Note Making
What is Note Making?
Notes are short written record of facts to aid the memory. Notes are usually
taken to record a speech or dictation while listening to it or after reading a
book, magazine or article. They are referred back whenever needed and may
be reproduced in the desired way.
The necessity of note making
Knowledge is vast and unlimited, but our memory is limited. We cannot
remember all the information all the time. Hence note-making is necessary.
With the help of notes we can recall the entire information read/heard months
ago. Note-making is quite useful to students preparing so many subjects. At
the time of examinations, it is not possible to go through voluminous books.
At such critical times, notes are quite handy. Hence note-making fulfils three
useful functions:
1. It keeps a lot of information at our disposal for ready reference.
2. It helps us reconstruct what was said or written and thus accelerates the
process of remembering/recall.
3. It comes in handy in delivering a speech, participation in a
debate/discussion, writing an essay and revising lessons before an
examination.
How note making helps us
While making notes we do not simply read the passage/listen to speech but
consider various points made by the writer/speaker and draw our own
inferences about what is being presented. Thus notemaking helps us in
understanding the passage in a better way and organising our thoughts
systematically.
Characteristics of good note
1. Short and Compact: Good notes must be short and compact.
2. Complete Information: They must contain all the important information.
3. Logical: They must be presented in a logical way.
4. Understandable: They should be understandable when consulted at a later
stage.
Mechanics of note making
While making notes we follow certain standard practices. These may be listed
as follows:
(a) Heading and Sub-headings
(b) Abbreviation and Symbols
(c) Note-form
(d) Numbering and Indentation
Heading and sub-headings
The heading reflects the main theme whereas the sub-headings point out how
it has been developed. The selection of proper heading and sub-heading
reveals the grasp of the passage by the students.
Note. Confusing abbreviations should be avoided, e.g., the abbreviation
‘under’ may stand for understand, understood and understanding. Similarly
‘indst’ may stand for industry, industrial, industrious.
Note-Form
While making notes the whole information is listed in note-form in points only.
Notes should not be written in complete sentences as we can’t remember the
whole information. So only the main points are listed one under the other and
numbered.
It implies the logical division and sub-division of the listed information by using
figures, letters, dashes and spaces.
All examples and figurative speeches are eliminated.
Numbering and indenting
Indentation
Indentation means leaving space at the beginning of a line of print or writing.
First write the title and then write down the notes in a logical order. From the
main headings to the sub-headings, the numbering should be spaced a little to
the right.
Your notes should look like this:
How to write note making:
Follow the following steps:
Step 1 : (i)Read the passage carefully.
(ii)Try to get the theme and subject of the passage. You may ask
yourself: “What is this passage about?” This will provide you the gist.
Step 2 : Read carefully. Identify main ideas and important supporting
details.
Step 3 : Make notes of the main ideas under headings and add sub-points
under sub-headings.
Step 4 : Use proper format and write notes
Step 5 : Use recognisable abbreviations wherever possible
Note making Examples Solved Questions:
Read the following passages carefully:
Note making Example Passage 1:
1. A good business letter is one that gets results. The best way to get results
is to develop a letter that, in its appearance, style and content, conveys
information efficiently. To perform this function, a business letter should
be concise, clear and courteous.
2. The business letter must be concise: don’t waste words. Little
introduction or preliminary chat is necessary. Get to the point, make the
point, and leave it. It is safe to assume that your letter is being read by a
very busy person with all kinds of papers to deal with. Re-read and revise
your message until the words and sentences you have used are precise. This
takes time, but is a necessary part of a good business letter. A short
business letter that makes its point quickly has much more impact on a
reader than a long-winded, rambling exercise in creative writing. This does
not mean that there is no place for style and even, on occasion, humour in
the business letter. While it conveys a message in its contents, the letter
also provides the reader with an impression of you, its author: the medium
is part of the message.
3. The business letter must be clear. You should have a very firm idea of
what you want to say, and you should let the reader know it. Use the
structure of the letter—the paragraphs, topic sentences, introduction and
conclusion—to guide the reader point by point from your thesis, through
your reasoning, to your conclusion. Paragraph often, to break up the page
and to lend an air of organisation to the letter. Use an accepted business-
letter format. Re-read what you have written from the point of view of
someone who is seeing it for the first time, and be sure that all explanations
are adequate, all information provided (including reference numbers,
dates, and other identification). A clear message, clearly delivered, is the
essence of business communication.
4. The business letter must be courteous. Sarcasm and insults are
ineffective and can often work against you. If you are sure you are right,
point that out as politely as possible, explain why you are right, and outline
what the reader is expected to do about it. Another form of courtesy is
taking care in your writing and typing of the business letter. Grammatical
and spelling errors (even if you call them typing errors) tell a reader that
you don’t think enough of him or can lower the reader’s opinion of your
personality faster than anything you say, no matter how idiotic. There are
excuses for ignorance; there are no excuses for sloppiness.
5. The business letter is your custom-made representative. It speaks for you
and is a permanent record of your message. It can pay big dividends on the
time you invest in giving it a concise message, a clear structure, and a
courteous tone.
Q. - Make notes on the passage using recognisable abbreviations in any
suitable format. Give a title to the passage.
Answers:
Title: Writing a Business Letter
Notes:
1. Features of a gd. busns letter
1.1 conveys info efficiently to get results
1.2 is concise
1.3 is clear
1.4 is courteous
2. How to write a gd. busns. letter
2.1 Making letter concise
2.1.1 Intro shd be brief
2.1.2 make your pt in precise words and sent’s
2.1.3 short letr more effective
2.1.4 style is imp.—may ocasnly have hum’r
2.2 Achieving clarity
2.2.1 Have a clear idea of what you wish to say
2.2.2 structr the letter—intro & conclsn.
2.2.3 use accepted format; para, topic, sent’s
2.2.4 check facts, expl’ns, refs.
2.3 Being courteous
2.3.1 Expln. your pt. politely—avoid sarcasm/insults.
2.3.2 careful wrtg & typg.
2.3.3 gram. & spel’g errors to be avoided
3. Importance of busns. letr
3.1 a representative
3.2 permanent rec. message.
SUMMARY - A good business letter is that lends you positive and quality
results. To get such results, a business letter should be effective in
appearance, style and content. Apart from this a letter should be concise,
clear and courteous. The business letter should be to the point as the
message can be clear to the reader with an impression of you. The structure
of letter should have topic sentence, introduction, paragraphs to
conclusion. Reread the points you have written to avoid sarcasm and insults
that can work against your motive. Further more grammar and spelling
errors need to be avoided
Passage 02:
1. Out of the staggering amount of money that the state and central
government spend on higher education, fifty per cent is wasted due to fifty
per cent failures in the university examinations all over the country. There
is a single strong reason why a university degree should be paid for in full
by the student himself.
2. This thinking has been gathering momentum since January 1986, when
the pay scales of college and university teachers were revised and which
put an additional burden of more than a hundred crores on the University
Grants Commission and the state governments. Arrears to the tune of ₹
5,000 to ₹ 22,000 were given to all teachers in most of the 150 universities
and 5,000 colleges of the country. Because of the enhanced salary and
dearness allowance, which is revised every January and July, the
government expenditure on higher education has almost doubled during
the last five years.
3. As against this, the tuition fees have remained static since Independence
(with minimal revisions last year). Not that the governments did not
consider the question of raising them, but the threat of student agitation
and political unpopularity proved a hurdle too strong to surmount.
Consequently, there is now a yawning gap between what a college student
pays and what the state spends on him.
4. According to UGC sources, a student pays rupees 200, 250 and 325 per
annum for education in arts, commerce and science respectively, whereas
the government subsidy amounts to Rupees 2800, 3400 and 4200 annually.
This includes the expenditure incurred by some trust managed colleges
which, according to the rules of the states in which they function, comes to
5 per cent to 3 per cent. But as most of the colleges have found ways to
evade even this responsibility, the ultimate burden falls on the
governments themselves.
5. A way out of the imbroglio was thought out in recent years. The Human
Resources Development Ministry floated the concept of autonomous
colleges. After much public debate it was decided that some hundred
colleges should be granted autonomy to begin with. Now about 90 colleges
are autonomous. They are making appointments, framing their own syllabi
and conducting examinations, but have not yet been able to muster up
courage to enhance fees. They continue to eive maintenance grants from
the state coffers.
6. Under the circumstances, the concept of self-financing higher education
seems to be a remote dream. Secondly, as most of the university campuses
are politically alive and financially bankrupt, the government will have to
continue paying them their annual grants. Suddenly, converting them into
self-financing institutions has become impossible. It is a different matter if
the states start a new set of educational institutions as totally self-financed.
But who will bear the huge initial expenditure—the parents or the
government?
Q. - On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it,
using recognizable abbreviations where necessary. Use a format you
consider suitable. Supply an appropriate title.
Answers:
Self-financing University Education
1. Reasons for making univ. degrees paid in full
1.1. huge expenditure due to hr. edu.
1.2 50% wastage due to univ. exams
1.3. univ. income static
1.4. wide diff. between income & exp.
2. Reason for keeping tuition fee static
2.1. threat of student agitation
2.2. fear of political unpopularity
3. Concept of autonomous colleges
3.1. HRD Ministry’s brain child – a way out
3.2. have autonomy in
(i) framing syllabi
(ii) appointments
(iii) exams.
3.3. Fees not enhanced yet
4. Self-financing hr. edu. remote
4.1. univ. campus politically alive, financially bankrupt
4.2. new set of educational institutions – totally self-financed
4.3. to introduce self-financing or not
4.4. huge initial expenditure – who will bear – parents/govt.?
SUMMARY - Fifty percent of staggering amount of money spent by govt,
on higher education is wasted. There are various reasons for making
university degree paid in full. Huge expenditure due to higher education,
static income of university. Fear of political unpopularity and threat of
student agitation prevent universities in revising the fees. Autonomous
colleges have also failed to enhance fear. Most of the university campuses
are politically alive and financially bankrupt. Self financial educational
institutions are remote dream under these circumstances but who will bear
the huge initial expenditure – the parents or the government?