This is a group speaking task, so nobody can hand you the ‘answer’. What you can be handed is the material to argue with and the shape of a good turn in a discussion.
- Take one role each: postcard, inland letter, envelope, money order form. Speak in the first person — “As a postcard, I…”.
- Build your case on the five given points, not on general praise. Prepare one clear claim per point.
- Open with a cue from Column 2, state the claim, then give the evidence: ‘I would like to point out that… because…’
- Listen and answer back. A discussion is not four speeches. Use “That’s one way to look at it, but…” to answer the point the last speaker actually made.
- Close by conceding one thing to a rival — it makes your own case sound honest.
| Point | Postcard | Inland letter | Envelope | Money order form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utility | Short messages, quick news, notices, greetings | A full personal letter in one folded sheet | Anything at all — letters, documents, photographs, forms | Sends money, which no other item here can do |
| Cost effective | The cheapest item India Post sells | A little more than a postcard, still very cheap | Costs the most — you buy the cover and the stamps | A commission is charged on the amount sent |
| Privacy | None — anyone can read it on the way | Good — it is folded and gummed shut | Complete — sealed, and the paper is opaque | Partial — a short message field, read by the postman as he pays |
| Space to write | Least — half a small card | A whole sheet, both sides of the fold | Unlimited — add as many sheets as you like | A few lines only |
| Enclosures | Impossible | Not allowed — nothing may be enclosed | Yes — photographs, certificates, documents | Not applicable |
Sample exchange (four turns, one per speaker — notice that each one answers the previous):
Postcard: It seems to me that I am the most important of the four, because I reach the largest number of people. I cost the least of anything the post office sells, so a family that has to count every rupee can still send news of a birth. Reaching everybody is what a postal service is for.
Inland letter: That’s one way to look at it, but reaching everybody is of little use if nothing private can be said. You are read by every hand you pass through. I would like to point out that I cost only a little more, and I fold and seal, so a daughter can write honestly to her mother about her troubles. Cheapness that costs you your privacy is not cheap.
Envelope: I totally agree that privacy matters — and that is exactly why I win the point rather than you. You seal one sheet and no more; nothing may be enclosed in you. I carry ten pages if needed, a photograph of a newborn, a school certificate, a land document. Some people say I am expensive, but I am the only one of us who can carry proof as well as words.
Money order form: That’s true, and yet none of you can carry the one thing this village actually waits for. In the chapter we have just read, “survival is partly dependent on money orders remitted by a relative”. A letter brings news; I bring the month’s food. I would like to point out that words can wait a week — hunger cannot.