Should you memorise a generic essay or write your essay on the spot in exams? (1 Viewer)

[sinophile2]

..Yeah..

 

[tanna3112]

that is what i do.....but i make general comments, which when i get the question, can work around the question, and fit it tightly. just make sure it is generic enough, so you wont be thrown by a question, and will be happy with your response

 

[emmcyclopedia]

It comes down to the whole flexibility thing - do you want to risk getting a really left-of-field question, only to struggle in trying to manipulate your pre-memorised essay to fit the question? For many, a very generalised pre-written essay with plenty of room for alteration is comforting and prevents a sudden mind blank.

At the same time, it's not smart to go in and just "wing it" because you know the topic really well. A friend of mine did that for her trials - she found it difficult to know how to structure her paragraphs and what quotes were most relevant.

What I have found works for me is this: I get key points, so that no matter what the question addresses, I can structure my response around the key areas I have prepared on. This is really basic, but it helps.

For instance, with Belonging, I generally have the following points:
- Romantic Belonging
- Belonging and place
- The role of family
- Belonging to the Human Experience
etc...

For each of these, I have a few different ways of looking at them. We are studying Shakespeare's "As You Like It", so for the first point, I can talk about Rosalind/Ganymede with Orlando, the courtly love between Silvius and Phebe, or the parodied relationship between Touchstone and Audrey.

In addition to having these key points, have quotes/scenes which strongly relate to these ideas.

When I walk into the exam, I read the question and figure out which points are relevant. I integrate my quotes and shape the paragraph to the question. It's not really memorising an essay - it's having a plan, a general scaffold of ideas.

epic post - apologies for the length =]

 

[Charity F]

with english, you have a couple of options, mainly:

1. write a generic essay, memorise it, then re-mould your sentences to answer the question in the exam​

pros: fail-safe, at least you have something up your sleeve, good for people who find it hard to be eloquent under pressure

cons: can panic and forget a paragraph = stress = forgetting more of the stuff you've spent so much time preparing, students fall into the trap of regurgitating their essay without answering the question, time consuming to prepare for, markers might suspect plagiarism​

2. memorise key phrases/quotes/summaries in dot points, then organising these ideas in the exam to formulate your response​

pros: your response will be relevant to the question, ensures you have a good understanding of the module, fosters critical thinking and promotes a personal/original response (markers prefer this)

cons: mind blanks will leave you stranded in the exam​

3. read up on theory/analysis, but only memorise key quotes and write your essay from scratch in the exam​

pros: requires the least amount of preparation, utilising your long-term memory

cons: not many people can do this and pull it off, risk of repeating yourself, etc​

personally i used a combination of 1 and 2, depending on whether i found the module interesting or not.

When I walk into the exam, I read the question and figure out which points are relevant. I integrate my quotes and shape the paragraph to the question.

this is the right idea.

 

[kaz1]

I always need to prepare something for English. Making up something on the spot and getting a good mark is beyond me.

 

[sinophile2]

Thank you all for the advice. So I should write a general range of points with supporting quotes, then go into the exam and reject those irrelevant ones. Sort of like putting chunks of prefab building into place. GOod.

 

[Ryuu-jin-jakka]

That seems like alot more effort... but i like it ^.^

 

[possessionless]

memorising an essay never works for me.
i usually write it on the spot and the majority of the time and it worked perfectly this year. i ended up ranking 3rd or 4th and i never memorised one essay

 

[Teclis]

Short Answer: No...



long Answer: Hell No...



You need to know your evidence, know your topic and concepts and write an essay for the question. Rote memorising an essay means that you may accidently force the answer into something that doesn't actually answer the Question

 

[Melisoverschool]

i have key points and quotes that link to different themes....in the exam i pick the ones that relate to the question and form my paragraph from there...it works for me

 

[mirakon]

Don't memorise a generic essay. You'll become so dependent on it that if you forget, you're screwed.

Also, a generic essay would feel unnatural to markers as you'll try to fit things in like a jigsaw puzzle. It won't have the natural flow of an essay made at the time. All you really have to memorise is quotes, and concepts explored in the text. A natural flowing essay would stand out a mile.

Finally, if you get a question that is completely out of the blue and cannot be tailored to the ready-made essay you're dpendent on, well all I can say is good luck, because you'll need it.

Hope I have been of help.

 

[ekoolish]

don't memorise a generic essay. You'll become so dependent on it that if you forget, you're screwed.

Also, a generic essay would feel unnatural to markers as you'll try to fit things in like a jigsaw puzzle. It won't have the natural flow of an essay made at the time. All you really have to memorise is quotes, and concepts explored in the text. A natural flowing essay would stand out a mile.

Finally, if you get a question that is completely out of the blue and cannot be tailored to the ready-made essay you're dpendent on, well all i can say is good luck, because you'll need it.

Hope i have been of help.

+1

 

[ninetypercent]

I find it hard to go in an exam without a memorised essay, particularly in English. I end up writing gibberish (bullshit) which is totally irrelevant to the question, too short, and something without a logical structure.

However, for subjects like Economics, a memorised essay would destroy me. I work better through notes.

 

[possessionless]

don't memorise a generic essay. You'll become so dependent on it that if you forget, you're screwed.

Also, a generic essay would feel unnatural to markers as you'll try to fit things in like a jigsaw puzzle. It won't have the natural flow of an essay made at the time. All you really have to memorise is quotes, and concepts explored in the text. A natural flowing essay would stand out a mile.

Finally, if you get a question that is completely out of the blue and cannot be tailored to the ready-made essay you're dpendent on, well all i can say is good luck, because you'll need it.

Hope i have been of help.

+ 2

 

[sinophile2]

We're not writing memorised essays though. We're memorising concepts and the supporting evidence for them, then sticking them together to form an essay specific to the Q.

 

[hosay]

i do it, it works...almost every time, if ur good u can pull an A (17+) on a question which relates to ur memorized essay, or get a B (14+) for an essay question that is completely different. But, imo, 2 time out of three, you will onli hav to change intro, and topic and concluding sentences of ur paragraph, other times, you will hav to change almost half the essay, but thats a worst case scenario

 

[Aquawhite]

I'm good at remembering a large set out of an essay and quotes - I don't really know how to describe it. Some people just tell me I'm memorising an essay but I don't think I am as I think of the links and answers to questions all the time.

What you need to prepare is a good understanding and definition of the concept (in your thesis and all your arguement) and know your texts with quotes very well.

 

[MzBiiBii]

I'm good at remembering a large set out of an essay and quotes - I don't really know how to describe it.

me too

 

[jellybelly59]

I memorise and then twist it... I think it's always good have a generic up your sleeve just incase you are lucky enough to get the question. If it isn't then i'll twist my response to the question so that it's no longer 'generic' but question specific because for the average english person... you're not going to be able to come up with a sophisticated and well articulated response on the spot. Looking back at the hsc sample responses - the band 6 ones - they've either walked in with a brilliant memorised response or they've done SO many practice responses it's not funny. If worse comes to worse you already have enough quotes and techniques from your essay to make it up on the spot.

p.s:Twisting a generic essay is a skill in itself. All you have to do is apply your generic to a wide range of practice questions prior to the examination to prepare yourself for the real thing.

 

[katie tully]

I didn't memorise essays because that's gay and all you do is set yourself up to fail if you encounter a question that just cannot be answered with your generic essay, despite how generic it is.

Memorise a heap of quotes. Write your essay fresh. Don't be shit. Basically.