PCS Balochistan 2016 Solved Precis

• Predilections (noun): A preference or special liking for something
  • Contextual Explanation: The passage states that certain predilections or personal inclinations determine a writer's thoughts and imagery.
• Vivid (adjective): Producing powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the mind
  • Contextual Explanation: Mental images are conceived in striking moments of joy and sorrow, meaning they are strong and clear.
• Luminous (adjective): Emitting or reflecting light; shining
  • Contextual Explanation: The passage mentions luminous hours, meaning moments that were brilliant or enlightening.
• Peculiarly (adverb): Strangely or unusually; particularly
  • Contextual Explanation: Virgil was peculiarly affected by the beauty of the trees, meaning they particularly or uniquely moved him.
• Sustenance (noun): The maintenance of someone or something in life or existence
  • Contextual Explanation: All art depends for its sustenance on the gratitude of those who enjoy it, meaning it needs support to thrive.
• Avowed (adjective): That has been asserted, admitted, or stated publicly
  • Contextual Explanation: The gratitude for art should be avowed, meaning openly acknowledged.
• Subtle (adjective): So delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or describe
  • Contextual Explanation: Our happy impressions of life depend on minute glimpses of personality, suggesting they are delicate and hard to pin down.
• Contempt (noun): The feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration
  • Contextual Explanation: The passage warns against a stupid or brutal contempt for the sources of gentle effects, meaning a disdainful attitude towards them.
• Slender (adjective): Gracefully thin
  • Contextual Explanation: The passage refers to the essences that produce gentle effects, using the word to mean delicate or slight.

The passage analyzes the concept of individuality in writing. It explains that every strong writer has inherent preferences or mental inclinations that naturally shape his style and tone, giving his work uniqueness and authenticity. Furthermore, the purpose of the passage is to emphasize that true individuality in writing originates from a writer's natural instincts and mental disposition, not from imitation or deliberate stylistic effort. Thus, the author seeks to distinguish between genuine originality and mechanical copying.

Main Idea of the Passage

• Every powerful writer's individuality arises from their innate mental inclinations, which unconsciously shapes his authentic and original style, unlike the deliberate imitation of copyists.

Supporting Ideas Helping the Main Idea

• Every forceful writer possesses certain mental tendencies or predilections that influence his work.
• These tendencies form the writer's individuality, giving his writings a distinct tone and character.
• Individuality in writing is not a result of conscious effort or intention.
• Natural instincts inevitably express themselves through a writer's style.
• Being natural and true to one's instincts is what makes writing individual and original.
• The genuine writer creates out of inner necessity whereas the imitator writes by mere ability.

Confused About Main and Supporting Ideas?

Kindly make sure to revise all five lectures on Precis Writing that I have already delivered. In these sessions, we discussed in detail:

• What a precis is and its purpose.
• What the main idea means and how to extract it effectively.
• What supporting ideas are and how to identify them.
• How to coordinate the main and supporting ideas while writing a concise, coherent precis.

Additionally, go through the 20 examples I shared in the WhatsApp groups. These examples highlight the Dos and Don’ts of Precis Writing, and revising them will help you avoid common mistakes and refine your technique.

Precis 1

Writing demands a writer's moral restraint and intellectual balance rather than his emotional indulgence. Indeed, a true writer interprets life truthfully through disciplined perception, converting his experiences into meaningful order. Without thought and structure, passion turns chaotic, blurring clarity. Hence, genuine art arises when imagination works under the control of reason, turning human life's disorder into harmony. Therefore, writing is not an impulsive act but the writer's conscious effort of shaping his experience through disciplined intellect and moral purpose.

• Original Words in the Passage: 243
• Precis Word Count: 79
• Title: Art of Writing through Moral and Intellectual Discipline

Precis 2

Writing demands a writer's discipline and ethical restraint rather than his passion or impulse. Indeed, a writer interprets life truthfully through balanced reflection, shaping his experience into ordered meaning. However, when his emotions exceed reason, confusion replaces clarity in writing. Therefore, real art appears when the writer's imagination serves intellect, converting life's disorder into harmony. Thus, writing remains the writer's conscious, thoughtful process, not an emotional indulgence.

• Original Words in the Passage: 243
• Precis Word Count: 67
• Title: True Writing as a Balance of Emotion and Reason

Precis 3

Writing requires a writer's intellect and moral control, not passion or motivation. Moreover, the writer must transform life's experiences into composed meaning through balance and reflection. Otherwise, without discipline, his emotion leads to confusion. Therefore, true art emerges when the writer's imagination works with his reason, bringing harmony and clarity to life's disorder in his writing.

• Original Words in the Passage: 243
• Precis Word Count: 56
• Title: The Nature of Writing

Precis 4

Writing is an act of a writer's disciplined thought, not passion. In fact, the writer balances his emotion with reason, turning life’s confusion into harmony and truth. Hence, real art is an amalgamation of his intellect and imagination.

• Original Words in the Passage: 243
• Precis Word Count: 38
• Title: Writing and Moral Insight