Phil 120 Documents

Advice for Preparing to Take Essay Exams
[ Fall 2007 ]

Here are some basic suggestions about how to study effectively for an essay exam.

1. Go over your class notes; they typically provide a teacher's selection of what is important and also may reflect his/her particular reorganization of the textual materials.

It is generally a good idea to go over class notes very soon after one has taken them, so that one can clarify points, fill in gaps, and add clarifying comments; all this will make them clearer later on, when one has all but forgotten the context in which they were delivered. If you haven't done this, attempt to fill in the notes when you are studying from them (use a different-colored pen or pencil), make connections, add examples, insert other objections and replies, and so forth. Consider the notes as mere prompts to the memory, not as the whole story.

2. Assuming that you have already read the appropriate texts when they were assigned, go back now and review them again. Ideally, you will have made your own markings in the readings (highlighting, underlining, marginal comments, etc.), so that you can quickly regain a sense of their structure, locate specific ideas and arguments, and so on. If not, your review will be more difficult and certainly more time-consuming. Still, it is well worth the effort, and you should see much more in the texts now than you did earlier at your first or even second reading. Learn as much from the texts as possible, in terms of both factual detail, general perspectives, specific arguments, and so on, and integrate it with the class notes.

3. Consider each study question as a kind of problem for which you need to construct an answer, using the materials just mentioned. That is, think of studying as more than a memorization exercise during which you merely imprint notes onto your brain in the exact order the ideas occurred in class (squeezed onto the blackboard or into your notebook). Your goal is to integrate the materials in order to answer the total question as adequately as you can. This is an active and imaginative process, not merely a passive soaking up of what others have said -- though this is a beginning. You've learned a new 'language' for discussing these problems; appropriate it as your own and don't just repeat others' phrases without understanding or thinking about them.

4. Sketch or outline answers for each question on paper, even in the form of a rough schematic. What belongs in each answer? How are the parts related to one another? Are there different ways to organize the same material, and which organization is most effective? Get a sense of how the ideas, arguments, and positions hang together or not, how they may be opposed one another. Develop an integrated understanding, not just a grasp of individual details. You need to make the big connections before you come to the test. If you memorize only particular points, without pre-organizing them into larger units, you'll run out of time and get frustrated during the exam. But if you've already established certain relational grids in your mind, it will be easy to fill in the details or even reorganize them as you proceed.

5. How much to write? As a rule, always write as much as you know, so long as it is relevant to the question and not redundant (or BS). Add your own considered thoughts and evaluations where requested (perhaps even when not requested, if you have time), but explain yourself adequately and back up your views with arguments; don't just appeal to authority or express a personal preference.

6. Distinguish the study questions into those you feel capable of answering well, and those about which you are less confident; then focus more on the latter. Don't ignore any of the questions, since they may occur on the exam. If you've read the materials and been to class, you should have a fair shot at all of the questions, even if they are difficult.

7. Essay exams allow for a variety of good answers, and you have a greater opportunity to demonstate your knowledge and understanding than you do in the case of more structured tests. Factors that affect the quality of essay answers include: grasp of the material; accuracy of expression; coverage of features, points, arguments, and perspectives; awareness of the pros and cons of positions; overall organization and coherence; critical acumen and creativity in advancing the discussion of problems.