Saturday, 12 September 2015
Friday, 11 September 2015
Formal Invitations, Notes of Regret and Notes of Acceptance
Invitations, notes of regret and notes of acceptance are part of the short composition section of the higher-order writing skills syllabus for grade twelve, English Core of the CBSE. Invitations may be one of the choices in question four of the Board paper including advertisements, posters, and notices.
Types of Invitations
Invitations can be of two types, namely formal invitations (like the ones that are printed on ornate and well-designed cards) and informal invitations that can be written in the form of informal letters.
What are Invitations?
Invitations are formal or informal communications inviting people to attend various events. Formal invitations are sent out by schools, institutions, organisations for various functions like the School Annual Function or Fete, Inauguration of new building blocks, Computer Lab, Science Lab, New Multimedia Room, New office…etc. Some of the less formal invitations would be sent by individuals inviting friends, relatives, and important people to wedding celebrations, birthday celebrations, celebrations of wedding anniversaries, and even the inauguration of shops. These invitations however can be drafted using a formal format besides being written as an informal letter.
One example of the institutional formal Invitation is given below:
Note: Mind your capitals, since much of what you write is in sentences, apart from headings, avoid using upper case. In such cases, adjectives and prepositions should not be capitalised! The Annual Day Function is in Capitals because it is an event!
One example of a Formal Institutional invitation in the formal format is given below:
One example of the institutional formal family (wedding) Invitation is given below:
 |
| Wedding card type invitation |
One example of an individual inauguration formal card invite is given below:
Letters of Formal Invitation
In some cases, letters of invitation can be sent in the form of formal letters. These include sending an invitation inviting someone to preside as a chief guest. An example is given below:
Green Bells Public School
B-26
Roop Nagar
New Delhi
10th of October, 2022
Mr Mukesh Virmani
B 26
Maharani Bagh
New Delhi
Subject: Invitation to preside as Chief Guest.
Dear Mr Virmani
We would like to invite you to preside over the annual day function of our school which will take place on the 20th of October, 2022. The function will start at 10:00 a.m. and end at 12:00 p.m. It will take place on the school ground.
It will be a great honour to have you as our Chief Guest as your presence will be a source of inspiration for all those who are present.
We will be arranging a pick-and-drop for you. Kindly spare some of your valuable time for us. We look forward to having you with us on the occasion.
With best wishes and regards
Mr A.K. Ganguly
(Principal-Green bells Public School)
What are Notes of Regret and Notes of Acceptance?
When someone is invited with such grace and is not able to attend the function, then decency requires the person to at least send a note of regret.
A note of regret for the first invitation given above can be drafted as under:
Sector 14
Faridabad
7th of January, 2015
The Principal
Golden Lion Public School
Sector 54
Gurugram
A.G.
A note of acceptance for the second invitation may be drafted as under:
B-26
Dear Mrs Kumari Sudesh
Mr. Ankur Garg regrets to state that he will not be able to attend the Annual Day Celebration of the Golden Lion Public school on the 25th of February due to some prior commitments. His best wishes are however with the organisers of the event, and the grand success of the event.
Regards and thanks Mr. Ankur Garg regrets to state that he will not be able to attend the Annual Day Celebration of the Golden Lion Public school on the 25th of February due to some prior commitments. His best wishes are however with the organisers of the event, and the grand success of the event.
A.G.
A note of acceptance for the second invitation may be drafted as under:
Sector 13
Rohini
New Delhi
20th January 2016
20th January 2016
Mrs and Mr S.N.Gupta
H-26
Malkaganj
New Delhi
Dear Mrs and Mr S.N.Gupta
Mrs and Mr. Rakesh Sinha are glad to accept the invitation to attend the wedding of Gauri with Sarthak on the 28th of January, 2016. They will be present on the occasion to give their blessing to the newlywed couple and lend any assistance should the need arise.
With best wishes
Mrs and Mr SinhaWith best wishes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few interesting questions for practice are given below:
1.Draft an invitation for the Annual Sports Day of your school on behalf of the Principal. Supply your own details.
a) Write notes of regret/acceptance for the same.
2.As the Director of Regency Office Equipment and Furniture Suppliers Ltd, B-38, Nehru Place, New Delhi, draft an invitation for the employees and important guests to attend the annual foundation day of the firm.
a) Write notes of regret/acceptance for the same.
3. You are Anil Kumar Singh, and you have just opened a gift shop, (Sweet Memories) at G-23, M-Block, Mukherjee Nagar, New Delhi. The inauguration for the same has been fixed for October 20, 2015, at the shop itself, and you would like the invitees to be present by eleven in the morning. Also, gift items will be sold at highly discounted rates.
a) Write notes of regret/acceptance for the same.
A possible note of regret for the above invitation could be written as under:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-56, A block
Ashok Vihar
Delhi-56
6 July, 2015
Ashok Vihar
Delhi-56
6 July, 2015
Mr. Singh
H.No, 34
Sector 13
Rohini
New Delhi
Dear Mr Singh
Mr. Ashok Kumar regrets to state that he will not be able to attend the inauguration ceremony for the gift shop, Sweet Memories, on the 20th of October 2015 because of some urgent work that has cropped up, however, his best wishes are for the grand success of the gift shop. His blessings and prayers are with Mr Singh and his endeavour.
With best wishes
Mr A.K.
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4. You are Ananya Sharma, on behalf of your sister, Anya Sharma, draft an invitation to invite friends, and relatives to your sister’s 16th birthday celebration on the 20th of July, 2016. Furnish your own details.
a) Write notes of regret/acceptance for the same
5. You are Avdesh Kumar and Meenakshi Gupta, both brother and sister. Frame an invitation to invite friends, and relatives to the silver jubilee wedding anniversary of your parents. Furnish your own details.
a) Write notes of regret/acceptance for the same.
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Important Note:
Formal invitations are written in the third person narrative, although informal invitations might be written as informal letters.
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Monday, 7 September 2015
Words
Words are like building blocks that a structure create!
The right choice of words would a message create
Of images sharp and ideas clear, to remove blunders
That cause an embarrassment so sure!
Of verbs I know that actions describe, and nouns so
Dear that name my friends, adjectives so
Fair that define my friends and prepositions
So pat that make positions so clear!
The linkers I know that connect all I know, verbs and
Nouns and sentences that flow, to remove the clutter and bind
The structure that I make, for all to see! For I would not like
To ramble on, but to Convey message all so clear.
And to cement my words with dancing words,
I use participles and gerunds
And play with past participles because
I would not like to end my action so!
My prepositions I use so fans should hang from ceilings.
While I pour tea into my cup, ideas I place in sentences
That glow, and so I dive into rules that confuse me so,
Thus, Will I walk a mile with you if it pleases you so
Of adjectives I know, that the red ball pleases you so,
For you are a good friend and I like you so!
And if a short lesson in rules would please you,
A lesson crisp I will share with you.
Modals I would give, as advice to help you,
For I dare not leave alone one so innocent like you,
For When in Rome you must obey the elders -
In Greece you ought to visit the Parthenon!
Saturday, 5 September 2015
Three important strands in literature that the CBSE develops through grades eight to twelve in its textbooks
By the time the students of English Core reach grade level twelve, they will have gone through similar strands at different grade levels to build an understanding of specific genres of literature. Here I would like to reiterate the ideal case scenario where students typically take up English elective till the grade ten level and then switch over to the English Core syllabus till grade twelve. In such a case, the curriculum framers have made a judicious collection of short stories, poems and drama pieces. Here I would like to specifically state that I am limiting myself to an analysis of lessons in the textbooks. Thus, if I were to divide the Literature lessons into themes or units, then I would like to trace the following themes or strands or even genres that run through grades eight to twelve as follows: Satire: exposing the foibles or weaknesses of individuals or weaknesses in the society, Transformational Literature, whether it is the transformation of the individual that has been brought about by intrinsic factors or for that effect extrinsic ones, Relationships, filial, familial, Aesthetics, a study of what makes things beautiful, and so on. I will now break up the English course through grades in the form of the following strands:
1. Exposing the foibles of the society through Satire: ( The Collins COBUILD Student’s Dictionary 2006 edition explains satire to be ‘the use of humour to mock or criticize political ideas or the way that people behave.’) Satire as a genre is one of the important strands that the CBSE develops from grade nine English Elective to grade twelve English Core. Take for example the lesson ‘Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger’ that students study in grade nine.
Grade nine (Elective): The short story criticizes the foibles weaknesses and vanity of the upper-class British women’s society during the British Raj. The only reason Mrs Packletide wants to shoot a tiger in India is not that she wants to leave India a safer place, but rather because she wants to put to shame her social rival Loona Bimberton who flew eleven miles in a plane flown by an Algerian Aviator! The short story by Saki makes use of irony, hyperbole, and paradox to poke fun at the vanity, and undercurrents of jealousy that drive the upper-class society of women. The dramatic irony of Mrs Packletide aiming her gun at the old tiger weakened by senile decay which has an echo in The Tiger King, a short story in Grade twelve written by Kalki and the literary irony of Louisa Mebbin naming her cottage Les Fauves all are important elements of a satire that exposes the hollowness of a particular section of the society.
Grade eleven (English Core): Students come across the poem by Vikram Seth in the supplementary reader titled, ‘The King of Melon City”. This is a poem, unlike the two other pieces. Vikram Seth uses satire and irony along with hyperbole and paradox to expose the great blame game that bureaucrats and leaders like to play when things go wrong. First and foremost, the King of Melon City claims to be ‘just and placid’ so when he orders that someone should be hanged for the effrontery done to the state when the Crown was dashed to the ground by the low arch, it is clear that he would have to be hanged since it was he who had ordered changes in the blue-print of the arch. Also, the poem pokes fun at the people of the melon city who are happy to have a melon as their king because they don’t like any interference in their lives. There is an oblique comment about the randomness of the democratic system of electing leaders for responsible posts. This is an important poem that should be taught to students of grade eleven as an important example of satire. Students should be made to understand the importance of satire and how it can be an important vehicle for social and individual transformation!
Grade twelve (English Core): In grade twelve, students get to read ‘The Tiger King’, a short story by Kalki. ‘The Tiger King,’ a satire draws a parallel with Saki’s ‘Mrs Packletide’s Tiger’ because the climax of the story lies in the incident where the Tiger King thinks he has shot his hundredth tiger, but in fact misses his aim. Like in Saki’s ‘Mrs Packeltide’s Tiger’ the tiger in ‘The Tiger King’ is in an advanced stage of ‘senile decay’. Kalki’s short story like the previous works of literature is a comment on the political and bureaucratic system existing in the country. The attitude of the mighty and powerful towards wildlife and nature is questionable, and so is the kind of relationship of hierarchical protocols with subordinates is brought under the scanner. The selfishness of bureaucrats, putting the self before the state, their obsession with all things foreign, their expectation that others will give them gifts like the maharaja expected the shopkeeper to give him the wooden tiger free and not take any money for it are all exposed in this short stories as foibles and weaknesses of the bureaucratic system that is almost as aristocratic as the British Raj. The Tiger King thinks he can go scot-free after killing all those tigers, he thinks he can bully his servants and minions into doing what he wants, he thinks he is above the law, but then although he might dictate terms and conditions of jurisprudence, he is however not beyond Divine Justice! The manner of his death is ironical enough, and it is a message to all those bureaucrats who think that they can get away with their excesses that the sword of Damocles hangs over each one’s neck. The Indian society is full of instances of the rich and powerful trying to destroy wildlife whether it is in the form of shooting blackbucks or killing deer, either way, history has shown how the long arm of the law does finally catch up with such people! The theme of a holistic responsibility of protecting our environment and ecology is developed all the way through grade nine, grade eleven and grade twelve with a culmination in the lesson, ‘The Tiger King.’
2. Using literature as a vehicle for the Transformation of the individual:
Grade Ten (Elective course) ‘The Letter’ by Dhumaketu in grade ten, English literature is an important short story that has the theme of transformation at its core. The postmaster in the lesson is a hard-hearted man, unfeeling and insensitive by nature. He calls Coachman Ali ‘a pest’ and wonders why he keeps visiting the post office for a letter that never comes. Coachman Ali’s persistence and patience with which he visits the post office without fail for five years speak of a father’s love for his daughter, a conviction that she will send him a letter one day. A story so touching and full of pathos, it fills the reader’s heart with sympathy. The transformation that takes place in this lesson is in the postmaster’s attitude. The postmaster who initially thought of letters as mere pieces of paper, now realises that there is a beating heart inside each letter. The postmaster understands how it is to be a father when his own daughter in another town falls ill and he doesn’t get to hear from her for a few days, compare this with the five years of no news in the case of Coachman Ali! The story also describes the transformation that takes place in Coachman Ali himself. He was a shikari with an exceptionally good aim and a sharp eye and he did not have any scruples in killing wild game even if it meant orphaning their offspring. The change in Coachman Ali, however, takes place when his daughter Mirriam marries an army man and leaves her father to settle in a faraway town in Punjab. This separation from his daughter makes Ali realise how the offspring of the wild animals and birds must have felt on being separated from their parents.
Grade eleven (English Core): One lesson that is no longer in the course is the play Titled, ‘Mother’s Day’ by J.B.Priestly highlighted the transformation in the attitude that a husband and their two children undergo when Mrs. Annie Pearson is helped by Mrs Fitzegerald an esoteric neighbour who is adept in switching bodies! The play, a humorous one, depicts the reaction of Mrs Pearson’s family when she tries to stand up for her rights. The play written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family. The play that portrays various issues and problems that are relevant even today delivers a strong message of social reform especially in the way mothers are treated in the family.
Grade twelve (English Core): There are three lessons in grade twelve that have transformation as a very strong central theme and these include the Play, ‘On The Face Of It’ by Susan Hill,’ ‘Deep Water,’ by William Douglas, and ‘The Rattrap’ by Selma Lagerlof, all deal with the transformation of the self. The only difference between the three is that while the transformation in the central characters in ‘On The Face of It,’ and ‘The Rattrap’ are brought about by external agents, the transformation that takes place in the author in ‘Deep Water’ is self induced. Also which ‘On The Face of It’ is a drama, ‘The Rattrap’ is a short story belonging to the allegorical genre written as a fable or a fairy tale. William Douglas's ‘Deep Water,’ however belongs to the autobiographical genre. In the Drama, ‘On The Face Of It’ the central character Derry undergoes a transformation when he comes across Mr Lamb. That one conversation convinces Derry that he can overcome his handicap, pessimism and live a life of joy, only he has to make a choice. In the case of ‘The Rattrap’ the transformation in the peddler is brought about through his interaction with three people, The old Crofter, The Iron Master, and finally, Edla. The moral of the lesson is that there is goodness in all human beings, and this goodness can be brought out through the kindness and generosity of others. The power of unconditional kindness and generosity in transforming human nature has been highlighted here. ‘Deep Water’ is however different from the other two because it highlights the importance of self-motivation in bringing out visible transformation of the self. ‘Deep Water’ is like a self help book that tells you about the processes and means for bringing about your own transformation. A task analysis of ‘Deep Water’ will reveal that what it takes to overcome one’s handicaps include accepting the one has a problem, taking an expert’s help, persistence, determination, and hard work, doing things on your own, and finally pushing your limits!
3.Literature and Aesthetics: (The Collins COBUILD Student’s Dictionary, 2006 edition, states, ‘Aesthetic is used to talk about beauty or art and people’s appreciation of beautiful things.’
Grade eight:The poem ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth is taught in grade eight as an example of Romantic Poetry and to describe Worsdworth’s appreciation for the beauty of nature as seen by him and his sister while taking a stroll in the mountains. The image of the dancing daffodils was to remain in his mind long after the day they saw the flowers, and the author mentions how when he was down at heart he fell back on the memory of the dancing daffodils and how that memory helped bring good cheer to him. Now that is what aesthetics is! While the poem describes the meaning of beauty as something that never dies, it also highlights the beauty of nature.
Grade Twelve (English Core): The Poem, ‘A Thing of Beauty’ by John Keats, like the poem, ‘Daffodils’ as read by students in grade eight highlights the meaning of beauty as something that never fades away, and in fact beauty, real beauty is something whose value grows as time passes. Keats moves ahead of Wordsworth when he adds a list of beautiful things that includes, lambs, trees, musk rose blooms, clear rills of water, and even the stories of bravery and sacrifice of people who laid down their lives for a good cause. Keats, himself a romantic poet goes further to suggest that beauty has a spiritual source since it flows from a fountain in heaven to help us tide over difficult times and bear the brunt of indifferent minds, malicious intentions, and ‘dearth of noble natures’.
I have identified three very deep strands of theme that run through the CBSE English course from grades eight to twelve. This analysis is limited to the textbooks prescribed by the CBSE and prepared by the NCERT. It doesn’t mean that other strands don’t exist, in fact they do, but then I guess I would pick them up some other time!
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