VELAMMAL BODHI CAMPUS- DAY SCHOOL
NOTE MAKING AND SUMMARY WRITING
Sub-English Class-XI
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HOW TO MAKE NOTES
Always remember
1. They should be short and to the point.
2. They should have all the important and relevant information.
3. Information should be systematically divided and subdivided.
4. Use universally recognized symbols and abbreviations wherever necessary and provide
key to the abbreviations.
5. Main title should be short. Avoid a long sentence as a title unless it happens to be a
common saying or a proverb. It should reflect the spirit of the passage.
6. Notes must be written in points only. They should be listed one under the other and
numbered properly.
Always avoid
1. Avoid the use of a full and complete sentence.
2. Do not lift portions of the passage to form notes.
3. Do not include irrelevant piece of information in your notes.
Mechanics of NoteMaking
(a) Use of Abbreviations
Abbreviation helps in writing the information briefly. The following are some of the
ways in which you can use abbreviations.
1) Capitalized initial information:-
E.g. U.N. for United Nation M.L.A. [Link] M.P. U.S.A.
2) Taking the first two letters of the words :-
Sc. Science
Pract Practical
Edu Education
3) Takings the first and the last two letters of the word:-
rdng Reading
admn Administration
pds Periods
rg Regarding
4) Symbol that are universally recognized:-
E.g : Therefore
E.g : For example
5) Arithmetic symbol--
% percentage
+ ive Positive
<> greater than or less than
1. Notes – Heading / Title 1 Mark
2. Abbreviation / Contraction 1 Mark (Minimum four)
3. SubHeadings
(Four or Five as per the requirement) along with 23 points. (1½ x 2)= 2
Title
1. Sub title
1.(key words-3,4 or 5)
2.
3.
4.
2. Sub title
1.
2.
3.
4.
3. Sub title
1.
2.
3.
4.
4. Sub title
1.
2.
3.
4.
Key to Abbreviations:
1. wrtg. = writing
2. U.K. = United
Kingdom
3.______ = ____________
4.______ = ____________
5.______ = ____________
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:-
The Masai tribe lived on the wide plains in southern and northern Kenya and northern
Tanzania. The Masai were famous fighter. They used to raid the neighbouring tribe and
carry away their cattle. All the other tribes were afraid of them because of their skills in
war.
The Masai are handsome people, tall and slim with light brown skins, straight noses and
long hair. They do not belong completely to the Negro race. They belong mostly to the
same race as the people of the ancient Egypt. The ancient Egypt probably looked like the
Masais of today.
The Masais live in a very beautiful part of Africa. It consists of miles of rolling grassland,
on which you can find thorny bushes and here and there a rocky hill. The people move
from one place to another according to the seasons, looking for the gasses and other
plants on which their cattle can graze. They have no permanent home. When they want
to settle in a place for sometime, they build a kind of camp called a “Manyatta”, where a
few families live for a weeks or months. Then they move on again, taking their few
belongings with them, and burning the old “Manyatta” to the ground.
To make a hut, they take a number of long thing wooden poles and plant them in circle.
Then each pole is bent into a shape of a ‘U’, and its other end is also painted in the
earth. Now the framework for the hut is ready.
Next, the space between the poles is filled with leaves, small branches of tree and mud.
Then the outside of e3arth hut is covered or plastered with cow-dung, which quickly
becomes hard in the sun. And opening is left for the door but there are no windows. The
hut is about 5 feet high, so that grown-up men cannot stand up straight inside his hut.
There is no furniture, except perhaps a small wooden stool for the head of the family.
The huts are arranged in a big circle and around the outside of the circle the Masais
build a thorn fence, about 7 feet high, with several openings, so that the people can go in
and out with their cattle. After dark, all the openings are closed. Then all the people and
cattle in the ‘Manyatta’ are safe from wild animals.
Nowadays there are no wars between the tribes. So a Masai worrier has very little to do
now. But they sometimes go hunting. The Masais like to kill lions with spears, and a
lion-hunt is a great test of courage. The worrier who first kills a lion is given great
honour, and he wears the lion’s mane round his neck, to show that he is a lion-killer.
The Masais are fairly well-to-do and intelligent, and live comfortable lives. However, most
of them are happy to live as their father lived hundreds of years ago.
Questions:
a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it in point’s
only using headings and sub-headings. Use abbreviations (minimum 4) wherever
necessary. Supply a suitable title to it. 5m
b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 80 words. 3m
Ans a):
The Masai Tribe
[Link] Tribe- famous fighters
1. Lived in south & North Kenya
2. In North Tanzania
3. Carry away cattle of neibrg. tribes
2. Masais handsome people
1. Tall & slim with light brown skins
2. Straight noses & long hairs
3. Don’t belong to Negro groups
4. Bel. to people of ancient Egypt
3. Masais have no permt. home
[Link] “Manyatta”-a camp
[Link] wdn. poles to build huts
[Link] U shaped wdn poles in circle on earth
[Link] frmk. with leaves, branches & mud
[Link] outside with cow-dung
4. Nowadays- no war betn. Tribes
1. Masai warriors go hunting
2. Lion hunt- test of courage
3. Lion killers wear lion’s mane
Key to abbreviations used:
a) neibrg. – neighbouring
b) bel. to – belong to
c) permt. – permanent
d) wdn. – wooden
e) frmwk. – framework
f) &- and
Ans b) The Masai Tribe
The Masai tribe lived in southern and northern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They were
famous fighters and attached other tribes for cattle. They were handsome people and
belong mostly to the race of ancient Egypt not to the Negro race. They move from place to
place looking for grass. When they settle in a place they build a kind of camp called
“Mayatta” with doom shaped wooden hut in a big circle. They put thorn faces around the
“Mayatta” to save themselves from wild animals. Lion hunting is a test of courage for
them. They are intelligent and live comfortable lives.
For Practice
Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:
(8marks)
1. The small village of Somnathpur contains an extraordinary temple, built around 1268
A.D. by the Hoyasalas of Karnataka – one of the most prolific templebuilders. Belur and
Helebid are among their betterknown works. While these suffered during the invasions of
the 14 century, the Somnathpur temple stands more or less intact in nearoriginal
condition.
2. This small temple captivates with the beauty and vitality of its detailed sculpture,
covering almost every inch of the walls, pillars and even ceilings. It has three shikharas
and stands on a starshaped,
Raised platform with 24 edges. The outer walls have a profusion of detailed carvings: the
entire surface run over by carved plaques of stone. There were vertical panels covered by
exquisite gures of gods and goddesses with many incarnations being depicted. There
were nymphs too, some carrying an ear of maize a symbol of plenty and prosperity. The
elaborate ornamentation, very characteristic of Hoyasala sculptures, was a remarkable
feature. On closer look- and it is worth it – the series of friezes on the outer walls
revealed intricately carved caparisoned (covered decorative cloth) elephants, charging
horsemen,warriors, musicians, crocodiles, and swans.
3. The temple was actually commissioned by Soma Dandanayaka or Somnath (he named
the village after himself), the minister of the Hoyasala king, Narasimha, the Third. The
temple was built to house three versions of Krishna.
4. The inner center of the temple was the kalyana mandapa. Leading from here were
three corridors each ending in a shrine, one for each kind of Krishna – Venugopala,
Janardana and Prasanna Keshava, though
only two remain in their original form. In the darkness of the sanctum sanctorum, I tried
to discern the different images. The temple’s sculptural perfection is amazing and it
includes the doors of the temple and the three elegantly carved towers.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it using headings
and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. Give the passage
a suitable title. (5marks)
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 80 words. (3marks)
