Note- Making

Source-
https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/1401/academic_skills/85/note
_making
• Note making is not just about writing down everything you hear or read. It is
a process of reviewing, connecting and synthesising ideas from your lectures
or reading.
 Making notes helps you to:
• stay active and engaged during your lectures, reading and revision
• understand what you are learning and clarify your thinking
• be selective and identify key ideas
• remember the material
• organise your ideas and make connections
• plan and structure written assignments
• review and revise before exams.
 What your notes should contain
• All good notes should contain:

• source information (title, author, date etc)

• headings to help you identify the key topics
• key points, examples, names, new ideas
• triggers to make your notes more memorable – such as mnemonics, colour or
drawings
• further reading and ideas to follow up later.
• Set up a system to record complete bibliographic details, including:

• name of the author, editor, lecturer or organisation

• date of lecture, publication, or access (for websites)
• title of lecture or source
• page numbers where applicable
• other bibliographic details you might need for a reference.
 Three stages of note making
• Before: Prepare by finding out what you need to know and what the purpose
of the reading or lecture is.
• During: Note down main ideas and keywords. Find techniques that work for
you.
• After: Reflect and review and then organise your notes.
NOTE MAKING AND NOTE-TAKING
Source- https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/reading/notemaking
Effective note-making is an important practice to master at university. You have a lot of new
knowledge and you need to develop reliable mechanisms for recording and retrieving it when
necessary. But note-making is also a learning process in itself, helping you to process and
understand the information you receive.
Good note-making...
 enables you to avoid unintentional plagiarism
 helps you to focus on what is important in what you are reading or hearing
 helps you to understand and remember material, and make connections
 helps you to structure the assignments you're researching
 provides a personal record of what you've learnt (more useful than your lecturer's or
friends' notes) and records your questions and ideas
 sets you up for exam revision
There can be problems...
 note-making can distract you from listening to lectures
 note-making can put additional stress on those who do not write naturally
 you can end up with so many notes that you have to spend twice the amount of time
going through them again to find out the important points!
Developing more effective note-making practices will help you to avoid these problems, and
make your studying less stressful and time-consuming.

Making note-making more effective

The two key principles are [1] to be meticulous and accurate, and [2] to be active rather than
passive.
Being meticulous and accurate about recording sources and direct quotations is an
important part of academic discipline, as well as helping to avoid accidental plagiarism. This
means:
- always recording the necessary details for any source you use as soon as you start taking
notes. Don't wait till you've finished reading - you may forget, or misplace the text.
- having a clear system so that you know which of your notes are [1] paraphrases of someone
else's ideas [2] direct quotes [3] your own ideas.
Two things to watch out for...
...if you photocopy an article or chapter, make sure you include the page numbers as you will
need them for referencing - write them in if they fall off the edge of the photocopy (at least
the first page so you can count forward)
...if you are making notes from a website, keep a note of the URL (website address) and the
date that you accessed it - you will need these for referencing

The most effective note-taking is active not passive. Active learning helps you to make
meaning from what you learn: passive learning is allowing yourself to be an empty vessel
into which knowledge is poured with no way of organising or making meaning from it. You
are less likely to remember things you learn passively, which means more checking your
notes while you're writing assignments, and more repeated effort when you come to revise.
Passive note-taking includes:
 underlining words
 cutting and pasting from online documents
 trying to write everything you hear in a lecture
 copying slides from the screen
 copying lots of direct quotes rather than putting the ideas in your own words
 writing notes on everything you read, because you're not sure what will turn out to be
important
 not evaluating or criticising the sources you use, but just accepting them as suitable
evidence
Active note-taking means:
 thinking about what you want to get out of your research before you start
 looking for answers to any questions you may have about the topic
 looking for connections within the topic you're studying, and to other topics on your
course
 writing notes mostly in your own words - your own explanation of what something
says or means
 recording direct quotes only when it's important to have the exact words that someone
else has used (i.e. when how they say something is as significant as what they say)
Making your notes user-friendly
You'll know how good your notes are when you try to use them! Here are some suggestions
to make your notes easier to read, easier to understand and easier to find when you need
them.
 Make your notes brief and be selective
  Keep them well-spaced so you can see individual points and add more details later if
necessary
 Show the relationships between the main points (link with a line along which you
write how they relate to each other, for instance)
 Use your own words to summarise - imagine someone has asked you "so what did x
say about this?" and write down your reply
 Illustrations, examples and diagrams can help to put ideas in a practical context
 Make them memorable using: colour, pattern, highlighting and underlining
 Read through to make sure they're clear - will you still understand them when you
come to revise?
 File with care! - use a logical system so you can find them when you need them, but
keep it simple or you won't use it.
Using linear notes and spidergrams
These two forms of note-taking are useful for different things.
Linear notes
Linear notes are what most people are used to doing. They are written down a page with
headings and subheadings. They should have plenty of room for detail.
Here are some suggestions for making linear notes more useful.
 Use loads of HEADINGS for main ideas and concepts
 Use subheadings for points within those ideas
 Stick to one point per line
 Underline key words
 You can use numbering to keep yourself organised
 Use abbreviations - and don't worry about using full sentences
 Leave plenty of SPACE - for adding detail and for easy reading
Spidergrams
Spider diagrams are on one page and are good for showing structure and organising your
ideas. They are sometimes called mindmaps, which indicates how they are good for making
connections clear and visual.
Though some people don't like this style of note-taking, there are a number of advantages to
using spidergrams:
 hey keep your notes on one page - so you're less likely to ramble
 They show the main points at a glance
 They keep points grouped together - good for essay structure
 They clearly show where there are gaps which need more research
To make a spidergram:
 Use whole side of paper - A4 at least!
 Put the subject in the centre
 Use one branch per main point - radiating outwards
 Don't start by making your points too big - you will need more space than you think
 You can add how the points are connected on the joining spokes
 Make it large enough - enough space to add detail
 Add smaller branches for detail & examples
 Summarise just enough to remind you of point - details and definitions can be added
as footnotes
 Label with the source
Taking notes in lectures

Trying to listen, think, read from slides, and write notes at the same time is not just difficult -
it's plain impossible! So cut down the amount of notes you take in lectures and do more
listening:
don't copy slides if they're going to be available on Blackboard or in a handout
- skim read any handouts so you know if they include things like dates and formulae
- you may find it more useful to write notes on the handout rather than having handout +
notes to file
- if you find it especially difficult to write notes and listen at the same time (for instance, if
you are dyslexic), consider using a mini-recorder so you can listen at your own pace after the
lecture
What you do before and after lectures can be as important as what you do during them. If you
can anticipate the main points, you will find the lecture easier to understand, and you
will have a better idea of when something is worth taking a note of. So:
Before the lecture...
 Think about the title and outline description of the lecture and how this connects to
the rest of the module
 Think about what you know about the topic already, and what you expect or hope to
learn from the lecture
 If it's a completely new topic, try to get a basic idea of what it's about beforehand -
read an introductory paragraph from a textbook or encyclopaedia, for instance.
During the lecture...
 Listen for clues to the shape or structure of the lecture to help you to organise your
notes, for instance: "Today we shall be looking at…" "I am going to discuss three
main aspects…" "Now I want to move on to…" "I do want to emphasise…" "To sum
up…"
 Identify key words - for instance, notice when words or phrases are being repeated.
Underline or circle in your notes any words that seem to be really significant. Are
there particular words that seem to sum up the overall message? (For instance,
'oppression' or 'conflict' or 'solution'.)
 Be an active listener - not a sponge - try to connect what is being said to what you
already know (this is where the preparation bit comes in handy!). Ask yourself, do I
agree? How does it fit in with what I already knew? Am I surprised ? If not, why not?
How did she get to that conclusion?
After the lecture...
 Put some time aside soon after the lecture to sit somewhere quiet and consider what
you have just learnt. Summarise and write what you think were the main points in a
few sentences. Add anything you need or want to find out more about, and any
questions it raised in your mind.
 Follow up anything that you think really important - research the answers yourself,
discuss it with a friend, make a list of questions to raise if you have a seminar on the
topic, ask your lecturer if you're really confused and can't find the answers elsewhere.
 Then file your notes away carefully so you can find them when you need them for
assignments or revision.
 Active and Passive Voices

The Active Voice The Passive Voice

Most countries in Latin America speak Spanish. Spanish is spoken in most countries in latin America.

Use of the passive voice:

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however,
who or what is performing the action.

Example: "A letter was written."

Form: Subject + the appropriate form of to be + Past Participle

Examples of the passive voice:

Tense Subject Verb Object

Active: Nancy Makes tea.

Simple Present
Passive: Tea is made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy is making tea.

Present
Progressive
Passive: Tea is being made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy Made tea.

Simple Past
Passive: Tea was made by Nancy.

Past Progressive Active: Nancy was making tea.

 Passive: Tea was being made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy has made Tea.

Present Perfect
Passive: Tea has been made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy had made tea.

Past Perfect
Passive: Tea had been made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy will make tea.

Future simple
Passive: Tea will be made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy will have made tea.

Future perfect
Passive: Tea will have been made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy would make tea.

Conditional
Passive: Tea would be made by Nancy.

Active: Nancy can make tea.

Modals
Passive: Tea can be made by Nancy.

Rewrite the following sentences changing the verbs into passive voice.

1. He sings a song.

A song is sung by him

1. The boy killed the spider.

The spider was killed by the boy.

 2. Help him.

Let him be helped.

3. Farmers sow maize in the rainy season.

Maize is sown in the rainy season

4. Are you writing a letter?

Is a letter being written by you?

5. The workers were digging a canal.

A canal was being dug by the workers.

Exercise:

1. The Principal welcomed the chief guest.

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2. Our college celebrated the diamond jubilee this year.
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3. The University announced the First Semester results.
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4. The college issued the mark cards to the students.
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5. I had never see such a mountain.
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6. Our team faced the opponents bravely.
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7. Sri Ramakrishna taught Narendra spirituality.
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8. The girl sang the song.
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9. Anil repairs televisions.
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10. He took out a book from the shelf.

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11. The students have answered all the questions.

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12. The lawyer took keen interest in his friend’s case.

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13. The magician amused and entertained the spectators.

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14. They cancelled all flights because of fog.

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15. People don’t use this road very often.

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16. Somebody cleans the room every day.

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17. Somebody accused me of stealing money.

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18. How do people learn languages?

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19. People advised us not to go out alone.

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20. They didn’t give me the money.

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 Note Taking/ Making
Make notes on the following passage by choosing either linear or a diagrammatic
format:
1 Soil is the loose top layer of earth’s surface. Plants depend on soil. It holds them up. It
provides them with food and water. Soil is made up of particles. These very small pieces
mostly come from rocks broken down by weathering. Other soil particles come from
rotting remains of plants and animals. The part of soil that comes from living things is
called organic matter.
Soil develops in layers. The top layer called top soil consists of humus. The next layer is
called subsoil, which contains more rock particles than topsoil, and less humus. The third
layer is called bed rock, which has many pieces of rock. There are many types of soil.
Clay is a type of soil with very small particles that can hold a lot of water. Sand has
much larger particles than clay. It feels rough.
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 2. Flowering plants are of various types. Herbaceous flowering plants grow, set seed and
die within one year; Perennials on the other hand, can live and grow for many years once
they have been planted.
Plants that flourish and flower during the rainy season are mostly herbaceous annuals
such as the Aster, Zinnia and Sweet pea. Of the herbaceous perennials the most common
are members of the Daisy family. The beautifully scented Rose and Jasmine are both
Woody and Semi- Woody perennials.
There are two other types of plants; bulbous plants and aquatic plants. The former grow
from bulbs and tubers planted in the ground; examples of this type are Gladiolus and
Tulip. The latter, as their name suggests, grow in water, the most exquisite example being
the Lotus or Water Lily. Both bulbous and aquatic plants are usually perennials.
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 3. COFFEE AND ITS PROCESSING
The coffee plant, an evergreen shrub or small tree of African origin, begins to produce
fruit 3 or 4 years after being planted. The fruit is hand- gathered when it is fully ripe and
a reddish purple in colour. The ripened fruits of the coffee shrubs are processed where
they are produced to separate the coffee seeds from their covering and from the pulp.
Two different techniques are in use: a wet process and a dry process.
The wet process First the fresh fruit is pulped by a pulping machine. Some pulp still
clings to the coffee, however and this residue is removed by fermentation in tanks. The
few remaining traces of pulp are then removed by washing. The coffee seeds are then
dried to a moisture content of about 12 percent either by exposure to the sun or by hot-air
driers. If dried in the sun, they must be turned by hand several times a day for even
drying.
The dry process: in the dry process the fruits are immediately placed to dry either in the
sun or in hot-air driers. Considerably more time and equipment is needed for drying than
in the wet process. When the fruits have been dried to a water content of about 12 percent
the seeds are mechanically freed from their coverings.
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Practice Exercises:

1. The Sundarbans contain the world’s largest mangrove forests and one of the most biologically
productive of all natural ecosystems. Located at the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmaputra
Rivers between India and Bangladesh, its forest and waterways support a wide range of fauna
including a number of species threatened with extinction. The mangrove habitat supports the
single largest population of tigers in the world which have adapted to an almost amphibious life,
being capable of swimming for long distances and feeding on fish, crab and water monitor
lizards. They are also renowned for being “man-eaters”, most probably due to their relatively
high frequency of encounters with local people. The Sundarbans is the only mangrove forest in
the world to be inhabited by the tiger. In addition to tigers Sundarbans also supports a number of
other threatened aquatic mammals such as the Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins. The site
also contains an exceptional number of threatened reptiles including the king cobra and
significant populations of the endemic river terrapin which was once believed to be extinct. The
property provides nesting grounds for marine turtles including the olive riley, green and
hawksbill. Two of the four species of highly primitive horseshoe crab. It is also of high
importance for migratory birds.
The islands are also of great economic importance as a storm barrier, shore stabilizer, nutrient
and sediment trap, a source of timber and natural resources, and support a wide variety of
aquatic, benthicand terrestrial organisms. They are an excellent example of the ecological
processes of monsoon rain flooding, delta formation, tidal influence and plant colonization.
2. The mango, cultivated in India since time immemorial, is regarded as the national fruit of the
country. Described as the “Food of the Gods” in the sacred Vedas, it is grown in almost all parts
of the country, except the hilly areas. More than hundred varieties of mangoes are grown in
India, in a range of colours, sizes and shapes. Mangoes find a mention in the Indian history as
well. The famous poet Kalidasa is known to have sung its praise. The ancient Greek King,
Alexander the Great and Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang have been said to have savoured its taste.
Historical records also mention that the Mughal Emperor, Akbar planted 1,00,000 mango trees in
Darbhanga (in Bihar), known as Lakhibagh. Mangoes are rich in Vitamin A, C and D.
Mangoes are available in different sizes, ranging from 10 to 25 cm in length and 7 to 12 cm in
width. In terms of weight, a single mango can be as heavy as 2.5kg. The fruit comes in a wide
variety of colours, such as green, yellow, red and even various combinations of all these colours.
The fruit has a flat, oblong seed in the centre, which is covered by the sweet pulp. Covering the
pulp is a thin layer of skin, which is peeled off before eating the fruit. When ripe, the unpeeled
fruit gives off a distinct, sweet smell.
3. India is known for herbal medicine for ages. Plants and shrubs with their leaves, stalks,
flowers, seeds and roots are used as medicine. These plants and shrubs are both poisonous if
taken in large quantity but if taken in small quantity they are medicines.
Foxgloves are poisonous if eaten, but the drug digitals are extracted from the plants, and this is
used to treat people with heart diseases. The Deadly Nightshade gives belladonna which is used
as a sedative and NUX vomica tree supplies strychnine, which can increase appetite. However,
both of these medicines must be taken in small doses; they are poisonous if that dose is
exceeded. The Chinese were using opium, from poppies and the South American Indians
chewing coca leaves as painkillers later appeared the drugs called heroin and cocaine. Now same
are distilled from the plants and used for strengths, they have become addictive drugs, quinine
which helps to bring down fever. Quinine is extracted from that bark of the cinchona tree, which
grows in South America. Camphor, castor beans and cloves all give oils with medicinal uses.
And these are only a few of the many plants used to ease illness. Another fungus must be
included here, the penicillium fungus, which gives penicillin, an invaluable antibiotic. Any
medicine taken in small quantity is helpful but the same taken in large can be dangerous and
cause death.
 Punctuation

Punctuation marks are symbols which organize the structure of written language, and indicate intonation
and pauses to be observed when reading aloud. Punctuation marks are also used to avoid ambiguity. For
example, "woman, without her man, is nothing" has a different meaning from "woman: without her, man
is nothing"

End punctuation marks

1. Full stop, or period (.): Used a full stop at the end of a sentence:

She stood up and went away. She was furious.

Used for abbreviations: Co. (Company)

M.P. (Member of Parliament)

2. Question marks (?): Question marks are used at the end of direct questions:

Where do you live?

Are you crazy?

3. Exclamation marks (!): Used to indicate strong emotions:

She's so beautiful!

4. Commas (,): Commas are used between items in a series or list. The last two items of the series
usually do not need a comma between them. They are separated by "and".

I like spaghetti, fish, pizza and couscous.

Commas are also used between adjectives or adverbs: I'd like to have a big, black, German car.

She speaks slowly, quietly and eloquently.

After the street address and city in an address: 34 Hassan II Street, Rabat, Morocco.

Before or after direct speech: He said, “I hate being treated like that."
Before a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so): He woke up late, so he had to drive
to work.

5. Semicolons (;) Semicolons are used instead of a full stop or period to separate independent
sentences:

They woke up early; then they went jogging.

Use a semicolon to separate items in a series when those items contain punctuation such as a comma:

They visited the Eiffel Tower, Paris; Big Ben, London; and the statue of liberty, New York

6. Colons (:)

Use a colon to introduce a list: He visited three cities last summer holiday: Madrid, Roma and Athens.

To introduce an idea or an explanation: He had one idea in mind: to see her as soon as possible.

To introduce direct speech or a quotation: The secretary whispered in his ear: "Your wife is on the
phone. "

7. Dashes (--)

To introduce parenthetical information: I put on a blue jacket --the one my mother bought me-- and
blue jeans.

To show an afterthought: I explained to him my point of view-- at least I tried!

8. Apostrophes (')

Use an apostrophe to indicate a missing letter or letters in a contraction: I'm fed up with his stories

Use an apostrophe plus the letter "s" to show possession: My brother's girlfriend is such a sweet girl.

9. Quotation marks ("")

Quotation marks are used to quote speech, sentences or words: She said, "I love you."

10. Capitalization - rules

Capitalization is the writing of a word with the first letter as upper-case letter (A,B, C, D,...) and the rest
of the word as lower-case letters (a,b,c,d,...)
Capitalize the first word in a sentence: They arrived late. They had dinner and went to sleep.

The first word in a quote: He said, "You are fantastic."

Capitalize ‘I’: I'm very sorry for being late. I missed the bus.

Capitalize proper nouns: George was furious when he heard the bad news from Alice.

Capitalize names of rivers, mountains: The Nile River is in Egypt.

The highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest.
D. H. Lawrence is a wonderful novelist.

Days of the week, months of the year, holidays are capitalized: We went to Paris on Monday and
came back on Saturday.
The Independence Day is in July not January.

Capitalize countries, cities, languages, nationalities: He lives in London, but he's not English. He's
Nigerian.
He speaks English, Chinese and Japanese.

The first word in each line of a poem:

"Who will believe my verse in time to come,

If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?

Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb

Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts."

-Shakespeare.

Rewrite the following with appropriate punctuation marks whenever necessary:

1. however Industrial land is not available in Mysuru anymore and hence investors can
opt for nanjangud as a viable option said Mr. Jain
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2. the students want to know why the teacher has not come?
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3. you need three documents; your passport, your driving licence. and a bank statement.
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4. the programme was so boring: people just got up and left.

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5. we bought a box of chocolates a packet of biscuits and some bread.

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6. her 5 year old son arun lives in bangalore and speaks spanishfluently
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7. many people play the flute said Raymond

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8. oh it was a scintillating game of tennis.

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9. why havent you got the receipt after paying the fees it is very strange
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10. My government if committed to provide clean and efficient administration said
narendramodi
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10. while I was at his house john asked me if I wanted anything to eat
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11. beforedrfaustus appeared two angels a good angel and a bad angel was mephistophilis
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12. since our coming to karachi to spend some time with our son sikandar the necessity of
communicating with each other has vanished
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13. some are born great some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon
them
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14. hello he said when did you get here

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