THE INDIAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL – KUWAIT
Committed to Excellence in Education Since 1959
Class XI Notes (2022 – 2023)
English Core
Reading Skills
NOTE MAKING
Note-making is an advanced writing skill and study skill. There is a need to
remember at least the main points of any given subject. Making notes is a
complex activity which combines several skills.
Note-making is useful as it saves time, energy and the space at the working
place, while attending a lecture at school or in college, in a meeting etc. It
enhances the confidence to revise the topic whenever we want.
Note-making basically involves noting the main points of whatever is read or
heard, as one cannot be expected to remember all that one has read.
Types of Passages:
The Note-making passage could be anyone of the following types
(i) Factual: A factual passage includes some facts about the physical aspects of
a subject. It includes instructions, descriptions and reports. It helps the students
to get a detailed view of the subject and develop a complete mental picture of a
specific person, place, object or being.
(ii) Discursive: A discursive passage includes argumentative, interpretative and
persuasive text. Such passages may include opinions or feedback. It allows
students to arrive at a conclusion through reasoning and understanding rather
than intuition. It presents a balanced and objective approach towards the subject
being discussed.
How to Make Good Notes and Summary of the Given Passage
The following points will help you in making good notes
Read the passage quickly but carefully. Try to understand main points
and supporting details.
Underline the keywords as you read.
Notes should be in points and in an appropriate format.
Organise your ideas into main heading, sub-headings and sub-sub-
headings (if possible).
Abbreviations and symbols are freely used.
Give title to your notes. Avoid a long sentence.
While making summary sure that your summary does not exceed 1/3 of
the length of the original text.
The summary should contain only the main ideas and the supporting
details.
Refer back to the original to ensure that your summary is a true reflection
of the writer’s ideas.
All subheadings should be at a uniform distance from the margin.
Indenting – Points should also be at the same distance away from the
margin.
Do not write complete sentences.
Uses of Abbreviations in Note-Making:
Abbreviation helps in writing the information briefly. The following are some
of the ways in which you can use abbreviations.
First few letters of the word are enough to remember what the abbreviation
stands.
For example:
imp for ‘important’
info for ‘information’
eval for ‘evaluation’
Remove all (or most of) the vowels from the word and use just the key
consonants bunched together.
For example
mngmt for ‘management’
mrkt for ‘market’
mrktng for ‘marketing’
dvpt for ‘development’
Abbreviations Words
+ Positive, Plus
- Minus, Negative
= equals, is the same as,
< is less than, is smaller than
> is greater than, is larger than
↑ increase, rise, growth
↓ decrease, fall, shrinkage
& And
★ special, important, notable
/ per, each
e.g. example
ie that is
w/o Without
etc. Etcetera
Viz Namely
Asap as soon as possible
Mr. Mister
Mrs. Mistress
Dr. Doctor
Govt. Government
b/w Between
Sc. Science
Capitalise the first letters of the names of states, countries or organisations.
For example: UP, USA, UK and UNO.
Measurements and figures – 100″, 100′, 100 kg, 100 mm, 100 ml.
Take the following caution:
(i) Do not get overenthusiastic about abbreviations.
(ii) You should not abbreviate every word.
(iii) One abbreviation in one point is enough.
(iv) As a general rule, the heading should not be abbreviated.
(v) You may use abbreviations in subheadings.
Your notes should look like this:
(i) Indenting is essential.
Notice that indenting, i.e. shifting from the margin has been used to clearly
indicate subheadings, points and sub points. Subheadings, though separated
by points, occur below one another. Similarly, points and sub points should
also come below one another. Such use of indenting gives your notes a
visual character. At a glance, you can see the main idea and its various
aspects.
(ii) Numbering-You may follow any system but you should be consistent,
that is, you should follow the same system throughout. Some
examples are given below.
