XAT 2014: The 10 important 'Don'ts' aspirants should know regarding essay writing

Number of top B schools have made the Group Discussion round an important part of final admission round. As the Writing Ability Test and the Essay Writing help the students to score well in !s and "#$ % in this write&up we will deal with the following avoidable errors% which if attended by the students will certainly ensure good score in XAT Exam 2014.

1. Grammar spelling pun!tuation mistakes " These three are the foundation to
your essay writing. Any mista'e in their usage will not only change the meaning of your sentence but also have disastrous effect & loo' at the following sentences (& i) !y wife% who lives in New )or'% has *ust written me a letter. + have one devoted wife who has sent me a letter, ii) !y wife who lives in New )or' has *ust written me a letter. +The one lives in New )or'% what about others,. t is suggested to build strong fundamentals before writing any long piece of say% -..&/.. words. Errors in use of articles% nouns% verbs% modifiers% conditionals ma'e the paragraph clumsy while wrong use of vocabulary words% especially in confusing0similar sounding words li'e imminent in place of eminent% birth instead of berth etc. ma'e your piece of writing a laughing stoc'. 1o be careful about it.

2. #rrele$ant use o% $o!a&ulary" 2ocabulary which is not re3uired must not be

used. t might unnecessarily stretch your message% may reflect wrong impression on the reader who incidentally is your e4aminer. This% instead of elevating your ran'ing may affect otherwise.

'. (epetition o% ideas and senten!es" 5ow would you react if someone goes on
saying or repeating the same idea in different sentences or in similar ones6 A feeling of boredom and lac' of interest would occur. 1imilarly% your reader will also not li'e such repetition. 1o avoid it since it conveys the message that you 'now very less on the given0chosen topic.

4. )riting &eside the point *+ot %o!using the !ru, o% the idea-" This a typical
problem and happens when you have not practiced well. )ou have understood the topic and also have the ideas but don6t 'now how to start with6 7lease do not beat about the bush and give a few seconds to outline the thoughts prevailing in the vast arena of your mind. 8rganise them and then begin to write. 9uestions may have words li'e 6Discuss% Describe% Analyse and :ritically E4amine 6 so ta'e a directional tip 6 all these aspects are to be ta'en care of% while writing your essay.

.. Am&iguity o% thought" All the paragraphs must have distinct and clear ideas. No
confusion in your thought process as depicted in the essay should be present. 8ne paragraph 6one idea& must be the strategy% although all the paragraphs are

supposed to be interlin'ed with continuity of thought.

/. 0oor %ormation o% senten!es and paragraphs" To avoid this% practice more%

emphasise on more and more writing. 1entences must be presentable so that your reader is tempted to go through the entire essay in one go. )ou might remember reading a very interesting novel% story% article etc. the reading of which you didn6t give&up despite the call of nature. Why6 The writer was able to create that much of interest in you% with his0her writing s'ills. 1o ta'e note of that.

1. )ork with all the ideas together &etter to take up ea!h point one &y one" Don6t
mingle your ideas ending up with a poorly written essay. Get a flow of them as a string goes through the pearls. 5owever% you can add humour% give relevant 3uotes with ac'nowledgements to emphasise your idea.

2. 3,plain too mu!h" This is a big problem. 1ometimes we go on e4plaining an

idea% a point etc. to more than desired length. This happens in cases when the reader is not sure of his writing s'ills or ability to e4plain. 1o avoid this practice.

4. 5ake the essay too lengthy or $er&ose. 6e simple" )ou do not need to write fat
vocabulary words% insert irrelevant figures of speech% proverbs. 8n the contrary% simple% well worded and concise sentences will have better effect on your reader. )ou could go for figurative language% use of idioms and use of 3uotations% if you can use them s'ilfully otherwise they may do more harm than good to the evaluation process.

10. 0oor hand writing with !utting and !an!ellations " This is one of the most
important aspects. )ou may be s'illed in writing% you have good vocabulary and 'now how to use figurative% idiomatic language with 3uotations but if the handwriting is poor please note that your reader may not attentively read the essay or may not follow the message which you wish to convey in its true sense. 7ractice more. 7urchase a note boo' of fairly large si;e< write down the essays on it & at least & one a day. $ead it. Try to find out the mista'es li'e & punctuation< grammar< spelling errors in it. =ind out how many cuttings and cancellations are there in one paragraph. Ne4t time when you write & minimise them. Gradually you will be e3uipped with fine writing s'ills with fewer mista'es or no mista'es.

7AT 3,am 2014 aspirant 8 0repare 9ull 7AT"56A 2014 0rep 7oa!hing &y Arun :harma"5indwork;;. 7li!k here to know more <
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