Note Making

Characteristics of good notes

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

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.
In the absence of proper assimilation of main ideas and subsidiary points it is impossible to make
notes.

Abbreviations and symbols

They are used for precision and economy of words and hence quite helpful in note-making. At least
four recognisable abbreviations are to be used in note-making. These are essential components of
note-making. Students often make use of abbreviations and symbols in doing their written work.

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.

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

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. 5
Q. - Make a summary of the passage. 3

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.

Note making Example Passage 2:

1. Good decoration reflects the personality of the people who live in the home. It should, first of all,
be distinctive, just as each person is distinctive. A home should have unity not only within each
room but also throughout the house. Rooms should, to some degree, harmonize with each
other. The colour and styling of each room, particularly, should fit into the colour and styling of
the rooms which run out of it.
2. Attractive home furnishings set the stage for pleasant living. If they are an expression of
yourself, you will have a feeling of satisfaction every time you enter your home, and friends will
share your enjoyment.
3. However, furnishings and surroundings expressive of just the right note of restfulness, gay
informality, or elegant simplicity are not often assembled by accident. Even enthusiasm alone is
not enough. For most home decorators, it takes poring over plans, trying colour schemes,
finding ingenious ways to make the best of what you have, and shopping around to search out
just the right purchases at prices you can afford to pay. But there is keen pleasure in striving for
the perfect result, and great satisfaction in achieving it.
4. A successful house and successful rooms will depend upon the proper relationship of each
element in it to the others and to the whole. Therefore, in selecting each piece it is well to
consider the background, the usage, the draperies, the floor covering, the upholstering
materials, the woods, shapes, colour scheme, and the “feeling” you prefer for the room.
5. Work and plan to enjoy your house. Limit the expenditures of time, effort and money to the
extent of your abilities, so that just running the house doesn’t dominate your life. Elegance and
delicate things may be a drain you can afford only in a limited way. If you can’t afford outside
help, select a house and furnishings that require less care. Plan your activities so that tumult
and upset are limited to a few rooms—an activity room or a bedroom, or a comer of the dining
room.
6. You’ll get more pleasure out of a house if you have a hobby connected with it—collecting glass
or antiques, gardening or indoor flower growing ceramics, art, cooking, decorating, flower
arrangements, etc. And you’ll get more satisfaction and a great deal of help from studying
household activities.
7. You can select a pleasing combination of colours from a wallpaper, a fabric, an oriental mg, a
flower or scene, or even a picture in a magazine. If you don’t already have the furniture or mgs,
 it is a good idea to make up a colour scheme in this way. Let one colour predominate. Limit a
colour scheme to two or three colours, with white or gray tones.

These points will help you:

1. Always choose colours that please you personally— subtle, calm colours if you prefer a restful
atmosphere, intense colours if you like liveliness and cheer.
2. Don’t be afraid of colour. Experimenting on paper will give you confidence. (But remember
larger batches of colour are more intense.) Try out various colour combinations, then live with
them—look at them frequently before you actually start buying.
3. Colours should harmonize with furniture, draperies, carpets.

Q. - Make notes on the passage in any suitable format. Use abbreviations, wherever necessary. Give
a suitable title. 5
Q. - Make a summary of the passage. 3

Answers:
Title: Decorating One’s Home Notes:

1. Home reflects personality of home-owner

1.1 unity & harmony bet. rooms
1.2 colour & styling sh’d match
2. Elements of decoration
2.1 colour schemes
2.2 draperies, rugs, upholstery, woods, shape
3. Plan to enjoy the House
3.1 limit time, effort & money
3.2 select fumish’gs which require little care
3.3 confine hectic activities to a few rooms
3.4 hobby connected with house—great pleasure.
4. Choice of Colours
4.1 one colour sh’d predominate
4.2 one can expt with colours
4.3 calm colours for restfulness; intense for liveliness
4.4 colours sh’d harmonise with furniture, draperies, carpets

SUMMARY - The maintenance of the house reflects the personality of the people who live in that. So
the distinctive decoration is as important as one attire in good clothes. A unity in the home can only
be seen if the rooms in the house have a degree of harmony, colour and styling. Furniture is a
working strategy for the pleasant living. If there is an expression of oneself then one will have a
mental satisfaction everytime one enter one’s home. To attain such satisfaction one need to pore
over plants, try colour schemes, window shopping to search the best thing for one’s home.

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