Delhi Public School, Siliguri

Sub: English Class: XI

Topic: Note Making & Summary Writing

NOTE MAKING

How to make Notes?

Step 1: Read the passage carefully to understand the primary theme and subject.

Step 2: Based on the main theme, frame a suitable title, preferably ranging between 2 to 4 words, in
block.

Step 3: Mentally make a note of the main ideas discussed in the passage. These main ideas form the sub
headings. Use 2 to 4 words (approx.) to frame the sub headings.

Step 4: Check the points that are discussed under the sub headings. These points are known as sub
points. They range between 3 to 5 words (approx.) under every sub heading.

Step 5: Sub sub-points may be made only if there are additional points (examples, instances, etc.)
discussed under the sub points.

Step 6: Difficult or lengthy words must be abbreviated. Minimum 4 abbreviations are to be used in the
notes. Abbreviations should be underlined.

Step 7: At the end of the notes, there must be an INDEX of the ABBREVIATED words corresponding to
the actual words, enclosed in a box at the left margin.

Step 8: A Summary of the passage must be written after the notes are ready. The word limit is 100
words and must be written in one paragraph. A title should be given above the summarized part.
How to make Abbreviations?
1. Capitalize initial letters, e.g. UN (United Nations)

2. Take the first few letters of the word, e.g. Practical (Prac.)

3. Take the first and the last letters of the word, e.g. reading (rdng.)

4. Add ‘s’ to make plural, e.g. books (bks)

5. Contraction of words, e.g. cannot (can’t)

6. Symbols universally recognized, e.g. ampersand (&) or percentage (%)

NUMBERING & INDENTATION

HEADING (2 to 4 words)

1. Sub-Heading (2 to 4 words)
1.1. Sub Point (3 to 5 words)
1.2. Sub Point
1.3. Sub Point
2. Sub-Heading
2.1. Sub Point
2.2. Sub Point
2.3. Sub Point
2.3.1. Sub sub point (if needed)

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviated Word Actual Word
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Summary :

HEADING [ Previous one]

1 Paragraph of 50 words

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

1. Complete sentences must not be used in the sub headings, sub points and sub sub points.

2. Notes should include only keywords, phrases, broken sentences, dash (-), semicolon (;), etc.

3. Every sub heading, sub point, sub sub point must fit in a single line

4. Uniform numbering pattern should be followed and proper indentation must be maintained.

5. Numbering of notes must be done inside the margin and not outside.

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SOLVED EXAMPLES :
1. Read the given passage and make notes on it using identifiable abbreviations (Min 4). Supply a
suitable title. Write a summary of the passage within 50 words.

Research has shown that the human mind can process words at the rate of about 500 per minute,
whereas a speaker speaks at the rate of 150 words a minute. The difference between the two at 350 is
quite large.

So, a speaker must make every effort to retain the attention of the audience and the listener should also
be careful not to let his mind wander. Good communication calls for good listening skills. A good speaker
must necessarily be a good listener.

Listening starts with hearing but goes beyond. Hearing, in other words is necessary, but is not a
sufficient condition for listening. Listening involves hearing with attention. Listening is a process that
calls for concentration. While listening, one should also be observant. In other words, listening has to
do with the ears, as well as with the eyes and the mind. Listening is to be understood as the total
process that involves hearing with attention, being observant and making interpretations. Good
communication is essentially an interactive process. It calls for participation and involvement. It is quite
often a dialogue than a monologue. It is necessary to make it abundantly clear that one is interested in
knowing what the other person has to say.

Good listening is an art that can be cultivated. It relates to skills that can be developed. A good listener
knows the art of getting much more than what the speaker is trying to convey. He knows how to
prompt, persuade but not to cut off or interrupt what the other person has to say. At times the speaker
may or may not be coherent, articulate and well organized in his thoughts and expressions. He may have
it in his mind and yet he may fail to marshal the right words while communicating his thought.
Nevertheless, a good listener puts him to convey. For listening to be effective, it is necessary that
barriers to listening are removed. Such barriers can be both physical and psychological. Physical barriers
generally relate to hindrance to proper hearing whereas psychological barriers are more fundamental
and relate to the interpretation and evaluation of the speaker and the messages.
 THE ART OF LISTENING

1. Findings of research
1.1 ………………………………………………………………………………………..
1.2 …………………………………………………………………………………………….
1.3 ……………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Qualities of a good speaker
2.1 …………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2.2 …………………………………………………………………………………………………
2.3 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Listening Skills
3.1 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3.2 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3.3 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3.4 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
4. Good communication- interactive process
4.1 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
4.2 …………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4.3 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. Traits of good listening
5.1 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5.2 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5.3 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5.4 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5.5 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. Barriers to good listening
6.1 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6.2 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6.3 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

1.

2.

3.

5.
 SUMMARY :

THE ART OF LISTENING

For good communication to take place, it is imperative that the speaker be not only a good
orator but also a good listener. The essential conditions involved in this process are observant
listening, mutual participation, involvement and use of dialogues, instead of monologues.
Good listening involves the skills of prompting, persuading and not interrupting a speech. For
effective listening, physical and psychological barriers need to be removed.
(approximately 50 words)

2. Read the story “The Portrait of a Lady” and make notes on it using identifiable abbreviations.
Supply a suitable title. Write a summary on the same.

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

1. Narrator’s grandfather
1.1. Portrait hung above mntlpce in drawing room
1.2. Wore big turban & loose-fitting clothes
1.3. Long white beard covered best part of chest
1.4. Looked a 100yrs old.
2. Narrator’s grandmother
2.1 old & wrinkled
2.2. pretty when young
2.3. short, fat, slightly bent
2.4. very religious
2.5. picture of peace& cntnmnt

3. Bond between narrator & grandmother in village

3.1. constantly together

3.2. woke him up in the morning

3.3. got him ready for school

3.4. bathed and dressed him for school

3.5 fed him stale chapatti

3.6 carried stale chapattis for village dogs

4. Turning point in friendship

4.1. grandmother did not accmpny narrator to school

4.2 narrator went to English medium school in motor bus

4.3 no dogs in the street to feed chapattis

4.4 took to feeding sparrows in city house

5. Relation between grandmother & grandson in city

5.1 saw less of each other

5.2. would ask what the teacher had taught

5.3 narrator told her about

5.3.1 English words

5.3.2 little things of western science & lrng

5.3.3 law of gravity

5.3.4 Archimedes’ Principle

5.3.5 world being round

5.4 grandmother upset

5.4.1. no teaching about God & Scrptres

5.4.2 music lessons given in school

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

1. mntlpce – mantelpiece

2. cntntmnt - contentment

3. accmpny – accompany

4. lrng – learning

5. scrptres - scriptures
Summary :

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Khushwant Singh presents her grandmother as a religious old lady. Singh says that his grandmother was
so old that her face was wrinkled that at the present it was difficult to believe she would ever had been
young and pretty. The author says that she was like the winter landscape in the mountains and expanse of
pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment. His parents had gone to live in the city leaving him
behind the village under the care of his grandmother and would also feed him with Chapatti. The School
as attached with a temple. Finally, in the evening, the author and the grandmother would walk back home
feeding the dogs. After a friendly relationship with his grandmother, he had to adopt a new life in the city.
The author went to an English school but the grandmother never liked the way he was taught.

* As per the revised CBSE Curriculum (2020-21)_, the summary of a Notemaking should be
written in 50 words)