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Quest
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Have you ever wondered what a blurb is? Or what is its the purpose ? Then this is where you begin to learn about it... This is a blurb and it attempts to highlight the salient points of the article.
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The quizzing season...
When the fall begins, and the cold winds begin to blow, there's excitement in the air — for the quiz season is about to begin — especially The Hindu Young World quiz. Quizzing is the quest for knowledge and knowledge is power.
Week after week, every Saturday, the Young World carries a quiz column that is done by the quizmaster V.V. Ramanan himself. Try collecting as many issues of the Young World as you can. Divide the class into eight groups and distribute the papers equally. Cut out the quiz column and paste them on Bristol boards. Now you have them in the form of display cards. Name your groups; let each group choose a highly imaginative name. Make a large mark sheet with the group name and the names of the members. Each group questions the other with straightforward questions and the scoring is done. To make it more creative cut out pictures from The Hindu and ask the opposition to identify it or to give the story behind it. Probably a Monday would be suitable for your own quiz competition. Once you are done with a particular group of cards, make a large bag out of newspaper and store these cards in them and hang the bag in your classroom. Students can refer to them during free periods. You can also pass them on to other classes as well. Let the battle of wits begin. For what could be greater than having the world at your fingertips.
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Heard of the blurb? No! It's not an alien. In fact the dictionary describes it as: " a short description of a book, film or other product written for promotional purposes." Look at any article in The Hindu's feature section: the Sunday Magazine, Young World or the Literary Review. Just below the heading normally you would see a small write up summing up the article. When you read it, you would be stimulated to read further. Now that is the blurb. They are rather like the précis that you do in school
When you go through these blurbs in the different feature sections you would note the different styles that they have been written in. Ask yourself why have they been written and what do they highlight. Attempt to write a review for a favourite book, movie or music cassette. After writing the review, write a blurb for it, remembering to incorporate its salient points and the essence of your article. Blurbs are fun to write and moreover they make you more aware of your creative process.
Rohini Ramakrishnan
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