how to prepare for exam. write an essay
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How to Prepare for an Essay Exam
Studying for an essay test requires a special method of preparation distinctly different from a multiple-choice test. Whether "open-book," "open-note," or without any aids at all, most students find essay exams among the hardest they face.
Here are some specific recommendations for preparing effectively for essay exams.
Make sure you identify and understand thoroughly everything that your professor particularly emphasized in class; learn the remainder as well as you can. Your professor will develop essay questions on the important topics stressed throughout the course lectures and discussions. These topics are more than likely also discussed in the assigned readings.
Begin your exam review (about two weeks before the test) by predicting what essay questions will be included on the exam. There are several sources for these possible essay questions:
Use the major boldface headings in your textbooks and turn them into questions by using typical key words such as describe, explain, define.
Check the course outline and study guides distributed by your professor. Frequently, the course outline and chapter study guides focus on the major topics of the course.
Read over the end-of-chapter discussion questions for possible essay questions.
Brainstorm possible essay questions with several other students who are also taking the course.
Once you have formulated a list of potential essay questions, prepare a "study sheet" for each of the questions. Review your lecture notes, study guides, and textbook notes. Then record on each of the study sheets the relevant and important material from these sources that you would want to use when writing an essay responding to each question.
After you have written all the important and relevant material, organize it. Decide on the best way to present this material in written form. This not only helps you plan an effective essay, it also helps you remember everything more effectively. Here is an example of a study sheet for a psychology class:
Predicted Essay Question "Describe the memory process."
Your notes:
Encoding -- preparing information for storage, e.g., taking notes in class (encoding experiences; translate into words)
Storage -- filing, keeping information in memory -- may involve several interrelated systems information in storage; is influenced by
other information already in storage
new information that is stored -- may result in forgetting
Retrieval -- getting back information from storage; 2 types:
recognition - pick out right answer from among choices
recall - remember without any clues (essay tests)
Link the material in each of your study sheets to key words or phrases that you find easy to recall. These key words will form a mini-outline for the ideas you will want to include in your essay. As you are actually taking the exam, write these key words in the margin or on the back of the exam paper before you begin to write your answer. If you can only remember two or three at first, writing those down will help you remember the rest. The finished list will guide you in your writing.
Practice and rehearse writing several (if not all) answers to your predicted essay questions. If you will not be allowed to use them during the exam, do not use your study sheets in this rehearsal. Time yourself so you will be under the same time constraints as for the test.
Finally, either check your responses against your study sheets or exchange them with another student and check them for accuracy, completeness, and organization.
Answering an Essay Question in Class
Read and Analyze the Question
Essay questions are carefully and precisely worded. You won't receive credit for answering a question you haven't been asked; you also don't want to waste time writing something you don't need.
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