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8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/support-material-on-writing-skills-for-xat-tiss-fms-etc 1/54
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/support-material-on-writing-skills-for-xat-tiss-fms-etc 2/54
Support Material
Writing Skills
2009
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Why session on writing skills?
§ Lots of institutes ask subjective answers intheir application form itself
§
Institutes like XAT, TISS has separatesubjective test
§ What is the ideal way to write different typesof writing like SoPs, Essays, Précis etc.?
.... and above all, good writing is not easy
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Why session on writing skills?
"Writing is easy- All youdo is sit staring at a blank
sheet of paper. . . untildrops of blood form on
your forehead"~ Gene Fowler
(American journalist, author and dramatist)
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Why session on writing skills?
Institutes that consider subjective answers
§ FMS, Delhi
§ MFC, Delhi
§ SPJIMR, Mumbai
§ XLRI, Jamshedpur
§ T. A. Pai, Manipal
§ MICA, Ahmedabad§ TISS, Mumbai
... and many more
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Essentials of writing
§ Good handwriting
§ Clarity of ideas and unambiguous
language§ Grammar
§ Concise and focused
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Essentials of writing
If its online, its alright.
If it is not handwriting is important
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Essentials of writing
This is... very bad
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Essentials of writing
This is unacceptable
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Essentials of writing
We don t even ask for this .
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Essentials of writing
What does it mean...
Whatever you write in the form filling
procedure or in an exam, yourhandwriting should neither be of adoctor nor of an artist
Neither be too complacent nor trytoo hard
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Essentials of writing
Just these will do .
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Essentials of writing
Just these will do .
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Essentials of writing
Just these will do .
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Essentials of writing
Clearity of ideas and unambiguouslanguage
§ Don't use esoteric or unusual words, itmay confuse many readers
§ Spelling, grammar, and punctuationmistakes make writing hard tounderstand
§ Pronouns are inherently ambiguous,and pose a constant threat to clarity.
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Essentials of writing
Grammar
§ Poor grammar can make your writingconfusing or impossible to understand
§
Be careful with spelling, and especially withhomonyms (words which sound the same butare spelled differently)
§ Incorrect punctuation can change the meaningof a sentence. "My brother's money" belongs
to my brother, but "my brothers' money"belongs to my brothers
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Essentials of writing
Concise and focused
§ Brevity, according to Shakespeare, is the soulof wit
§ Don't write bloated and repetitive documents.
Here are some examples of trimming the fact
Right now, gasoline is expensive.
Gasoline is expensive.
Mr. Smith, who is my lawyer, wrote this document.Mr. Smith, my lawyer, wrote this document.
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Essentials of writing
Concise and focused
§ A well-written document should have a point
§
After the document is finished, go back over it,keeping your theme or purpose in mind,anything that doesn't contribute to your centralmessage or goal should be removed
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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§ SoP
§ Essays
§ Précis writing
§ Analytical framework writing§ Achievements
... and questions like
§
Why do you want to do MBA?§ Why this college?
§ Why this course? etc.
Types of writing
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
The Statement of Purpose (SoP)
§ The Statement of Purpose is whatbrings your application to life
§ It is your personal statement aboutwho you are what has influencedyour career path so far, your
professional interests and whereyou plan to go from here
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Which colleges ask for SoP
§ FMS, Delhi
(both for MBA and MBA-MS)
§ TAPMI, Manipal etc.
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
What do B-schools seek to see in an SoP?
§ Real YOU
§ Rationality
§ Clarity of thoughts
§ Justified intent to get into that particularcollege.
§ It must reflect real YOU in a subtle way
§ Smartness and yet not over-smartness
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
How to write an impressive SoP?
By your own hand
using your own brain
Yes, nobody knows YOU better than YOU know YOURSELF
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
How to write an impressive SoP?
§ You must write your SoP yourself
§
No one can describe you and hence sellyou better, but you
§ Write your SoP first, then take it to thefaculty at your center for any changes orcorrection
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Types of writing
Some DON Ts while writing your SoP
§ Try to be something you are not
§ Try to tell the admissions committee what
you think they want to hear and whatmight not be real you
§ Be boastful
§ Be loud
§ Be too philosophical
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Essay: What is an Essay?
A short piece of writing, often
written from an author's personalpoint of view.
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Exams asking for essay writing
§ XLRI Admission Test etc.
§ TISS, Mumbai
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Why do B-schools make us write essays?
§ To check reasoning ability
§ To see the approach to practical problemhandling
§ To see the thought procedure that weapply
§ And finally to check our writing skills
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Some DOs while writing an essay
§ Essay must be concise
§ Plan it well
§ Establish clear direction andunderstanding of the topic
§ Thoughts need to be organized
§ Create clear structure
§ Use an appropriate style
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Types of writing
Some DOs while writing an essay
§ Support your arguments with evidence
§ Express yourself clearly
§ It should end with a conclusion§ If it talks of a social issue you must be
able to give a solution
§ Don't be too lame neither too
overwhelmed with personal emotion
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Some DON Ts while writing an essay
§ Be too overwhelmed with personalemotion
§ End an essay with a contradiction to yourprevious approach
§ Shuffle too much within the topic
§ Give too many examples (hence reducing
the actual content part)
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Some DON Ts while writing an essay
§ Include irrelevant information
§ Try to solve the mysteries of the world in
an essay.§ Use overly long quotations
§ Use slang or unnecessary technical jargon
§ Forget to proofread
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Précis Writing : What is précis? A type of summary written in the writer's own wordsabout a text source.
Précis usually
§ States the name of the article/document, the
author and the source (is it from a magazine,book, encyclopedia, etc.)
§ Avoids use of phrases such as "in this article","throughout history" or other clichés
§
Is written in past tense§ Has subheadings which are underlined or in
italics
§ Does not uses contractions
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Institutes asking for précis writing
§
MICA, Ahmedabad etc.
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Types of writing
Steps to précis writing
§ A précis should reduce the length of theoriginal passage by at least two-thirds.
§ Every important idea must be retained,preferably in the order in which it appearsin the original
§ Unimportant points, including details,
illustrations and anecdotes, should bediscarded
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Steps to précis writing § A first draft of the précis should be written, then
checked to see that it contains the main ideas of thepassage
§ Although you should be as brief as possible. Guardagainst being so condensed that you obscure thepoint of passage
§ Try to capture the tone or feeling of the original,particularly if it is deliberately humorous, ironic or
biased§ Check the draft for expression errors, repetition or
vague phrasing; then write a smoother final version
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Achievements
Institutes like SPJIMR which focushighly in the personality of the
candidate and during the form fillingprocedure ask them to mention theirachievements in various walks of life.
While quoting your achievements
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
§ You must be humble and must use a languagethat is not too pretentious
§ Never lie
§ Be honest and respect who you are
§ Don t compare yourself with any of your friends
§ Achievement no matter how big must not bequoted with its magnitude. Let the people in theselection committee decide how big yourachievement is. Never use the phrases likeimpossible for others etc. to describe your
achievement.
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Types of writing
How to rate yourself
Institutes like SPJIMR also ask
candidates to rate their achievement asoutstanding / excellent / very good / good and so on .
While doing this remember .
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Types of writing
§ Don t underrate yourself, and at the sametime don t overrate as well
§ What ever is your rating according toyourself, it must be justified automaticallyby your description
§ Achievements only after the highersecondary class must be considered untiland unless they are exceptional before
that
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Types of writing
Debate
A statement is provided and the candidate isexpected to either favour the topic or writeagainst it. For example -
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Types of writing
Institutes asking for debate writing
§ MICA, Ahmedabad
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Types of writing
For a good debate writing
§ Try to think against the notion that you aresupporting and then try to negate them
§ Come up with cogent points and examples§ Stick to one thought only. If you keep
changing sides it is considered as lack ofdecision making ability and may prove
devastating in your selection procedure
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Types of writing
Description
In this the candidate is expected to describeany fact. For example -
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Institutes asking for description writing
§ MICA, Ahmedabad
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Types of writing
Things to remember for a good description write-up
§ Requires to work more on facts andless with his/her own view point
§ Not required to take a stand but todescribe all the aspects of the fact
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Types of writing
Analytical framework
In this the candidate is judged on hisanalytical reasoning skills. For example -
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Types of writing
Institutes asking for analytical framework writing
§
MICA, Ahmedabad,§ MFC, Delhi etc.
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Types of writing
Things to remember while writing analytical framework
§ In it candidate not only requires to
put facts but more than that he/shemust be able to conclude
§ Also the solution/conclusion mustnot just solve the problem but must
also be viable
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Why do you want to do MBA? OR
Why do you want to do MBA
from this particular college? OR Why do you want to do these
particular courses? etc..
Your answer can be…
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
§ Because it pays good or
§ You guys are among top 10 B-schools or
§ Because it grooms one s completepersonality or
§ Because my technical knowledgefrom bachelors degree is so weak
that I can t afford a masters in thesame etc.
8/14/2019 Support Material on Writing Skills - For XAT, TISS, FMS Etc
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Types of writing
Whatever your answer be ...
Try finding your reason yourself
All we can suggest is
§ Your answer should be just
§ Should not be negative
§ And finally should be yours i.e.original