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Before writing out the exam:
Set up a time schedule
to answer each question and to
review/edit all questions
- If six questions are to be answered in sixty minutes, allow yourself
only seven minutes for each
- If questions are "weighted", prioritize that into your
time allocation for each question
- When the time is up for one question, stop writing, leave space, and
begin the next question. The incomplete answers can be completed
during the review time
- Six incomplete answers will usually receive more credit than three,
complete ones
Read through the questions once and note if you have
any choice in answering questions
- Pay attention to how the question is phrased, or to the
"directives", or words such as "compare",
"contrast", "criticize", etc. See their
definitions in "Essay terms"
- Answers will come to mind immediately for some questions
Write down their key words, listings, etc, as they
are fresh in mind. Otherwise these ideas may be blocked (or be
unavailable) when the time comes to write the later questions. This
will reduce "clutching" or panic (anxiety, actually fear
which disrupts thoughts).
Before attempting to answer a question, put it in
your own words
- Now compare your version with the original.
Do they mean the same thing? If they don't, you've misread the
question. You'll be surprised how often they don't agree.
Make a brief outline for each question
- Teachers are influenced by compactness, completeness and clarity of
an organized answer
- Writing in the hope that the right answer will somehow turn up is
time-consuming and usually futile
- To know a little and to present that little well is, by and large,
superior to knowing much and presenting it poorly--when judged by the
grade received.
Writing & answering:
Begin with a strong first sentence
that states the main idea of your essay.
Continue this first paragraph by presenting key points
Develop your argument
- Begin each paragraph
with a key point from the introduction
- Develop each point
in a complete paragraph
- Use transitions,
or enumerate, to connect your points
- Hold to your time
allocation and organization
- Avoid very definite statements
when possible; a qualified statement connotes a philosophic attitude,
the mark of an educated person
- Qualify answers when in doubt.
It is better to say "toward the end of the 19th century"
than to say "in 1894" when you can't remember, whether it's
1884 or 1894. In many cases, the approximate time is all that is
wanted; unfortunately 1894, though approximate, may be incorrect, and
will usually be marked accordingly.
Summarize in your last paragraph
Restate your central idea and indicate why it is important.
Review:
Complete questions left incomplete,
but allow time to review all questions
Review, edit, correct
misspellings, incomplete words and sentences, miswritten dates
and numbers.
Not enough time?
See also: Essay terms and
directives
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The Study Guides and Strategies web site was created and is
maintained by Joe
Landsberger,
academic web site developer at the University
of St. Thomas (UST), St. Paul, Minnesota. It is collaboratively
maintained across institutional and national boundaries, and last revised
September 04, 2002 .
Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt, print,
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