of a formal letter. 2. Informal Letter: Informal letters refer to personal letters. They are written to communicate with friends and family. Formal letters Following are some of the steps in writing formal letters. They can, however, be modified according to the purpose and the person the letter is addressed. 1. (i) Introducing oneself if it is

Essay Writing An essay is a piece of writing on a particular subject or topic consisting of more than one paragraph. The characteristics of a good essay are: Unity – The essay should deal with the main subject and all of its parts should be related to that subject. Coherence –  The ideas, sentences and paragraphs of the essay should be logically sequenced and connected. Relevance –  Irrelevant information should be avoided. Proportion –  While writing the essay, important ideas should be given more weightage and space. Essay writing involves a number of steps. These steps are as follows: Step 1: Prepare an outline or a diagram of all the ideas related to the topic. Step 2: Club similar ideas and expand them into sentences or even paragraphs. Step 3: The first paragraph introduces the subject and makes general statement about the topic. Step 4: In the next few paragraphs, discuss points stated in the introduction in detail. It may include the pros and cons o

1. Note-making: Note-making is a useful skill. It forms an important part of our academic as well as work life. It involves drawing important/main information out of large chunks of given information and transforming the information into points. Characteristics of good notes are: (a) Notes are written in a precise manner indicating the main points of the text. (b) Only short phrases are used. No sentences are to be used. (c)  Notes represent logically divided and sub-divided information. For example:  Main sections:        1, 2, 3, etc.  Sub-sections:          (i), (ii), (iii) or 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.  Sub-sub sections:    (a), (b), (c) or 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, etc. (d) The information is listed in ‘note form’. (e) Abbreviations and symbols are freely used in note-making. Articles, conjunctions and prepositions must not be used. (f) Notes must be comprehensible and must make sense when read again. There are a number of steps involved in the

1. Introduction to Prepositions: Prepositions are words that join a noun, a pronoun or a group of words acting as a noun with another part of a sentence. A preposition should always have at least one object (noun, pronoun or a group of words acting as a noun). This is the object that it joins with the rest of the sentence. For example: Reema’s house is located near the temple. (Here, ‘near’ is a preposition that connects the noun ‘the temple’ with the rest of the sentence. ‘The temple’ is the object of the preposition, i.e., the prepositional object.) [ Remember: A preposition will always have an object. ] 2. Purpose of Prepositions: What does a preposition do? A preposition shows the relation between its object and the part of a sentence with which it joins the object . Consider the following examples to understand the different relations shown by a preposition. Nalini will return on Monday. Here, ‘on’ is the preposition that connects ‘Monday’ with the rest of t

1. Introduction to Conjunctions: Conjunctions are the words or phrases that join other words, other phrases, clauses or sentences . These words or phrases act as connectors or bridges. For example: Conjunctions can be broadly classified as coordinating , subordinating and correlative . 2. Coordinating Conjunctions: These conjunctions join words, phrases or sentences of equal importance . For example: Joseph reached the station on time, but the train was late. Here, ‘but’ is the coordinating conjunction connecting ‘Joseph reached the station on time’ with ‘the train was late’. The sentence can be broken up into two separate sentences as follows: Joseph reached the station on time. The train was late. Both these sentences convey separate meanings individually. Neither depends on the other to convey its meaning. Hence, it can be said that they are sentences of equal rank or importance. Take another example: I want to drink pineapple juice and

FATHER TO SON                                                                 –Elizabeth Jennings Father to son is a poem describing the troubled relationship between a father and his son, in the present times. The poem emphasises the generation-gap between the father and the son and expresses the father’s pain and helplessness in failing to ‘understand’ his child. The father realizes the distance between them and wishes to bridge the gap. The father remarks that though they have been living in the same house for years now, he does not understand his son. As he knows nothing about his son, he tries to build the same relationship that he enjoyed when his son was a small child. The father wonders if he is responsible for destroying the basic personality of his son or if his son now belongs to a world to which his father does not. He regrets their talking like strangers and lack of understanding. The son is much like his father in appearance but they do not share common intere

CHILDHOOD                                                     –Markus Natten The poem Childhood begins with the poet pondering over ‘when’ was it that he lost his childhood. He wonders if it was the time when he crossed the age of eleven or the time when he started realizing that there is no real existence of heaven and hell as they could not be geographically located in maps. He wonders if he lost his childhood the moment he realised that adults were not all they pretended to be or when he recognised that the adults, who spoke and preached of love, themselves ‘did not act so lovingly’. The poet asks if he lost his childhood when he realised that he has a mind of his own or that he can choose his own way, guided by his mind now capable of producing thoughts and opinions that are different from other people. The poet speculates as to ‘where’ his childhood disappeared. Though he is not aware of the day he lost his childhood, he knows that it has gone to some forgotten plac

The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan The play presents a conversation between a lower fifth grade science student, Taplow and Frank, a teacher. A chance meeting between Taplow and Frank The scene of the play is set in a school. The play opens with a sixteen year old boy, Taplow who has come to do extra work for his teacher, Crocker-Harris. He is waiting for his teacher, who has not yet arrived. Another teacher, Frank, finds Taplow waiting in the room and strikes a conversation with him. Taplow awaiting his result From the conversation between Frank and Taplow, we are informed that Taplow is waiting for his result to be declared on the following day. He is keen to specialise in science provided he gets a favourable result. The uniqueness of Mr. Crocker-Harris is hinted as he does not tell the results like the other teachers do. He follows the rule of the headmaster declaring the results on the last day of the term. Taplow’s views on art and science Their conversation pr

THE AILING PLANET: THE GREEN MOVEMENT’S ROLE By Nani Palkhivala The chapter comments on the deteriorating condition of our planet. It speaks of the problems faced by our planet, reasons for its poor condition and the changing view of the world for the planet. The Green Movement The author begins by commenting on the great attention received by the Green Movement that began some 25 years ago. The world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand in the year 1972 and the movement has been a great success since then. A change in the human perception A revolutionary change has come in the perception of the human beings bringing in a “holistic and ecological” view of the world. There has been a shift from the understanding developed by Copernicus to the people’s belief that the earth is a living organism whose needs must be respected and preserved by us. According to the writer, our earth is like a “patient in declining health”. Thus, we have to realise our ethical