NOTE-MAKING

AND ABSTRACTION
Note-making and abstraction (i.e. summarising) is an advanced writing skill which is
acquiring increasing importance due to the knowledgeexplosion. There is a need to
Note-makinghelps remember at least the main points on any given topic. Making notes is an activitywhich
studentsexpress combines several skills.
themselves in real-life
situations.It enables them
toacquirereading skills,
includingconcising and
Type of Questions
scanning.They acquire The question on this topic carrying 8 marks consists of two parts
writingskills like
(a) Make notes of the given passageof 400 - 500 words using abbreviations in the form of
summarising,note-making
and abstracting. points/ headings, sub-points/ headings and sub-sub-points/ headings. It may also involve
giving a title or heading to the passage. This part carries 5 marks.
(b) Make a summary of the passage in the word limit given. (usually 80 words) This part
carries 3 marks.

How to Make Notes

I. Careful Reading of Passage Read the passage carefully, underlining the key sentences
and phrases. This will help you in giving a title to the notes and also help in making the
main points.
2. Logical Sequence Make rough notes of the main points and give them a logical sequence.
3. Format Use any convenient format (see sample format given later on in this chapter) but
it should depend on the theme of the passage.
4. Headings You have to find out the main idea of the passage. Frame a heading based on
the central idea and write it in the middle above the notes.
5. Sub-headings Understand how the main idea has been presented and developed. There
may be two or three subordinate/associated ideas. You can frame sub-headings based on
these.
6. Sub-sub-headingsThere will be further details or sub-sub-headingsof the sub-headings
that you want to mention in these notes. Mention them below the relevant sub-headings.
7. Indenting All sub-headingsand sub-sub-headingsat the same level should be written at
the same distance from the margin.
 @ Points to be Kept in Mind
Sotne points which should be kept in mind while making notes are
• Notes should be short and to the point.
• They should be written in points only. not full sentences. They should be put one below the
other and numbered properly.
• They should have all the important and relevant information contained in the passage.
• The information should be systematically divided and subdivided.
provide a key
• Use universally recognised symbols and abbreviations wherever required and
to the abbreviations used.
reflect the
• The Title to the passage should be short (not more than 3-4 words) and should
spirit of the passage.

Using Abbreviations
1. Use standard abbreviations and symbols as far as possible:
(a) Capitalise first letters of a combination of words USA, UK, ATM, MBA etc.
(b) Common abbreviations used in newspapers and magazines Sc. (for Science), Mr., Ms., Dr., Govt. etc.
(c) Common symbols \, , +ve, -ve,t (rising), (falling), = < (less than), > (more than) etc.
(d) Measurements and Figures 100', 100", 100 kg, 1000 mm, 100 ml etc.
2. Make your own abbreviations:
(a) Keep the main sounds of the word. For example, edn. (education), progm. (programme). Remove all vowels except
the one starting the word.
(b) Retain the suffix so that later when you are going over the notes you may recall the full form of the word.
For example, ednl (educational), prgsv (progressive).
(c) A minimum of four abbreviations should be used.
Your notes should look like this
Heading
1. Subheading 1
1. a Point 1
1. b SubSub heading 1. b. 1 Sub Point 1 1. b. 2 Sub Point 2
1. c Point 1
2. Subheading 2
2. a Point 1 2. b SubSub heading 2. b. 1 Point 1

Key
abbr • abbreviation avt aviation fmly - family
pnt - point engr - engineer
you will observe that indenting, i.e., shifting from the
margin, has been used to clearly indicate sub-headings and
sub-sub-headings.Sub-headings,though separated by points, occur below one
another. Such use of indenting givesyour
notes a visual character. At a glance you can see the main idea and its
aspects.
Abstraction or Summarising
Here you have to write a paragraph summarising the passageusing the points listed in die noto as a guide.
Complete and grammatically correct sentencesmust be used. They should be logically and cohesively linked
using suitable linking words. Abbreviations and symboL are not to be used. Usually the summary should
about 80 words, unless otherwise mentioned in the question.

@ Points to be Kept in Mind

Some poznts which should be kept in rn:nd while surnrrzr;sarg are
• Summary is made out of the notes. na the passage-No point shaßd be
rnentioned in the summary which is noc inciuded in the notes-
• Do not divide the summary into differentparagraphs.Only one paraga#f
shouJd be used-
• The wmrnary should be attemptedimmediately after the note making

• Do not start the summary like 'The passage talks about

Try to follow the order of the notes as far as possible.
• Do not exceed Tee word limit øven in the qzsticn-

Sample Passages
Read thefollowingpassages carefully and answer the questions thatfollow.

PASSAGE 1 (8Marks)
Surely it is a tenable philosophy that when we meet goodness and greatnzs, we are in the presence of something
fundamental in the universe—solid ground that remains firm whatever convulsions shake the world- Surely, it is
in them that one meets the real human being. Another side of man is real too—the dark, petty, sensual side, here
his quarrels and jealousies and hates and greeds and passions take their rise. But if I had to find the essential
characteristic thing in man I should not find it, like Marx, in the economic animal—orlike Freud and many
modern novelists, in a sex-ridden phantom; I should find it in man straining his eyæ to catch sight of the vision
of a better world, and to incorporate what he can see in the life of himself and his society.Is not that the real
human being? And when you consider history, is it not through men and women of this type that the progress
most worth making has come about? Are not these the lines on which the worldhas advanced and will continue
to advance towards something better?
We need, said Burke in his statelylanguage,to auspicate all our procædings with the old warning of the Gurch,
'Sursum corda— Lift up your heart'. But how, from the levels of our ordinary lives, our average minds, can we
raise ourselves,if only for a space,to heiøyts beyond our own capcity, even beyond our normal vi.éon? the
answer is that we can raise ourselves on the shoulders of åßewho have walked on hi#rlevel.s. What we could
not do, unaided, we can do with their help.
Religion is the gratest instrument for so raising us. It is amazing that a person not intellectually bright, perhaps
not even educated,is capable of grasping, and living by something so advanced as the principles of Christianity.
Yet that is a common phenomenon. It is not, in my province to talk religion, but rather to stress
ffe power which great literature and the grat personalitiß whom we meet in it and in history have to open and
enlarge our mi.nds and to åow us what is firÄ-rate in human personality and human character by showing us
and gatnæ. Any education whid is incomplete and a very ina&quate preparation
 Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use
recognisable abbreviations, wherever necessary (minimum 4). Use a format you consider suitable. Also
supply an appropriate title to it.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 80 words. (3)
Answers
(a) Title Role of Education
Notes
l. Human personality
(i) goodness and greatness (ii) rlgn, instrmt to raise it
(iii) open and enlrg minds
ll. Human character
(i) intellectually bright (ii) great personalities
(iii) great lit
Ill. Rlgn emphasises these qualities
(i) above edn (ii) Grt lit & grt prsnlts met in it
(iii) opens and enlrgs minds (iv) Edn neglecting this inadequate
Key to Abbreviations
Abbreviations Words
rlgn religion
instrmt instrument
enlrg enlarge
literature
edn education
and
grt great
prsnlts personalities
enlrgs enlarges
(b) Summary
Goodness and greatness are the essential qualities of a man. Human character is built up with these
qualities. Lacking these
qualities, a real human being cannot progress or advance towards doing something better in life. These
consolidate the human personality and human character through education.
qualities also help to
Obviously, a man even withouteducation can grasp the essence of religion. But to understand great literature,
religion and history
play a vital role and help to make the goodness and greatness inherent in man thrive.

PASSAGE 2 (8 Marks)
Resistance to suggestion can be built up in two ways. First, children can be taught to rely on their own internal resources
and not to depend on incessant stimulation from without. This is doubly important. Reliance on external stimulation is
bad for the character. Moreover, such stimulation is the stuff with which propagandists bait their hooks, the jam in which
dictators conceal their ideological pills. An individual who relies on external stimulations thereby exposes himself to the
full force of whatever propaganda is being made in his neighbourhood. For a majority of people in the West, purposeless
reading, purposeless listening-in, purposeless listening to radios, purposeless looking at films have become addictions
psychological equivalents of alcoholism and morphinism.
Things have come to such a pitch that there are many millions of men and women who suffer real distress if they are cut Off
for a few days or even a few hours from newspaper, radio, music or moving pictures. Like the addict to a drug, they have to
indulge their vice, not because the indulgence gives them any real pleasure, but because, unless they indulge, they
painfully subnormal and incomplete.Even by intelligentpeople, it is now taken for granted that such psychologiol
 addictions are inevitable and even desirable, that there is nothing to be alarmed at in the fact that the majority of civilised
men and women are now incapable of living on their own spiritual resources, but have become abjectly dependent on
incessant stimulation from without. How can children be taught to rely upon their own spiritual resources and resist the
temptation to become reading addicts, hearing addicts, seeing addicts?
First of all, they can be taught how to entertain themselves by making things, by playing musical instruments, by
purposeful study, by scientific observation, by the practice of some art and so on. But such education of the hand and the
intellect is not enough. Along with the necessary knowledge and skill must be given the will to use them even under the
pressure of incessant temptation to take the line of least resistance and become an addict to psychologicaldrugs. Most
people will not wish to resist these temptations unless they have a coherent philosophy of life, which makes it reasonable
and right for them to do so. The other method of heightening resistance to suggestion is purely intellectual and consists in
training young people to subject the diverse devices of the propagandists to critical analysis. The first thing that educators
must do is to analyse the words currently used in newspapers, on platforms by preachers and broadcasters. Their critical
analysis and constructive criticism should reach out to the children and the youth with such a clarity that they learn to react
to forceful suggestions the right way at the right time.

Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on itusing headings and sub-headings.
Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary (minimum 4). Use a format you consider suitable.
Also supply an appropriate title to it. (5)
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 80 words. (3)

Answers
(a) Title Developing Resistance to Suggestion
Notes
l. Resistance to suggestion can be built up in two ways
(i) chldrn shd rely on themselves
(ii) not on external stmltn
(a) bad for character (b) propagandists & dictators use it
(c) gets addictive (d) dpdc on ext stmltn inevitable
(iii) Ext stmltn
ll. Chldrn shd be taught to rely on their spiritual resources by self-entertainment
(i) making things (ii) playing musical instruments
(iii) purposeful study (iv) scientific observation
(v) practising art
Ill. Edn not to take line of least resistance
(i) critically analyse (ii) react to suggestions right way - right time
Key to Abbreviations
Abbreviations Words
chldrn children
shd should
stmltn stimulation
external
dpdc dependence
edn education
(b) Summary
Children can build up resistance to suggestion by external stimulifromthe media by relying on themselves.Propagandistsand
dictators have used external stimulationfor influencing people, but it is bad for character and addictive.
However. this is nowadays accepted as inevitable. Children can rely on their own spiritual resources by various forms of
self-entertainment activities. Their education should enable them to critically analyse all inputs and react appropriately the first time.