Final Class Project

Hindi 322A

The objective of this class exercise is to get you to use the various skills you have acquired during the first two quarters of second-year Hindi in order to write a coherent and grammatical essay in standard Hindi on one of a number of topics related to things you have been reading about this quarter.  The real aim is to get you bring together your cumulative knowledge of Hindi grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in order to express yourself in a way that would be understandable to a native speaker of Hindi.  The topics you may choose from are the following:

१) हिंदी लेखक और उनके सफ़र

२) गांधी जी ने दक्षिण अफ़रीका में क्या सीखा ?

३) बचपन में बच्चों को कैसे अनोखे ख़याल सूझते हैं !

४) लोक कथाओं से हम क्या क्या उपदेश ले सकते हैं ?

५) मोहन राकेश या यशपाल के किसे दूसरे लेख का अपने शब्दों में वर्णन ।

This essay should be between four hundred and five hundred words in length.  It should be written in pencil in your best Devanāgarī handwriting on the four-lined ruled paper you can download from the web.  You are encouraged to use dictionaries, grammars, and other reference works in writing the essays, but you should not ask speakers of Hindi to assist you (i.e., this should be your own work).

In grading the essays, which will count for 10% of your final grade, the following factors will be considered:

· Grammaticality (i.e. forming Hindi sentences that adhere to the rules of standard Hindi grammar);

· Legible, neat, and accurate handwriting;

· Ambitiousness (i.e., making use of a diversity of grammatical constructions);

· Coherence (the essay as a whole should hang together);

· Use of appropriate vocabulary (i.e., words should be used in their proper senses)

In order to assist me in evaluating your essays, please supply an English translation so I can figure out what you’re trying to say (just in case I can’t!).  Please also provide your final word count.

Deadline for paper to be turned in: On or before Friday, March 13^th 2009, 11:30am.