THE ESSAY EXAMINATION:



Purpose: The essay exam is commonly regarded as the most significant and reliable of all tests. Essay exams require students to demonstrate knowledge far beyond the level of “spitting back memorized facts.” Although “fact tests” belong in certain situations and are important to certain academic disciplines, liberal arts areas that deal with concepts rely on the essay exam to discern whether or not students are capable of thinking critically and analytically.

Problems: Essay examinations often present difficulties for both students and their instructors. Poorly interpreted or organized essay exam answers are frustrating for instructors to grade – and, as a result, students receive poor grades.. This is a result of the student’s ignorance as to the expectations and proper answer structure required by an essay exam.

Solutions: Students who are usually successful on essay exams share the same two characteristics:

1. Consistent, high preparation and performance standards in the course all semester long.

2. An understanding of the essay exam expectations and options for answer structures.

Acceptable Student Concerns:

Most professors are at least annoyed by the student who asks, “Do we have to know this for the final?” Because of the concept nature of the essay exam, an instructor cannot accurately respond. If a student knows that the final exam will be essay, these 5 questions are, however, generally considered appropriate:

1. “Long or short answer essay questions?”

2. “How many of each type of essay question?”

3. “Will I have a choice of questions?”

4. “Will I know the grade percentage weight of each question?”

5. “Is the nature of the exam comprehensive or cumulative (covering all semester), or does it focus on only certain units of study?”

General Study Approach:

Most courses based on learned concepts are arranged in one of the following patterns:

A. by chronological (time) periods

B. by themes or major ideas

C. by stages of development or skill levels

A quick study of the textbook’s Table of Contents and/or a quick overview of the course’s lecture and test arrangement should help a student to easily identify the course’s concept pattern. The large topical areas (the time periods, the themes, the stages, etc.) are usually the general, targets for essay exam questions. In order for a student to be as prepared as possible, the following 3 steps are recommended:

1. Thorough familiarity with the course’s materials.

Do not expect to do well if you have not kept up with course reading or if your class attendance has not been acceptable.

2. Be a good reader.

3. Know how to really “read” essay exam questions and how to translate the questions into writing tasks. Know beyond a doubt what you are being asked to do.

A. VERBS tell us what to do. Circle the instructional verbs in each question.

B. IDENTIFY QUESTION PARTS that suggest how to arrange answer-responses. Underline the minor writing tasks in each question. Perhaps number them.

C. CHECK. Reread to be sure that you comprehend the total nature of the question. Essay questions are often dense or packed with instruction. Never assume that you understand the question immediately.

3. Be a good planner. Only a fool – or a very experienced writer – begins to write immediately. NEVER PANIC.

A. Use your mapping skills to plan how you intend to answer the question. This is your answer’s organization.

scratch list outline

bubble outline

B. Match-check the answer plan to the question again to be sure that no part of the question has been ignored.

Optional: some students plan out the answers to ALL of the essay questions; others prefer to do one at a time. The All-planner has the advantage of a better understanding of his professor’s total intent and brief outlines to hand in if out of time. The partial-planner may have the advantage of better immediate concentration.

4. Be a good essay writer. Never forget that an essay examination is AN ESSAY! Therefore, the answer should be organized in General Essay structure of Format:

A. Short, direct introduction followed by a thesis statement. The thesis statement

is a reflection of the question.

B. The various parts or “prompts” in the question can become the topic sentences for each body paragraph – in the same order as in the thesis statement.

C. Readings, lectures, projects, etc. that your teacher wants you to remember are your general subtopic sentence “proofs” offered under each body paragraph’s topic sentence.

D. Develop each subtopic sentence with appropriate writing mode(s) as needed:

1. description 5. classification

2. narration 6. definition

3. illustration (example) 7 argument

4. compare/contrast

E. Short meaningful conclusion or summary, possibly evaluative or predictive in nature, depending on the nature of the questions.

TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS – of critical importance!

All the study, reading and writing skills in the world can be “down the drain” if a student does not actively plan their time management for the exam.

1. Wear a watch to exam, and place the watch on your desk where it can be easily checked as you write.

2. After you give yourself a few minutes to read the whole exam, note which questions may be worth the most points.

3. Also, remind yourself which questions require the longer essay answers as opposed to the short essay answers.

4. Note exactly how much time you have left.

5. Subtract appropriate planning time (5-8 minutes?).

6. Subtract final proofreading time (5 minutes?).

7. Decide on exactly how many minutes you should allot to each essay question, based upon the question’s length of answer and percentage grade weight.

8. Write the exact time you need to be finished with each question on the test.

9. If you do not finish your essay answer within a very few minutes of your predicted completion time, STOP! Go on to the next question. Partial credit is always preferable to no credit. Just leave space, hoping to find extra time elsewhere with which to finish the exam. If a “sacrifice” is to be made (no answer), it is best that it be on the lesser point value question(s).

10. Although you may certainly ask, never expect extra time beyond the test time to complete your exam. Part of the “test” of an essay exam is your ability to produce, not only answers of reasonable accuracy, but produce these within the time allotment. Finishing within your assigned time amount reflects your preparation and your ability to think quickly.

TYPES OF ESSAY QUESTIONS:

Teachers know that there are at least 9 types of possible essay questions. They will choose the type of question based upon the nature of the concept taught, its importance in the course, and general student critical thinking ability skills as expected for the course’s level.

1. DEFINE of IDENTIFY: (short essay) brief overview. Provide a concise definition and relate to this course.

2. RECALL DETAILS of a specific source: straightforward summary. Paraphrase. Do not interpret or evaluate.

3. EXPLAIN IMPORTANCE/SIGNIFICANCE: usually the general interpretation of a literary work. Need specific examples.

4. APPLY CONCEPTS TO WORKS: student must apply a certain concept, theme, idea, or principle taught to a particular work. Illustrate the concept with examples from the work.

5. QUOTATION COMMENT: the quotation usually complements or challenges one of the basic concepts of the course. Thesis is usually set up as a pro or con argument.

6. COMPARE/CONTRAST: a favorite. This requires the student to see relationships between important activities, time periods, or works studied in the course. Clearly identified, accurate points of comparison are crucial.

7. VARIOUS SOURCE SYNTHESIS: a course with many readings might require a student to pull together important points of thematic or idea information taken from the readings.

8. SUMMARIZE and EXPLAIN CAUSES, RESULTS: courses that deal with trends, events, and actions expect students to know cause and effect. Students must state each cause and result(s) with supportive evidence from lectures or readings.

9. CRITICIZE or EVALUATE: much more than a personal opinion! Provide a reasoned, well-documented judgment based on appropriate criteria. Students must recall, synthesize, and apply course criteria taught. Students must understand the basic judgment standards critical to the subject matter.

FINAL WRITING TIPS: Write complete sentences. Use a strong thesis and key terms. Be direct and focused. Use transitions to link ideas and parts of your discussion. Cross outs are expected, but do not deteriorate into messiness. Neatly add last minute information in margins. No time left? Submit your map outline. Be legible and proofread. Get to class on time for directions and/or handouts and remain working for the entire examination period. Ask important questions only after the teacher has completed the opening remarks, if any.

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THE ESSAY EXAMINATION: Writing Under Pressure

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