As per the new syllabus of the CBSE Board, we are sharing Discursive Writing For class 12th to help the board students with their writing skills and attempt several questions in the 12th board examinations. Discursive Writing for class 12th is a very important topic from the point of view of 12th board examinations to help the students with the writing skills of 12th board.
Discursive Writing Class 12th English: Introduction
Discursive writing expresses opinions. It can be argumentative, i.e. may give reasons,
explanations, or explore cause and effect relationships. Passages of this kind are
analytical. Sometimes the author presents his views with excellent depth of reasoning or
force of argument to convince the reader of his point of view. Such
texts have great persuasive power.
(a) Argumentative
1. Read the passage given below.
1. Although land, sea, and air pollution has been well documented, the latest and least recognized version is the swelling tide of noise engulfing urban and rural areas. This has long-term implications for the ecology, health, and productivity of a fast developing country like India.
2. Unlike other pollutants, noise lacks visibility, seldom registering on the
consciousness, except as a trifling irritant to be dismissed at will and therefore less
likely to be perceived as a threat. Available data indicate that noise does pose a threat
to health and is known to have caused several complications. Declining
productivity among workers in specific industries has been directly correlated with noise
levels, particularly those under constant exposure to the menace.
3. The first-ever survey of the impact of noise on health, conducted by All India Institute
of Medical Sciences has established that noise not only impairs the physical and
psychological functioning of the human organism but also causes nausea, vomiting,
pain, hypertension, and a lot of other complications, including cardiovascular
complaints.
4. A study by Chennai’s Post Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences confirms
such conclusions. In 50 percent of industries, it was found that workmen exposed to higher intensities of noise in occupational capacities were often irritated, short-
tempered, impatient, and more likely to resort to agitation and disrupt production. This was true of units in heavy industrial pockets in and around the four metropolitan
centers.
5. Recreational noise, another ugly facet, is becoming more widespread in cities and
towns. Loudspeakers are turned at total volume during marriages, festivals, jaguars, and musical programs, particularly at night, without the slightest consideration for others. Even at 50 dB, sound can awaken a person from a deep slumber. As experiments have shown, loudspeakers with output from 60 to 80 dB cause the pupils of a slumbering person to dilate, increasing oxygen intake and resulting in palpitation. The effect is more
pronounced in narrow lanes. TV sets are played at total volume at prime time, invariably
disturbing neighbors. Noise making seems to have become the latest status symbol,
be it an election campaign, slogan shouting, or advertising ownership of a TV set.
1.1 Based on your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by
choosing the best of the given choices.
Question (a)
What is the difference between noise and other pollutants?
(i) Noise is not resented.
(ii) Noise is regarded as a minor irritant and dismissed.
(iii) People are not aware of noise as a pollutant.
(iv) Noise can be found in rural and urban areas.
Answer:
(ii) Noise is regarded as a minor irritant and dismissed.
Question (b)
What are the diseases connected with the impact of noise?
(i) hypertension and cardiovascular problems.
(ii) nausea, vomiting, pain.
(iii) impaired physical and psychological functioning.
(iv) all of the above.
Answer:
(iv) all of the above.
Question (c)
Recreational noise is created during
(i) public speeches.
(ii) revelries and excursions.
(iii) sports events.
(iv) weddings, festivals, and jagrans at night.
Answer:
(iv) weddings, festivals, and jagrans at night.
Question (d)
In what way can create noise be considered a status symbol?
(i) by playing loud music.
(ii) by showing off one’s TV with a loud sound.
(iii) by making speeches.
(iv) by talking loudly.
Answer:
(ii) by showing off one’s TV with a loud sound.
Question (e)
Invariably paragraph 5 means
(i) often.
(ii) sometimes.
(iii) almost constantly.
(iv) rarely.
Answer:
(iii) almost constantly.
Question (f)
Engulfing in paragraph 1 means
(i) completely drown.
(ii) surrounded.
(iii) covered.
(iv) divided by a gulf.
Answer:
(ii) surrounded.
1.2 Answer the following.
(a) The swelling tide of noise pollution has long-term implications on the health
and productivity of a fast developing country like India.
(b) Noise not only impairs the physical and functioning of the human organism but also
causes nausea, hypertension, and other complications.
(c) Loudspeakers with output from 60 to 80 dB causes the pupils to dilate, increasing oxygen intake, resulting in palpitation. [True/False]
(d) TV sets played at total volume at prime time invariably entertain neighbors.
[True/False]
Answer:
(a) ecology
(b) psychological
(c) True
(d) False
1.3 (a) Find a word that means the same as ‘recorded’ (para 1).
(b) Find a word that means the same as ‘high blood pressure (para 3).
Answer:
(a) documented
(b) hypertension
2. Read the passage given below.
1. The Hangul deer or the Kashmiri stag is a species of red deer. The Hangul is one of
the most famous animals in Jammu and Kashmir. It inhabits the dense forests of the
state. Striking in appearance, the Hangul derives its name from ‘han’, which is the local
name for the horse chestnut tree, the fruit on which the deer feed on.
2. Scientifically known as Cervuselaphus hangul, Hangul is the only surviving race of the
red deer family of Europe in the sub-continent. The Hangul deer’s coat is brown with
slight speckles, and each of its antlers consists of five points.
3. Much at home in the forest, the deer can be seen in the lower valleys of Dachigam
National Park on the foothills of the Zabarwan range on the outskirts of Srinagar for
most of the year, though a more significant number of their species, can be seen from October to March. Typically found in small groups of two to eighteen, Hanguls use the
forests of the Dachigam Valley as an essential feeding ground and move to the higher
slopes to graze. Individual stags are more likely to be seen feeding on the hill slopes.
They move about quite a lot from one area to another in their search for good forage.
Hangul eat various plants such as Fraximushockeri, Jasminum humile,
Hemerocallisfulva and perennial herbs, depending on the season.
4. In March and April, the stags shed their antlers and begin moving up the mountains to
the alpine meadows and pine forests of Upper Dachigam between 2500 to 3500 meters.
They return to the lower valley in September, by when a new set of antlers begin to
grow. The natural predators that attack Hanguls are leopards and Himalayan black
bears.
5. In the past, Jammu and Kashmir had a large and vibrant population of Hangul deer.
However, hunting and loss of habitat from deforestation and the building of dams have
significantly curbed the wild population of Hangul deer. During the 1940s, their number
was believed to be around 3,000 – 5,000. As per the latest census in 2008, only 160 are
left. A captive breeding center is planned to be commissioned at Shikargah, Tral in south Kashmir, for the captive breeding of Hangul, which will be eventually released in
the wild.
6. In the last few years, the government has spent crores of rupees on different projects
related to the conservation of Hangul in Jammu and Kashmir. A Habitat Research Study
has been initiated in Kashmir in which satellite collaring of Hangul will be used to understand their movement patterns and habitat, both in and outside the Dachigam National Park. In addition, a massive improvement in conducting the census
program of Hangul has been undertaken whereby satellite telemetry and high-definition field cameras are placed in the Park. Besides, an important research program has been launched to study the relic population of Hangul outside Dachigam National Park in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India.
7. The strict enforcement of wildlife acts and the setting up of new initiatives are
anticipated to replenish this highly endangered species.
2.1 Answer these questions briefly.
(i) What is the other name for the Hangul deer?
(ii) What makes the Hangul deer stand out from others of its species?
(iii) Why is the deer named so?
(iv) How is the deer’s habitat conducive to its existence?
(v) How does nature help prevent these stags from being preyed upon?
(vi) What are the factors which prevent the population of this species from growing?
Answer:
(i) Another name for the Hangul deer is the Kashmiri stag.
(ii) The Hangul deer stands out from others of its species in that it is the only surviving
race of the red deer family of Europe in the Indian subcontinent.
(iii) The Hangul derives its name from the word ‘han’, which is the local name for the
horse chestnut tree, the fruit of which the deer feed on.
(iv) The forests of the Dachigam valley are a vital feeding ground for the Hangul,
while the higher hill slopes provide grazing fields for them. Various plants, such as the
Fraximushockeri, Jasminum humile, Hemerocallisfulva, and perennial herbs that the
deer feed on grow in abundance in the forest, thus creating a suitable habitat for the
Hangul.
(v) The natural migration pattern of the Hangul deer is such that they move up the
mountains to the alpine meadows and pine forests of the Upper Dachigam around the
same time as when they shed their antlers. They only return to the lower valley when a
new set of antlers begin to grow. This prevents the Hangul deer from being preyed on
by leopards and Himalayan black bears as it keeps them out of reach of these predators
when they are defenseless without their antlers.
(vi) Hunting and loss of habitat from deforestation prevent the population of the Hangul
deer from growing.
2.2 Choose the correct option.
(i) …………………………. is the scientific name of the Hangul deer.
a. Jasminum humile
b. Hemerocallisfulva
c. Cervuselaphus hanglu
d. Fraximushockeri
Answer:
c
(ii) The word …………………………., in paragraph 5, means the opposite of ‘free’.
a. captive
b. vibrant
c. curbed
d. deforestation
Answer:
a
(iii) The word “collaboration”, in paragraph 6, means ………………………….
a. calibration
b. partnership
c. initiated
d. none of the above
Answer:
b
(iv) Each of the Hangul deer’s antlers consists of …………………………. points.
a. three
b. four
c. five
d. two
Answer:
c
(v) The antonym for “dense” is:
a. heavily populated
b. sparse
c. abundant
d. inhibit
Answer:
b
(vi) The antonym for “conservation” is:
a. destruction
b. rehabilitation
c. civilization
d. creation
Answer:
a
3. Read the passage given below.
1. In the recent past, there has been thought given to the several problems the
school education system faces. Starting with a focus on the Delhi region, one of the
first discussion points has been to find ways to bring the lakhs of children who have so
far been denied education into a workable school system. A further aspect of the same
problem is to ensure a minimum dropout rate in school children (particularly girls). In
Delhi, this has reached alarming proportions. Finding solutions for Delhi will help other
areas as well.
2. A tool called ‘learning style inventory’ was used; it addressed to know how
information of skills are learned, which factor makes an individual comfortable with
learning skills or acquiring declarative knowledge. Different answers emerged. In
dealing with factual knowledge, some people like to experience first, others to observe,
yet others to experiment and still some who preferred to plunge into learning, leaving
analysis for later.
3. It then became easy to discover which of the attributes made for better learning for
an individual. The learning situation will benefit by understanding these differences.
Two significant processes cover most people’s learning styles. These are as follows:
Information gathering process and process of transforming information. The
continuance of information gathering is bound by people who gather information
through experiences at one end and by those who gather information through
reading/listening on the other. The continuance of transformation of information is
bound by people who internalize through watching/observing, on the one hand, and by
those who learn while applying knowledge and doing something with it, on the other.
Others fall somewhere in between. All this has a bearing at school because children
have similar learning styles on these two axes.
4. There are four types of learners. Firstly, some children will absorb facts
through experiences. They will readily share their thoughts with others. The second type
of learner will take unrelated facts and try to seek order in them in using independent
judgment. They will prefer to be exact in their knowledge and correctly apply as per
their understanding. The next type of learner is the pragmatist. They use their abilities to
problems solving. Such a person – is a valuable type to function in a group. The fourth type of learner belongs to the world of action. Everything is brought down to the level of
concrete observation and doing.
5. With some awareness of how children react in different ways, teachers may find
effective
methods of teaching.
3.1 based on your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by
choosing the best of the given choices.
Question (a)
Mention two significant problems that the system of school education is facing.
(i) Enrolling children in school, promoting girls’ education.
(ii) Preventing dropping out, providing textbooks.
(iii) Enrolling children, preventing dropping out.
(iv) Providing school buildings, giving textbooks.
Answer:
(iii) Enrolling children, preventing dropping out.
Question (b)
What are the two main uses of learning style inventory?
(i) to know how information of skills are learned and which factors lead to learning
comfortably.
(ii) factual knowledge and experience.
(iii) analysis and observation.
(iv) experiment and hands-on learning.
Answer:
(iv) experiment and hands-on learning.
Question (c)
Information can be gathered
(i) through experience, reading and listening.
(ii) through applying knowledge.
(iii) through observing.
(iv) through doing something with the knowledge.
Answer:
(i) through experience, reading and listening.
Question (d)
Which type of learner tries to be exact in his knowledge and apply it correctly?
(i) First
(ii) Second
(iii) Third
(iv) Fourth
Answer:
(ii) Second
Question (e)
Addressed in paragraph 2 means
(i) directed towards
(ii) send to
(iii) delivered a speech
(iv) ready to
Answer:
(i) directed towards
Question (f)
Factual in paragraph 2 is the opposite of
(i) based on experience.
(ii) told by knowledgeable people.
(iii) fanciful.
(iv) found in books.
Answer:
(iii) fanciful.
Conclusion
We have shared Discursive Writing For Class 12th to improve the writing skills of the students appearing for the board examinations to help them with their writing skills to improve their comprehension, understanding of the text, attempt questions based on the reading of the passage and moreover solve multiple questions in the exam.
