Note Making
Give a Quick Read
One needs to understand the importance of reading before
commencing the note making task. It is important to give a quick look
over the passage to get a sense of the information, its tone, ideological
inclination, etc. Moreover, it helps you in knowing the main idea of the
passage as well as the author’s aim of writing. However, as this is
intended to develop a preliminary understanding of the passage, you
must read at one stroke and leave the critical or knotty sections for
when you begin your intensive reading. This should not take more than
3-5 minutes.
Intensive Read
After you are done with your quick reading session, you can now start
reading attentively and carefully. As you have already gone through the
passage once and are attuned with its main idea, reading the passage
carefully now assists you in developing a clear grasp over the facts,
opinions, arguments, and counter-arguments mentioned by the author.
Furthermore, many passages contain a huge amount of information which
you have put into categories of relevant, somewhat relevant or irrelevant.
Doing this, in turn, will help you in better note making and preparation.
You must also remember that there may be sections or opinions that you
may not agree with. You should not let any such information have an
impact on the notes you prepare in any way or manner. During this
phase, skipping any sentence or phrase is not advisable even if you feel it
is not pertinent.
Word Limit
Typically, for note making questions, the word limit you must adhere to is
50-100 words. However, as per specific question patterns, the permitted
word limit may change.
What is Note Making in English Grammar?
Note making is a process of creating a record of important details from
source such as passage, paragraph etc. Source can also written
document or oral communication. Note making means to record the
essence of information that are crucial.
Note Making Format
Note making is an art. Be it for article writing, jotting down ideas for an
essay on environment, for story writing, or for competitive exams, you
need to have an outline so as to avoid missing any important detail. Here
is a rough format you can follow to solve note making questions for
exams:
● Heading/Title–
This is the starting section of your note which must convey the central
idea of the passage. Various sub-headings and points hereon elaborate
on this heading. It must be short, clear and crisp.
● Subheadings, Points, and Sub-points– Sub-headings are fundamental
components of passage which further contain important information that
needs to be delineated into points and sub points.
● Abbreviations and Symbols– In order to shorten long words, it is
common and permitted to use abbreviations while note making. However,
make use of abbreviate forms judiciously and remember to provide a key
at the end of your note, listing all the full forms. Common symbols like ‘&,
@,#, %, etc. are also permitted.
3. sub-heading C
Heading or title
z
1. sub-heading A A. point
a. Point
B. sub – sub-heading
b. Point
c. Sub-point heading i. sub-point
i. sub-point
subpoint
ii. . sub-point
iii. . sub-point
2. sub-heading B
a. Point
b. Point
c. Point
d. Sub – sub-heading
i. sub-point
ii. Sub-point
Note Making Examples
After getting
z
familiar with the basic details regarding note making, let us
go through a sample to understand how one can answer such questions
and score well in the exam:
Job of a Lawyer C. Legal doc drafting
1. Major tasks i. motions
A. Intrw clients ii. Briefs
B. Research iii. Pleadings
i. Legal-based iv. Wills
Case-based V. contracts
1. Take deposns
2. Site inspection
3. Interact with parties
z
2. Education required
A. LLB/BALLB/LLM ETC
3. Skills
A. anltycl
B. trstwrthy
C. comm-wrttn & verbal
D. honesty & confdntly
E. crtcl anlys & thinking
Key Word
Intrvw Interview
Deposns Depositions
Doc Document
Edu Education
Anlytcl Analytical
Trstwrthy Trustworthy
Comm Communication
Crtcl Critical
Confdntlty Confidentiality
Anlys Analysis
Thnkng Thinking
Points to Remember for Note Making
Now that you are well aware of the specifics of the note making process,
go through the following tips and tricks, mistakes generally committed
and how to avoid them:
● Use thesis statement:
A thesis statement encapsulates the sense of the whole idea into a
single and brief sentence. It can act as a road map that tells the reader
about what he/she can expect while reading the included points. Write as
many thesis statements as you can while preparing as this will aid you in
getting the hang of writing in a short, succinct and brief manner.
● Revise at least Once: As note making requires you to trim down
information, revising at least once after you have prepared your notes is
vital. You may have missed relevant data pertaining to the passage.
● Use Active Voice: While preparing notes, make use of sentences only
in active voice and do not use passive voice along with ‘had’, ‘have’, etc.
● Do not cross Word Limit: Note making is a play of words and crossing
the word limit may result in the imposition of penalty.
● Be Choosy: Make use of only the most relevant information and do
away with whatever that is already implied
