Precise Writing - Exam Oriented
18. Pr�cis writing
Pr�cis writing is another name for summarizing of a long paragraph to a short summary. Pr�cis writing generally is asked in State Bank of India Probationary Officers exams and even for other banks exams for grade I and grade II officers exams. Writing a pr�cis means to shorten a given passage to about one third of the original. So, a lot of things have to be omitted, but none of the important points or things can be omitted. It contains the gist or the main theme of the passage expressed in your own words.
A Pr�cis is a summary. Pr�cis-Writing is a very useful exercise. Most of us read carelessly. Writing Pr�cis gives training in careful reading. Pr�cis-writing is regarded as a very important kind of composition because it develops one's capacity to discriminate between the essential and the non-essential.
A Pr�cis is a shortening, in your own words, of a text of written work. You are to describe as accurately and briefly as possible the substance or main ideas contained in a text.
18.1 How to attempt Pr�cis writing in Bank Exam ?
To write an effective pr�cis in the bank exams or any other exam, we are giving you a procedure which if followed will help you achieve good scores. First of all, read the passage several times for a full understanding. Note key points. It may, in fact, be helpful to underline these words. Do not use abbreviations or contractions. When writing about history, use the past tense. Finally, check your pr�cis against the original to be sure that it is exact and retains the order, proportions, and relationships of the original.
Pr�cis writing needs unwavering attention and full concentration. One can follow the following method in order to become a good pr�cis writer.
Some general considerations :
1. Practice with any random passages with shortening in your words, text of written work useful writing tips, essential thoughts or ideas.
2. It is generally accepted that a Pr�cis should be a third of the passage given. If the original passage has 300 words, the Pr�cis should not be more than 100 words in length.
3. A Pr�cis should be in the context of the original passage. The original passage is not to be reduced in length by just removing unimportant or unnecessary sentences and by reproducing the rest as the Pr�cis
4. A Pr�cis should be full i.e. it should contain all the essential thoughts, ideas or fact in the original passage. It should not contain repetitions or observations that are not relevant to the main theme of the original.
5. A Pr�cis is always written in Reported Speech. The passage given may be a speech made by a person in Direct Speech, but the Pr�cis is to be in Reported Speech and in the Third Person and in the Past tense. ( For more about Direct and Indirect speech please refer to the English Language section in Grammar )
18.2 General Techniques of Pr�cis � Writing in exams :
There three kinds of work to be done in producing a clear and successful Pr�cis :
(1) Reading,
(2) Writing and
(3) Revision.
Reading
Read the passage carefully
If one time reading is not enough to give you a general idea of its meaning, then read it a second/third time. As you read, find out the subject or the theme of the passage and what is said about the subject.
Try to find out the lead or the topic sentence. The lead sentence will help you to see the subject clearly. It will also help you to think of a title for the Pr�cis.
Make sure that the details of the passage are fully understood. Read the passage more slowly at second time, even sentence by sentence, and make sure that everything in the passage is understood. If this is not done, it is likely that you will miss something important, especially if it is expressed by a short phrase or a single word.
Now comes the process of selection. The writer of the Pr�cis writing passages has to decide what facts or ideas in the passage are essential and what are of secondary or no importance. Taking the main ideas of the passages as your point of reference, it should not be too difficult to write out the important points in the original in a corner of your writing work sheet.
Writing
You should first prepare a draft of the Pr�cis, keeping in mind, the need to reduce the original to one-third its length. The main thoughts expressed in the passage, the ideas it contains, the opinions presented and the conclusion arrived at should figure in the rough draft. Unimportant things like the names of people and places and dates should not figure in it.
It may so happen that your first draft is too long or that it sounds rather lengthy. Shorten it if necessary and write out a careful second draft.
Remember that a Pr�cis or short essay is a connected whole and that it should read smoothly and continuously.
Revision
Revise the Pr�cis and tally it with the original passage. If you feel you missed something important, add it and if you feel something useless is added in the Pr�cis then omit it.
18.3 General Tips for Pr�cis writing in Exams :
1. Read the passage thoroughly, and give it a title.
2. Give a second reading, underlining the main ideas of the passage.
3. Make a draft of the pr�cis, using only the underlined sentences.
4. Omit illustrations, examples, details and repetition.
5. Arrange these points logically; generally the order of the original is retained.
6. Write in your own words. A pr�cis which borrows phrases and language from the original usually crosses the word limit.
7. If the summary is too long, rewrite it to bring it within the limit of near about one third of the original.
8. The pr�cis should be in the same tense, in third person and in indirect speech.
9. One word substitution of longer terms is very helpful.
10. Do proper revision of what you had written.
