NOTE MAKING

A quick recap
and
exercises

Ms. Monika Mukhi

Ms. Deepshikha Ghai
Tips To Prepare Notes:
• Each sub-point may or may not have supplementary ideas
which become sub-subpoints.
• Provide an appropriate title for the notes or the summary or
abstract, as given in the question.
• Include a minimum of 4-6 distinctly different recognizable
short forms i.e., abbreviations of the words in the notes.
• Cover all the important points in the notes meaningfully to
prepare the abstract/summary in about 80-100 words.
• Write the summary or abstract in complete sentences in a
paragraph.
 How To Summarise A Given Passage
• Read (First Read): Read the passage very carefully and critically. Read the passage
straight through. Do not stop to look up anything that gives you trouble at the first
reading. You should get a feel for the author’s tone, style and main idea.
• Reread (Second Read): Rereading should be active reading. Underline the topic
sentences and key facts with pencil. Label the areas that you want to refer to as you
write your summary. Also label the areas that you find irrelevant. Identify areas that
you do not understand and try to clarify those points.
• One Sentence at a time: Now write the main idea of each paragraph in one well-
developed sentence. Make sure that what you include in your sentence are key points
and not minor details.
• Write a Thesis Statement: The key to a well-written summary is the Thesis Statement.
A quality Thesis Statement could either express one main idea or assert your
conclusions about the subject. Generally, a thesis statement consists of the following
parts –
• a clearly identifiable topic or subject matter, and
• a succinct summary of what you have to say about that topic.
• Ready to Write: You can use Thesis Statement as the introductory sentence of your
summary, while your other sentences can make up the body.
• Add some transition words such as-then, however, also, moreover etc.,
that help with the overall structure and flow of the summary. The
following tips will help you to write a good summary:
• Write in the present tense (preferably in active voice).
• Be Concise-Summary should be within the word limit (about 80 words) and should
be coherent without any errors in logic. Don’t put your opinions, ideas or
interpretations into the summary.
• Check for Accuracy: Reread your summary and make sure that you have
accurately represented the author’s ideas and key points. Make sure that
your summary does not contain your own comments.
• Revise: Revise your summary for style, grammar and punctuation. Correct
all the errors in composition and rewrite it if needed
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow
• Effective speaking depends on effective listening. It takes energy to concentrate on hearing and to concentrate
on understanding what has been heard. Incompetent listeners fail in a number of ways. First, they may drift.
Their attention drifts from what the speaker is saying. Second, they may counter. They find counter-arguments
to whatever a speaker may be saying. Third, they compete. Then, they filter. They exclude from their
understanding those parts of the message which do not readily fit with their own frame of reference. Finally,
they react. They let personal feelings about a speaker or subject override the significance of the message which
is being sent.
• What can a listener do to be more effective? The first key to effective listening is the art of concentration. If a
listener positively wishes to concentrate on receiving a message his chances of success are high.
• It may need determination. Some speakers are difficult to follow, either because of voice problems or because
of the form in which they send a message. There is then a particular need for the determination of a listener to
concentrate on what is being said.
• Concentration is helped by alertness. Mental alertness is helped by physical alertness. It is not simply physical
fitness, but also positioning of the body, the limbs and the head. Some people also find it helpful to their
concentration if they hold the head slightly to one side. One useful way for achieving this is intensive note-
taking, by trying to capture the critical headings and sub-headings the speaker is referring to.
• Note-taking has been recommended as an aid to the listener. It also helps the speaker. It gives him confidence
when he sees that listeners are sufficiently interested to take notes; the patterns of eye-contact when the note-
taker looks up can be very positive; and the speaker’s timing is aided-he can see when a note-taker is writing
hard and can then make effective use of pauses.
• Posture too is important. Consider the impact made by a less competent listener who pushes his chair
backwards and slouches. An upright posture helps a listener’s concentration. At the same time it is seen by the
speaker to be a positive feature amongst his listeners. Effective listening skills have an impact on both the
listener and the speaker.
On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and sub-
headings. Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary.
Title: The Art of Effective Listening Notes:
NOTES:
1. Eff. speaking depends on:
1.1 eff. listening
1.2 concen. on listening
1.3 concen. on understanding what you hear
2. Reasons why incompetent listeners fail:
2.1 their attention drifts
2.2 they find counter arguments
2.3 they compete & then filter 2.4. they react
3. Ways for a listener to be more eff.:
3.1 concen. on the msg. reed.
3.1.1 mental alertness
3.1.2 phys. alertness-positioning body
3.1.3 helps speaker-gives him confidence encourages the eye contact
4. Impce. of posture
4.1 helps listeners in concen.
4.2 seen by spkr. as a +ve feature among his listeners
♦ List of Abbreviations
Eff. – effective
concen. – concentrating
msg. – message
reed. – received
phys. – physical
+ve – positive
impce. – importance
spkr. – speaker

(b) Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made and also suggest
a suitable title.
Answer:
Title: The Art of Effective Listening
Summary:
Effective speaking and effective listening are two sides of the same coin, both equally important. An
incompetent listener will always fail as he drifts away from counters, competes and finally filters what
the speaker is saying. To be a good listener concentration is important combined with mental and
physical alertness. The importance of other factors like note-taking and posture cannot be ignored. All
these are effective listening skills and are viewed as a positive feature by the speaker among his
listeners. They have an impact not only on the listener but also on the speaker.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
• Despite all the research every one of us catches cold and most of us catch it frequently. Our failure to control
one of the commonest of all ailments sometimes seems ridiculous. Medical science regularly practises
transplant surgery and has rid whole countries of such killing diseases as Typhus and the Plague. But the
problem of common cold is unusually difficult and much has yet to be done to solve it. It is known that a cold is
caused by one of a number of viral infections that affect the lining of the nose and other passages leading to
the lungs but the confusing variety of viruses makes study and remedy very difficult. It was shown in 1960 that
many typical colds in adults are caused by one or the other of a family of viruses known as rhinoviruses, yet
there still remain many colds for which no virus has as yet been isolated.
• There is also the difficulty that because they are so much smaller than the bacteria which cause many other
infections, viruses cannot be seen with ordinary microscopes. Nor can they be cultivated easily in the
bacteriologist’s laboratory, since they only grow within the living cells of animals or plants. An important recent
step forward, however, is the development of the technique of tissue culture, in which bits of animal tissue are
enabled to go on living and to multiply independently of the body. This has greatly aided virus research and has
led to the discovery of a large number of viruses. Their existence had previously been not only unknown but
even unsuspected.
• The fact that we can catch a cold repeatedly creates another difficulty. Usually, a virus strikes only once and
leaves the victim immune to further attacks. Still, we do not gain immunity from colds. Why? It may possibly be
due to the fact that while other viruses get into the bloodstream where anti-bodies can oppose them, the
viruses causing cold attack cells only on the surface. Or it may be that immunity from one of the many different
viruses does not guarantee protection from all the others. It seems, therefore, that we are likely to have to
suffer colds for some time yet.