Exam tips

Some do’s and don’ts for the English paper:
1. Never write in bullet points. Be it a short answer or a character sketch or a
summary, write the answers in ‘paragraphs’. Split them into different
paragraphs if necessary.
2. Split your sentences into shorter sentences. Never write very long sentences
by joining them with many ‘ands’.
3. Never start a sentence with ‘And’, ‘And then’, ‘Because’.
4. Use Punctuation appropriately. Use a ‘full stop’ to end the sentence and start
the next sentence with a Capital letter. Proper Nouns should start with a
Capital letter. Be careful with spellings. Do not make mistakes when you can
easily copy a word correctly from the question.
5. Do not waste time in writing the questions.
6. Start writing from the margin. Don’t leave unequal gaps between the margin
and the words.
7. Write neatly and clearly. Your words must be readable. If you make a mistake,
cut it in a single stroke, instead of making designs over it.
8. Read the question, understand what is being asked and then answer
accordingly. Never answer with a single “Yes/No”.
9. Give a background or an introductory line to your answer before describing
the main answer. Also, remember to conclude your answer properly.
10.Be careful with the usage of words like ‘there and their’, ‘here and hear’ etc.
11.When you are asked the character sketch, do not start with “The character of
xxxxx is/was that …..”. Start as “In the story, “……”, xxxxx is described as
a ….. (or) xxxxx was a loyal person etc… Make sure to support each quality
with an example/situation/instance from the story. Do not simply state the
qualities. You can conclude by mentioning what you learnt from that
character.
12.Do not keep writing the life history of the person in character sketch; rather
try to bring out the most of what you observed in him/her (the appearance,
inner qualities etc.). Try to use as many adjectives as possible and also
mention the reason.
13.If you are asked to write the summary of a chapter, do not immediately start
with the first scene. Start as: The story, “…..”, written by Bama, deals
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with/describes the life of/ brings out the life incident of/educates us about/
makes us aware of/ etc… (a one line theme of it). Proceed by describing where
the story took place (setting), the main character of the story and then the plot
of the story in brief. Make sure to conclude by quoting the main objective of
the story/what you learnt from the story/what the narrator tries to bring out
through the story/ moral of the story etc… Do not abruptly end with the last
scene.
14.Before answering any question, check the marks for which the question is
being asked and answer accordingly. A 1 mark question should contain at least
1-2 complete correct sentences, 2 marks – minimum 5-6 sentences, 4 marks –
minimum 10-12 sentences and so on.
15.In the process of writing many sentences, do not keep repeating the same
point. In the few sentences that you write, make sure you include most of what
you know about it in short and crisp words. Remember it is not only the length
of the answer that matters, but also, the quality and usage of valid points that
determine your marks.
16.For Story writing, Article writing, Paragraph writing, Diary Entry etc… make
sure you follow the Format. Give a catchy title, use good adjectives and
attractive words to draw the attention of the reader. Make sure there is
connectivity between your thoughts. The reader must clearly come to know
what you are trying to say through your writing. Remember, your writing
should touch the reader’s mind and heart.
17.If you are writing an opinion based question don’t answer in yes or no. You
need to express your view. Try to include any real life example to support
your opinion.
18.Always write in complete sentences when you are answering “Reference to
Context” questions.
19. Answer the questions in Simple Past Tense. Remember, “do/does/did” is
followed by a ‘base verb’. Do not shift between the Present and Past tense
within a single sentence/answer, unless you are including a dialogue.
20.Write your answers in third person, reported speech. Do not write as “The
narrator asked his friend where are you going.”
21.Do not leave a question. Attempt all the questions.
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22.Plan your time and divide it among the questions appropriately. Do not spend
too much time reading the passage/thinking about a question. Attempt all
scoring questions/easy questions/sure ones at first.
23.Remember to check your paper before submitting.
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