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Preparing for an ExamEssay exams require a comprehensive understanding of large amounts of information. Also, exam questions can reach widely into the course materials--sometimes in unpredictable ways. As a result, the only way to do well on an essay exam is to keep up with reading assignments throughout the course, attend lectures, participate in discussions, and take careful notes. It is also helpful to organize small study groups with classmates to explore and review course materials throughout the term. As an exam approaches, find out what form it will take. Will the questions require short or long answers? How many questions will there be? Will you be able to choose which questions you answer? Some instructors will provide study guides or lists of potential exam questions, but often it is up to you to determine how to go about studying. As you study, avoid simply memorizing information. Memorizing may be useful on a multiple-choice or true-false test, but it probably will not help you prepare for an essay exam. Focus on clarifying the important issues of the course and use your understanding of these issues to focus your understanding of specific facts and particular readings. If the course is a historical survey, distinguish the primary periods and try to see relations among the periods and the works or events that define them. If the course is thematically unified, determine how the particular materials you have been reading express those themes. If the course is a broad introduction to a general topic, concentrate on the central concerns of each study unit and see what connections you can discover among the various units. Try to place all you have learned into perspective, into meaningful context. How do the pieces fit together? What fundamental ideas have the readings, lectures, and discussions seemed to emphasize? How can those ideas help you digest the information the course has covered?
Reading the Exam CarefullyBefore you answer a single question, read the entire exam and apportion your time realistically. Pay particular attention to how many points you may earn in different parts of the exam; notice any directions that suggest how long an answer should be or how much space it should take up. As you are doing so, make some tentative choices of the questions you will answer and decide on the order in which you will answer them. You may also wish to jot down some ideas and partial scratch outlines at this time. Remember: careful time management is crucial to your success on an essay exam. You next step is to analyze each question carefully before beginning to write your answer. Decide what you are being asked to do. Skipping this step can lead you to blank out or panic. However, if you take the time to determine what sort of writing the question asks you to do, you can begin to recognize the structure your answer will need to take.
Types of Exam Questions An exam question that asks you to define or identify requires you to write a few
sentences. Be sure to write complete sentences.
Planning your answerThe amount of time you spend planning your answer depends upon the time allotted for the question and how many points it is worth. For short-answer definitions and identifications, a few seconds of thought will probably be sufficient. (Do not waste time puzzling over individual items; go back to them when you have time.) For longer answers, you will need to spend some time developing a more definite strategy of organization. You have time for only one draft, so allow a reasonable period--as much as a quarter of the time allotted the question--for making notes, determining a thesis, and developing an outline.
WRITING YOUR ANSWERBegin by stating your thesis clearly and explicitly. An essay exam is not the time for indirectness; get to the point. In stating your point and developing your answer, use key terms from the question; it may look as though you are avoiding the question if you do not use key terms throughout your essay. If the question does not supply key terms, state your own in your thesis and use these key terms throughout your essay. Ideally, your thesis statement will forecast your overall plan and its subpoints. Develop your answer thoroughly with carefully expressed explanations, examples, illustrations, and reasons. If you have access to your notes or course materials, offer specific details from the texts. Do not pad your answer with irrelevancies and repetitions just to fill up space. Most instructors read exams carefully and are not impressed by the length of an answer alone. Watch the clock carefully to ensure that you do not spend too much time on one answer. You must be realistic about the time constraints of an essay exam, especially if you know the material and are prepared to write a lot. If you run out of time when you are writing an answer, jot down the remaining main ideas from your outline, just to show that you know the material and with more time could have continued your exposition. Write legibly and allow time to proofread. Remember that your instructor will probably be reading a large pile of exams. Careless scrawls, misspellings, omitted words, and missing punctuation marks will only make that reading difficult, even exasperating. A few minutes of careful proofreading can improve your grade.
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