Bereft of the luxury of revision, students often lose control of their writing skills during examinations. Writing an exam essay is essentially a two part process: outline and first draft. There is no time for rewriting, so it is incumbent upon the student to make that first draft as coherent as possible under the circumstances. Because the student has a limited amount of time and only a nervous and fallible memory to work with, instructors are much more lenient on exam essays than they would be on papers written at home. However, the principles of organization that govern any piece of written work still operate in an exam.

Some students panic in exam situations and produce garbled streams of information that demonstrate their capacity for memorization but fail to develop any kind of logical thought. It is a good practice to include some of the key words from the question in your opening paragraph, and to return to it in your conclusion. The effect will be to make clear that you have indeed kept your answer on the topic. Question the question: why is it being asked? is it a multi layered question, one that can be answered on more than one level? does it invite a largely factual response? is it looking for a specific critical stance? the professor wants to see that you know the material well enough to make a critical judgement upon it, not that you can throw out a collection of unrelated details. The more information you are able to recall and use effectively the better, but always relate what you write to the thesis. A good question will allow you not only to demonstrate what you know but also to make an observation about it.

Discuss does not mean make sure that you agree with the quotation rather it opens the topic for exploration. It is likely that your thesis in response to the quotation will be to suggest a modification of it, rather than a slavish agreement with it. Answering essay questions on high school and university exams requires good writing and analytical skills. Literature essays can be especially difficult, since the facts you have to deal with can be abstract, such as characters or entire plots. Say, for instance, you were asked to write an essay on the relationship of perfection to humanity in a course on ancient greek literature.

Assuming you've studied beforehand, how would you begin once you sat down to take the exam? in college level literature exams, the essay question itself is often a paragraph or more. You may find it helpful to underline or highlight key phrases in the essay question itself. Take a few moments to organize your thoughts, and jot down a point form outline on scrap paper. This process includes recalling the issues involved, oedipus rex, and lysistrata. proper essay format is vital on a literature exam, since you have little time to revise. Make sure that your essay has a brief and focused introduction, with a thesis also called a statement of purpose , and a summary of your main points. Here is a good introductory paragraph for a greek literature essay: the ancient greeks portrayed the physical world and the people in it as inherently flawed in their literature. Physical flaws and shortcomings serve as a reminder of identity for their heroes, suggesting that imperfection and humanity are inextricably linked.

Now compare this with a poor exam essay on the same topic: since the beginning of western civilization, man has been fascinated by the idea of imperfection – can we ever be perfect, or not? greek art was made to be imperfect, and even in our own times, we hear expressions like nobody’s perfect. In all the great works we have studied in this course so far, we can also see that they show imperfections in their characters, especially in such outstanding works like the odyssey. These imperfections make it easy for people to identify with their heroes even today. Notice how the first essay example is short, to the point, and deals with the implications and significance of its topic.

The second example, on the other hand, has a lot of generalizations, irrelevant observations, and a weak conclusion. Once you have a thesis statement, you need to back up your claims with analysis. In literature exam essays, that means finding relevant examples from your texts: although odysseus disguises himself often in homer’s odyssey, he has a physical flaw that doesn’t change: the scar on his leg. Odysseus’ old nurse, eurycleia, finds this scar when odysseus, disguised as a beggar, returns home. Eurycleia recognizes odysseus because of it, and nearly gives away his true identity prematurely. Unlike the gods, he can be hurt, nor can his scars be hidden – not even by his ally, the goddess athena. In the example, you would continue with a similar paragraph about oedipus rex and lysistrata.

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Remember that for a literature exam essay, you usually aren't expected to quote such texts exactly. But it is essential that you be as specific as possible, and that your examples are directly related to the topic. As you write, stop once in a while to make sure that you're still on topic and not rambling.

In literature exam essays, focus and clarity are just as important as getting as many facts down on paper as possible. If, for instance, more than half your time is up, and you're still writing on the odyssey without mentioning oedipus rex and lysistrata. Having a few minutes at the end will also allow you to write a more compelling conclusion, which should be a brief restatement of your main points and why they are significant. A solid thesis, backed up with well argued examples, is the foundation of a good literature exam essay.

Taking time to plan at the beginning and double check at the end will make writing it easier. You'll be graduating before you know it! how to write good essay test questions a good essay style will help you make the most of what you know. If you know a bit about the essay topic, a good essay style can hide some of your inadequacies. If you really know your stuff, you should end up writing an excellent essay rather than just a good essay. Below is a guide prepared by iwriteessays.com on the important tips for writing essay exams before the exam: prepare and practice writing an excellent essay needs you to synthesis the material use during the exam.

Revise the question of the previous exam and see the questions asked what they tested you. Ensure you practice writing on every aspect of the project question that would come in your exam. Ensure clarity, conciseness, and establish the differences between the stated theories. Write down every piece of information you memorized for the exam in form of notes. You might use the words from the question and do not take more time elaborating your introduction.

Ensure to come up with a strong introduction containing your argument as a thesis statement. A good essay is easy to read because the ideas are clearly expressed and logically organised. The writer also demonstrates familiarity with important issues and concepts relevant to the topic.

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