DEPARTMENT: H & AS.

SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

Writing Practice

COMPREHENSION:- Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is

read. To be able to accurately understand written material, readers need to be able to
1. Decode what they read
2. Make connections between what they read and what they already know and
3. Think deeply about what they have read.

One big part of comprehension is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of
enough words. Readers who have strong comprehension are able to draw conclusions about
what they read – what is important, what is a fact, what caused an event to happen, which
characters are funny.
Thus comprehension involves combining reading with thinking and reasoning.
PRECIS-WRITING:- A precis is a summary. Precis writing is a very useful exercise. Most of
us read carelessly. Writing precis gives training in careful reading. Precis 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 precis 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.
To write an effective precis, read the passage several times for a full understanding. Note key
points. It may, infact, be helpful to underline these words. Do not use abbreviations or
contractions. When writing about history, use the past tense.
Finally check your precis against the original to be sure that it is exact and retains the order,
proportions, and relationships of the original.

LETTER WRITING:- A letter is written message that can be hand written or printed on
paper. It is usually sent to the recipient via mail or post in an envelope.
(letter writing is the exchange of written or printed messages)
Letters are of two types:- 1. Formal letter 2. Informal letter
1. Formal letter:- A letter written for a formal purpose is called a formal letter. It
addresses a serious issue.

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

 DEPARTMENT: H & AS.
SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

Types of Formal letter:- Letter to editor, Government, Police, Principal, order letter,
complaint letter, inquiry letter, business letter, application letter.

FORMAL LETTER FORMAT

Sender’s address
Date
Receiver’s address
Subject
Salutation
Body of the letter
Complimentary closing
Sender’s name, signature and designation

1. Sender’s address: The address and contact details of the sender are written here.
Include email and phone no., if required or mentioned in question.
2. Date: The date is written below the sender’s address after leaving one space or
line.
3. Receiver’s address: The address of the recipient of the mail ( the officer/ principal/
editor) is written here.
4. Subject of the letter: The main purpose of the letter forms the subject. It must be
written in one line. It must convey the matter for which the letter is written.
5. Salutation: (Sir/ Respected Sir/ Madam)
6. Body: The matter of the letter is written here. It is divided into 3 paragraphs as
follows:-
Paragraph1 : Introduce yourself and the purpose of writing the letter in brief.
Paragraph 2: Give a detail of the matter.
Paragraph 3: Conclude by mentioning what you expect. (foreg., a solution to your
problem, to highlight an issue in the newspaper, etc.)
7. Complimentary closing
8. Sender’s name, signature and designation (if any)

2. INFORMAL LETTER: A letter written for an informal purpose is called an

informal letter. It is written for a casual purpose.

Types of informal letter: letter to parents, siblings, friends, classmates, neighbours.

Format of an informal letter:

The following points need to be followed while writing an informal letter:

a) An informal letter does not strictly follows to prescribed format.

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

 DEPARTMENT: H & AS.
SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

b) The language of an informal letter must be friendly and casual.

c) An informal letter can have extra information.
d) The subject line is not required in an informal letter.

FORMAT:

Address
Date
Salutation
Body of the letter

Sender’s name and signature

1. Address: The address of the sender is followed by that of receiver.

2. Date: The date is written below the address after leaving one line.
3. Salutation/ Greeting: ( Dear/ hello)
4. Body: The matter of the letter is written here. It is divided into 3 paragraphs as
follows:
a) Paragraph 1: beginning
b) Paragraph 2: main content
c) Paragraph 3: ending

5. Sender’s name and signature

EMAIL ETIQUETTES

Email: Email i.e. Electronic mail is an information and communication technology. It

is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients
over the internet.

- Email etiquette: Email etiquette refers to the principles of behavior that one should
use when writing or answering email messages. It is also known as code of
conduct for email communication. Email etiquette depends upon to whom we are
writing – friends & relatives, partners, customers, superior or subordinates.

- We must follow email etiquette in our professional communication because it is a

form of communication which is a reflection of senders and responders.

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

 DEPARTMENT: H & AS.
SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

- Bad email etiquette reflects badly on us, and a record of this is kept in mail boxes
over which we have no control.

- Good email etiquette reflects well on us, improves our public perception and
increases the chance of a prompt and comprehensive response.

Basic Email etiquettes:

1. Always include a subject and use the recipient’s name in the greeting. It
informs recipient what the email is about.
2. Do not write in all capitals. Writing in all capitals can convey that you are
shouting in your message. It can be annoying and trigger an unintended
response.
3. Don’t use email to discuss confidential information.
Once emailed, confidential information becomes public as email is not private.
4. Take care with abbreviations such as plz, BTW, LOL and emoticons.
Some may not understand your abbreviation.
It is not professional.
5. Think before you send. Review and spell check your email one more time to
make sure it’s truly perfect.
6. Do not forward unnecessary/ unrelated emails.
7. Avoid using long sentences.
8. Never respond if you are upset. Take some time to cool off and consider
appropriate response.
9. Don’t attach unnecessary files.
10. Don’t overuse reply to all.
11. Ending an email professionally is just as important as perfecting the rest of the
message. Courtesy is always important, no matter how short the email is.
( thank you for your patience and cooperation, thank you for your
consideration, yours sincerely, yours faithfully( more formal), best regards,
regards (professional)

**Remember that when you send an email to someone, they are getting a copy
that they can keep…forever.

ABSTRACT
An abstract is a short statement which describes a larger piece of work. It provides brief
information regarding the purpose, scope, background, contents of the work and the

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

 DEPARTMENT: H & AS.
SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

conclusion. It enables the readers to decide whether or not the entire paper is worth reading. It
should contain phrases and keywords that permits for easy searching.
There are three types of abstract:
1. Descriptive: Short- usually less than 100 words.
It includes:
- Purpose of the work.
- Method used.
- Scope of the work.
It does not include:
- Results, conclusions and recommendations.

Readers will probably have to read the document to see if it is relevant.

2. Informative abstract: Fairly short- from 200 words to a page or more.

It includes:
- Purpose of the work
- Method used
- Scope of the work
- Results
- Conclusions and recommendations

Communicates the contents of the document, so the reader may not need to read
the document.

3. Critical abstract: similar to a review – but shorter.

Abstract writing tips:

To write an effective abstract, you should:
1. Identify the problem and research solution: The abstract should have an opening
that identifies that particular subject matter and now the research that you have
done will provide a solution.
2. Stick to the word count: In general an abstract is usually no more than 250 words.
It is important to keep the word count in mind when writing an abstract. It can
prevent you from being overly descriptive.
3. Include information on methods and results: Part of abstract should briefly
mention the methods and results that pertain to your topic. The method is basically
the type of research you did, and the results are what was learned or created as a
result of the methods.
4. Mention the implications of your research: It is important to briefly mention how
results affect the initial problem that was mentioned in the opening of the abstract.

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

 DEPARTMENT: H & AS.
SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

5. Review and update the abstract: Upon completing your entire thesis, it may be
necessary for you to review and update the abstract.

MEMO WRITING: A memo i.e. memorandum is a short notice usually written by the
management to address a certain policy or give a certain announcement or changes in an
organization. In official instances, a memo is usually written by the organization heads, but
even students at different levels of education may be examined on the same.
In most cases, a memo is usually used to address very critical matters and therefore the
contents of the information should be clear.
Below are some tips that you need to pay attention to while writing a memo:
1. Make it as short as possible: The shorter your memo will be, the more the readers
because most people are prone to be ignorant to lengthy notices.
2. Use simple language: Don’t use complex language while writing your memo because
the readers may end up missing up important points and your memorandum will not
have served its purpose. Avoid too much use of vocabularies in your work.
3. Use a captivating heading: The heading of your memo should be attractive. You
should be very selective in the words that you use for your heading because that is the
first impression that your readers would come across. To captivate the readers, you
can:
a) Use bolding on emphasize
b) Use a different colour for the heading

4. Avoid simple grammar and spelling errors: You should be very cautious in memo
writing because a simple spelling mistake may confuse the intended information that
you needed to pass. You should go through your memo after writing to ensure that
everything reads as required.

Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology

 DEPARTMENT: H & AS.
SEMESTER: 2
SUBJECT: ENGLISH
SUBJECT CODE: 3110002
FACULTY: DR. SONAL MATHUR

MEMO FORMAT

Memorandum

To:
Cc:
From:
Date:
Subject:

Cc will serve to address another recipient that you wish to address apart from main.
- Ensure that contents is double spaced
- Align all the contents to left side of your page.
- You should write the start of the address with capital letters

Example:
To: All staff To: All students
From: The IT director From: The department head
Date: 09/01/2020 Date:
Subject: promotion in different departments Subject: submission of assignment
(Body)

Types of memo: Request memo, confirmation memo, suggestive memo, report memo,
informal results memo.

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Amiraj College of Engineering & Technology