 Welcome dear learners, to the first part of the video on the unit Pressy Writing. I am Chanika Rai from Krishnakanta Handig State Open University. We all have come across Pressy Writing in our school and also in our higher secondary level. In bachelor's degree program also, Pressy Writing holds significance because it not only helps in our reading and writing skills but also it is of great significance in our daily life. It helps us to grasp what we hear and read quickly as well as accurately and reproduce it clearly and precisely. In fact, it is an excellent means of improving the concentration power of an individual. It teaches one to read with both the mind as well as the eye, engaged on the passage in question. Let us now proceed to the understanding of the meaning, importance and techniques of Pressy Writing. So in this video, we shall lay emphasis on the points that are mentioned below. That is, define Pressy Writing, identify the importance of Pressy Writing and develop. The techniques by which a passage or an extract can be shortened without affecting the information. So before moving on to the techniques of the importance of Pressy Writing, it is very necessary for us to acquaint us with the meaning of Pressy. So Pressy is a French word which means a summary of a passage or it can be a summary of an article or a speech or a book. And it is written in an intelligible form and also within an approximately stated number of words. However, it should be noted that the passage, the idea of the passage should be expressed as concisely as possible without losing its meaning. Another point to be noted is that the Pressy contains all the important points in the passage but leaves out the less important details. So here we have to remember that a Pressy is a summary and it should be written in a very precise, concise manner where the original information is retained. And also the Pressy has to be written within an approximately stated number of words, usually one-third of the original passage. And the only the important details should be, should get reflected in the Pressy. So let us now briefly look at the importance of Pressy Writing. Firstly, it is a great aid to study. A student can prepare Pressy of notes, write-ups, articles and so on for his or her future reference. It is also an effective device for recording minutes or proceedings of meetings, preparing reports for further developments and so on. Pressy Writing is also a good exercise in writing a composition. It teaches one to organize, one's thought and express it clearly, succinctly and effectively. So we can see that it is a great aid to study. It is an effective device for recording minutes or proceedings. And next it is also an important, a good exercise in composition. That is, it helps not only reading but also writing skills. So we are to remember that Pressy Writing exercise involves an ability to read a passage silently in unreasonable speed for comprehension of the passage. And it requires us to scheme through the text to locate information of importance. And write a cohesive piece of text by avoiding words and phrases that are superfluous. So to know what the passage is about and to have a fair idea of the exact number of words in the passage, reading is important. As I have already noted that apart from writing, Pressy Writing is a very good exercise in our, in developing our reading skills also. And in fact reading is one of the most important, you can say aspects of Pressy Writing. So let us, since there are, the time that we get in examinations for writing a Pressy is very limited. So we have to know how to develop the faster reading techniques. So here are a few tips for faster reading. For example, do not vocalize or make lip movement. This practice slows down reading and affects comprehension. Do not make it a point to regress, that is, go back along a line of print to read it over a phrase. This is also a sign of poor reading habit. Good readers make very few regressions. And next important thing is that let your eyes pass over the lines with a rapidity, that is with a particular speed. You do not have to stop at a single word and then you move on. Rather you concentrate on the passage as a whole and read it at one go. And however you are, you have to read it not only just for one once, because in order to grasp the meaning of the passage you have to read it twice, maybe more than, okay, thrice. Then some of the points to remember with regard to Pressy Writing are, a Pressy should be precise, coherent and should include all the essential points so that a reader is able to grasp the main thought without any difficulty and without referring to the original passage. So what we should make note of is that a Pressy is precise, coherent and it should, a reader should be able to grasp the main thought by reading the Pressy and also without referring to the original passage. However, a Pressy is different from a paraphrase. So paraphrase is, or paraphrasing is reproducing the entire details of the passage along with the substance. So generally a paraphrase is as long as the passage or it can be, okay, it can exceed the original length of the passage. However, in Pressy the facts should be arranged concisely in a logical manner and must be very short. So learn us, you want to know the difference between paraphrasing and Pressy Writing. Then the next important thing is that the length of the Pressy should be one-third of the length of the original passage. For example, if a passage has 300 words, your Pressy will be in about 100 words. So these are few of the points which you ought to remember. You ought to put them inside your brain while writing a Pressy. Next important thing is that a title is an integral part of Pressy Writing. So there should be a heading, the passage, the Pressy have written, you should have to give a heading to it. And the title or the heading generally reflects the gist of the passage. It should be clear and concise and it should reflect what the Pressy is all about. So this will help the reader understand at a glance by looking at the title itself, the subject of the narrative or the subject of the passage. So there is no scope for the writer to give individual opinion on the original passage. Hence it is important to avoid comments, criticism or remarks in a Pressy. A Pressy is usually written in the indirect speech as a rule and we ought to avoid exclamations or interrogations. It is also necessary to use the pronouns like he or she very carefully. We have to remember that Pressy needs to be in simple, correct, grammatical English without the use of difficult words and sentences. So as I have been repeatedly saying that Pressy should be precise, concise, it should be grammatically correct and it should not, you should not use very bombastic words while writing a Pressy. Rather you ought to use simple and correct words while writing the Pressy. For example, let us look at the following sentences. John behaved in a manner which made him liable to persecution. So this is such a long sentence. So how can we compress it? We can just write it in three words as shown in the example. John behaved illegally. Next example is Jack fell to the river and before anyone could help him, he sank to its depths. So here we can simplify the sentence by writing it as Jack drowned in the river. So these are only a few examples or you can suggest two examples that I have reflected here in the slide and there will be numerous certain lines when you read a passage. So you have always to remember that you have to compress the sentences so that it is shortened so as I have already stated a while ago that Pressy also involves using condensed expressions. That is you have to compress the expressions. You don't have to write very long sentences but you have to write without changing the meaning or without changing the information you have to shorten the sentence and in this case we can get help from one by getting ourselves acquainted with the one word expressions. For example in the sentence as shown here, this is a life story of Nehru written by himself. So the contents form will be in this is Nehru's autobiography. So life story written by one person is called autobiography and hence this kind of expressions can help us to condense our the Pressy. A person who does not believe in God, a taste, signs of the behavior of heavenly bodies, astronomy. Okay there are just few of the examples that I have just put here to make you aware that we have to know about the one word expressions, how it can help us in Pressy writing because the important thing in Pressy writing is that we have to shorten the passage we have to make it at least one third of the original passage. So with economy of words we have to retain the meaning of the passage also. So single word expressions can be of great use while writing a Pressy. So in this short video what we have reflected upon is that we have reflected upon the meaning of Pressy, we have reflected upon the techniques we have reflected upon the importance of Pressy writing. A Pressy is a summary and Pressy writing is the process of summarizing. By summary we mean the gist or the main theme of the passage expressed in as few words as possible. So we are also aware by now that Pressy writing is different from paraphrasing. A paraphrase reproduces the entire details of the passage along with the substance. Pressy writing is a very good exercise in reading. Pressy writing is also a good exercise in writing a composition. It teaches one to organize one's thoughts and express it clearly, succinctly and effectively. It is a great aid to study. You have also learned the skill of faster reading and that too with comprehension. And lastly we have to remember that the length of the Pressy must be one third of the passage. So by now I am sure you have got a certain idea into the main aspects of Pressy writing. I hope this video will enable you to understand the meaning of Pressy writing and also to know about the techniques of Pressy writing. Thank you.