Agenda, Meeting Minutes, Circular, Notice, Memo - Notes

 What is an Agenda?

The agenda is the version of the meeting plan shared with meeting attendees. A meeting agenda may include a list of topics to discuss, a sequence of planned activities, or both. The simplest agendas are formatted as a short-bulleted list. More complicated agendas may include detailed topic descriptions, including the expected outcomes for each item and reference material, such as reports and proposals for review prior to the meeting. Formal agendas will also include timing and presenter information for each agenda item. Agenda of a meeting is the plan for what is SUPPOSED to happen in the meeting (and when).

 

What are Meeting Minutes?

Meeting Minutes, or informally, notes, are the record of a meeting in written form. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include an agenda, a list of attendees and no shows, a listing of issues and decisions made, and an action list with due dates and responsible parties. Informal meetings, the minutes become official after review and a vote at the next meeting. Minutes of a meeting are the exact or almost exact notes on what was said and who said it and maybe even when they said it. Like a script of the event but written while it happened.

 

What is a circular? 

Circulars or fliers are a highly effective way to communicate with employees or customers. Many companies use circulars as notices in business communication to enforce dress codes and policies or invite employees to meetings or luncheons. Circulars can also be used as an advertising tool. There are several benefits to using circulars, but a circular must include certain features to be most effective. Additionally, distribution is important for circulars in business communication. A circular is like a newsletter; something written and printed that gets handed around. ("Circular" from that you pass it around to people, so you circulate it). 

 

What is Notice? 

Notices are a means of formal communication targeted at a person or a group of persons. It is like a news item informing such person or persons of some important event. This can be an invitation to a meeting, an announcement of any event, to issue certain instructions, make appeals etc. Notice is telling people what will happen. Like announcement or advertisement.

 

What is a Memo: 

A memo (or memorandum, meaning “reminder”) is normally used for communicating policies, procedures, or related official business within an organization. It is often written from a one-to-all perspective (like mass communication), broadcasting a message to an audience, rather than a one-on-one, interpersonal communication. It may also be used to update a team on activities for a given project or to inform a specific group within a company of an event, action, or observance. Memorandum is a fancy or official message. The word "memo" is a short version (and more casual version) of this word. A memorandum might be a letter that makes an official statement, like to announce a new policy. Often someone writes it before the meeting, and hands out copies at the beginning of the meeting. 

Report Writing - Summary

 

Report Writing 

Reports are written to present facts about a situation, project, or process and will define and analyze the issue at hand. Ultimately, the goal of a report is to relay observations to a specific audience in a clear and concise style.

 

Title

 

If the report is short, the front cover can include any information that you feel is necessary, such as the author(s) and the date prepared. In a longer report, you may want to include a table of contents and a definition of terms.

 

Summary

The summary consists of the major points, conclusions, and recommendations. It needs to be short, as it is a general overview of the report. Some people will read the summary and only skim the report, so make sure you include all of the relevant information. It would be best to write this when the report is finished so you will include everything, even points that might be added at the last minute.

 

Introduction

The first page of the report needs to have an introduction. Here you will explain the problem and inform the reader why the report is being made. You need to give a definition of terms if you did not include these in the title section and explain how the details of the report are arranged.

 

Body

This is the main section of the report. The previous sections needed to be written in plain English, but this section can include technical terms or jargon from your industry. There should be several sections, each clearly labelled, making it easy for readers to find the information they seek. Information in a report is usually arranged in order of importance with the most important information coming first. Alternatively, you might choose to order your points by complexity or time.

 

Discussion

If you wish, this optional section can be included at the end of the main body to go over your findings and their significance.

 

Conclusion

This is where everything comes together. Keep this section free of jargon as many people will just read the summary and conclusion.

 

Recommendations

This is where you discuss any actions that need to be taken. In plain English, explain your recommendations, putting them in order of priority.

Paraphrasing - A short note

Paraphrase: express the meaning of (something is written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity. Paraphrasing involves taking a passage — either spoken or written — and rewording it. Writers often paraphrase sentences and paragraphs to deliver information in a more concise way, as you'll see in the examples below. When paraphrasing, it is important to keep the original meaning so that the facts remain intact. Basically, you are writing something in your own words that still expresses the original idea. Paraphrasing is common when writing an essay or research paper. It allows you to explain important ideas in your own writing style and focus on the information that is most useful in making your point. Even when you put someone else's ideas into your own words, you must cite the source of your information. This gives credit to the original author for their ideas. Paraphrasing is slightly different than summarizing. When you summarize a passage, you focus on restating only the main idea in your own words. Paraphrasing, on the other hand, aims to provide most of the information in a slightly condensed form. Summaries are much shorter than the original passage, while paraphrasing can be shorter, longer or the same length.
 
Original: Her life spanned years of incredible change for women as they gained more rights than ever before.

Paraphrase: She lived through the exciting era of women's liberation.
 
Original: Giraffes like Acacia leaves and hay, and they can consume 75 pounds of food a day.

Paraphrase: A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds of Acacia leaves and hay daily.
 
Original: Any trip to Italy should include a visit to Tuscany to sample the region's exquisite wines.

Paraphrase: Be sure to make time for a Tuscan wine-tasting experience when visiting Italy.
 
Original: Symptoms of influenza include fever and nasal congestion.

Paraphrase: A stuffy nose and elevated temperature are signs you may have the flu.
 
Original: The price of a resort vacation typically includes meals, tips and equipment rentals, which makes your trip more cost-effective. 

Paraphrase: All-inclusive resort vacations can make for an economical trip.
 
Original: He has tons of stuff to throw away. 

Paraphrase: He needs to get rid of a lot of junk.
 
 

Source: https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-paraphrasing.html

Wangari Maathai - Summary

 Wangari Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya (Africa) in 1940. 

 

The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. 

 

Wangari Maathai obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas, USA (1964). 

 

She pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, obtaining a Ph.D. (1971) from the University of Nairobi.

 

Wangari Maathai was active in the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1976-87 and was its chairman in 1981-87. It was while she served in the National Council of Women that she introduced the idea of planting trees with the people in 1976 and continued to develop it into a broad-based, grassroots organization whose main focus is the planting of trees with women groups in order to conserve the environment and improve their quality of life. 

 

Through the Green Belt Movement, she has assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms and on schools and church compounds.

 

In 1986, the Movement established a Pan African Green Belt Network and has exposed over 40 individuals from other African countries to the approach. 

 

Wangari Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. 

 

She has addressed the UN on several occasions and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly for the five-year review of the earth summit. 

She and the Green Belt Movement have received numerous awards, most notably the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. 

 

In June 1997, Wangari was elected by Earth Times as one of 100 persons in the world who have made a difference in the environmental arena. 

 

In December 2002, Professor Maathai was elected to parliament with an overwhelming 98% of the vote. 

 

She was subsequently appointed by the president, as Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in Kenya’s ninth parliament.

Source: www.nobelprize.com

Poem Leave this Chanting and Singing and Telling of Beads

When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad – That is my religion – Abraham Lincoln

 

Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations, by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. ‘Leave this chanting’ is the 11th poem in the collection.

 

The poet advises the priests to give up their counting of beads and their singing and chanting of mantras. 

He also urges them to stop the worship of God in a secluded corner of the temple, with their eyes half shut. 

He sharply states, ‘Open your eyes and see God is not there before you.’ God is not to be found in this way. 

God lives with the humble and down-trodden like the tillers of the land and path-makers who work hard at breaking stones. He lives with those who toil in sun and shower and whose clothes are soiled with dust. 

If the priest wants God he must come out of his temple, give up his holy robes and work with the humble tillers of the soil in rain and sun. 

Tagore thus glorifies the life of the humble labourers and rejects the ascetic way of life.

The ultimate spiritual goal of the ascetic is to seek deliverance. This is the liberation of the soul from the cycle of birth and death. 

But God Himself is bound to all of us in chains of love. He himself is not free and He has joyfully bound Himself to the work of creation and to the objects He has created. How can then man ever hope to be free from bondage? 

He urges the ascetics to leave the ritualistic flowers and incense which does not serve any purpose. 

According to the poet, one can find God not in the temple but with the workers who are working whole day in the dirt and under the hot sun. He asks us what harm is there if you work under the sun and if your clothes become dirt. Even when your clothes turn out or stained there is no harm because one is going to see the creator. 

Thus Tagore conveys that participation in the activity of life is essential for the realization of God. This poem ‘Leave This Chanting’ is equally important in World Literature due to his exposing the pseudo-zeal of worshippers everywhere.

 

Repost from 

http://e4english-corner-sasha.blogspot.com/2012/01/leave-this-chanting-rabindranath-tagore.html

 

Charlie Chaplin - Summary

Charlie Chaplin - Biography - Inspiring Lives

 

Was born on 16 April 1889

Parents were artists and they were always poor

His father was a drunkard 

Young Charlie was forced to dance and sing almost before he could walk

His mother was sick, and his father pushed Charlie to act

Parents went their way and the children were put in an orphanage

Mother was in a mental hospital and later she took care of them sewing blouses

Seven years - Charlie joined a touring music hall act - The Eight Lancashire Lads

He only had two years of schooling 

He lived like a homeless person in the streets of London for many months

Sid became a sailor was in the sea

After some time be became part of stage shows, once again

He joined the Fred Karno company 

In 1913 he was in America and was part of the expansion plans of the American film industry. 

His first film was - Making a Living. It is in this movie that his style became established - 

Frock coat, top hat, walrus moustache and eyeglass

His next film was Kids Auto Races made him famous. 

In 1918 during the filming of Shoulder Arms, he met Mildred Harris whom he married 

They divorced later due to misunderstanding

The Kid released in 1921 was the first full-length production

The Gold Rush in 1925 is the most celebrated picture of Chaplin

He married again. This time to Lita Grey. The marriage didn’t survive, and they separated

City Lights is the greatest film of Chaplin

Modern Times also was a highly successful movie

1943, he married the daughter of the American playwright. He was 54. 

He was accused of being a communist

He went to live in Switzerland in 1952 and died in 1977

In 1972 he awarded a special Academy Award for his contribution to cinema

 

We remember Charlie Chaplin because 

·      He gave a few minutes of laughter in this trouble-torn world

·      He was a unique master entertainer

·      He was a writer, director, actor, producer, and musician. 

·      He blended comedy and sadness 

·      Stan Laurel quote “ He is the greatest artist that was ever on the screen” 

 

 

 

 

The Avenger - Anton Chekhov - Summary

 

Fedor Sigaev discovers that his wife is unfaithful to him. He decides to take revenge on her. He visits the shop Schmucks & Co. The shop is the best place in the town to purchase firearms.  He asks the shop owner to show him a good revolver. He wanted to kill his wife, her lover and then himself. He has not used a gun in his life, nor has he shot anyone in his life. He started imagining the heavy wounds that he will inflict on his wife and her lover. 

 

The shop keeper was an active little man with a paunch, and he kept different types of revolvers on the counter. He suggests that Sigaev choose Smith- Wesson revolver which has six chambers. Shop keeper tells him that the gun can kill wolves, faithless wife and her lover. He even goes to say that it is the best gun to commit suicide.  The price of Smith- Wesson was 45 roubles. Sigaev dismisses the gun saying that it is expensive. The shop keeper presents another gun was which was made in France with a price of 18 roubles. Sigaev hides the fact that he wants to kill his wife and her lover. He says that the gun will be used for frightening away the thieves. Immediately shop keeper tells him that there is another gun which is known as the Mortimer pistol. The shop keeper presenting new guns to make Sigaev close the deal.

 

Meanwhile, Sigaev started imagining how the gun wound would cause maximum damage to his wife. He is not sure whether he should kill her. Instead of killing her, he now wants to kill her lover and himself. He wants his wife to suffer the agony of the twin deaths. 

 

Suddenly the shop keeper disturbs his daydream. He is now ready to offer a discount of five roubles on Smith Wesson. He offers other options like one revolver for 30 roubles. 

 

Meanwhile, Sigaev drifts off to another daydream in which decides not to kill himself but only his wife’s lover. (paramour) He will not kill himself, but he will get himself arrested. He thinks that killing oneself is a sign of cowardice. 

 

The shop keeper kept displaying new guns and kept talking about the merits and demerits of each gun. 

 

Sigaev started thinking about the prospect of going to jail after killing his wife’s lover. He doesn’t want to go to a Siberian prison. In that case, his wife will get married to someone and she will be the victorious one. He decides not to kill anyone and decides to move the court for a divorce. He decides to leave the shop, but he felt sympathy towards the shopkeeper, and he decides to buy a net for eight roubles just to make the shop keeper happy. 

The story ends with this line - The offended husband paid the eight roubles, took the net and left the shop. 

 

Themes

Transformation 

The character of the husband 

Taking the law into our hands 

Decision Making - 4 decisions made in a short time

The beauty of Anton Chekhov and the gender reversal 

Summary - Two Gentlemen of Verona by A.J Cronin

 

The narrator is driving through the foothills of the Alps along with his companion. While driving on the outskirts of Verona, two young boys who sell wild strawberries stop their car. The small boys appear to be quite shabby and the driver is not keen on buying strawberries from them. Then the narrator’s companion gets to know that the boys are brothers. The elder one aged 13 is Nicola, and the younger brother, aged 12, is Jacopo. The narrator and his companion buy the biggest basket of strawberries from the boys and go towards the city. The next morning, they again see the same two boys doing the shoe-shining job and on being asked, they say that they do many things for a living. They also tell the narrator and his companion that they could work as guides and show the visitors places of interest in the town. So, the narrator asks them to take them to Juliet’s tomb. During the time of their stay in the town, the two young boys turn out to be very helpful to the visitors.   Then, the boys are found with a bundle of unsold newspapers and are ready to sell them when the last bus arrived one night. The narrator then talks to them and asks them why they are working so hard. He also told them that they seem to fetch sufficient money, so why were they not spending anything on clothes and food. Nicola tells him that they had something in their minds, but he does not elaborate.   Jacopo then requests the narrator to drop them in his car to the village Polenta that is around 30 kilometres away. He requests him and says that it would be a great favour. Although, Nicola does not like the fact that his brother is troubling the narrator. But the narrator gladly agrees to help the boys with reaching that place. So, the next afternoon, he along with his companion drives to the village. After dropping them, the small boys enter a large red-roofed villa, which is actually a hospital.   The narrator hesitates to enter the hospital room. He tries to find out from the nurse about the girl in the hospital and the boys. Later, the nurse tells him that Lucia is the sister of these two boys and is suffering from tuberculosis. She also mentions that a bomb destroyed their home during the war. And even their father, a widower, had got killed during the early part of the war. When he died, his three children were left to starve. She told the narrator that the boys also started hating the Germans who came to rule the city and even became a part of the resistance movement. Once the war was over, Lucia got afflicted with tuberculosis and the boys had to admit her to the hospital. So, they have been trying their best to make the payments regularly to the hospital.   The narrator waited outside the room. He did not say anything to the boys on their way back in order to give the impression that they did not know about their secret.

Summary of After Twenty Years - O Henry

 

Named Jimmy Wells, the beat policeman on the street on which the narrative opens is a lifelong resident of New York City, who has had a friend from his youth named Bob who had invited him to move West where they could seek their fortunes. But, Jimmy, a true city boy who cannot leave his home, declines and the two-part ways with the promise that they will meet at their favourite restaurant in twenty years.    Having lived all these years in New York, Patrolman Well has established himself as a respected policeman, a man of integrity and decency. In fact, he values his friendship with Bob so much that when he discovers the identity of 'Silky' Bob, an outlaw, matches that of his boyhood friend, he does not have the heart to arrest him. Instead, he sends a detective to meet Bob and arrest him.    'Silky' Bob Unlike his virtuous friend, Bob travels West and finds an opportunity, but it is not a legal opportunity. For, when he lights his cigar in the doorway of the former "Big Joe Brady's" restaurant, explaining to the patrolman that he waits for his truest friend, Jimmy Wells, with whom he has made an agreement to meet these twenty years later, the policeman recognizes him from wanted posters of Chicago. For, the "little white scar near his right eyebrow" and his flashy diamonds in his scarfpin and watch match the description of 'Silky Bob.' When a man approaches Bob in the darkened doorway, he believes the man is his old friend Jimmy Wells. However, when the man steps under a streetlight, Bob has a recognition this time: The man is not his old friend, who did not have the heart to arrest Bob himself.   Friendship The bonds of friendship were forged between Bob and Jimmy all those years ago.    Loyalty Bob's loyalty to Jimmy is obviously unwavering.  Jimmy's loyalties to Bob and to the law are put to the test when he discovers his old friend is a wanted criminal.   Trust Whom would you trust more: a police officer who arrested his best friend, or a 'dirty cop'