To memorise essays or not? (1 Viewer)

[swagmeister]

Hey,

So I have pretty much spent the past day or so just thinking about english and the different approaches and stuff, and I'm not sure whether to memorise or not memorise.

I've seen the arguments to memorise - how good is your first draft really going to be, if an essay is generic then it should be able to fit most questions, you will have extra quotes/techniques prepared anyways and so an and so forth.

And the arguments not to memorise - you can't fit a square peg in a round hole, markers don't like memorised answers, memorising whole essays takes heaps of time and you are better of reading around the module etc. and also if you keep practicing with quotes and techniques and improving it will almost become like you have memorised stuff as you will end up drawing on a lot of similar things and can work on improving them.

The key thing that is kind of making me debate and almost tend towards the generic essay approach is I'm not sure if I'll be able to write an essay with sophistication and flair on the spot because it will kind of be a first draft and I am not the best writer in the world, but then again with the quote/technique method I will probably end up along similar lines by flaunting similar ideas but having more flexibility and making it easier to answer the question properly without regurgitating something verbatim. I guess I am also stressed I will get caught out memorising essays and like I said earlier the markers don't really like them.

Anybody have any more serious thoughts other than just dissing the other methods? I was thinking as well cause if you are doing generic essays we are only halfway through the year and your writing is likely to improve heaps so maybe I could try the quote/technique method and do an essay almost every day for the next 4 or 5 weeks and get an idea of how I want to be arguing and improve my writing and critical thinking skills then work on developing a generic essay and stuff? Any thoughts on that?

Hope everyone had a good easter

 

[astroman]

tl;dr but memorise em

 

[iStudent]

Have a one size fits all essay and adapt on the spot (change topic sentences, key words etc.)

 

[teridax]

Have a one size fits all essay and adapt on the spot (change topic sentences, key words etc.)

not sure if this would work for Mod B though lol

esp when it comes to hamlet, or speeches, or poetry

probs better to memorise paragraphs in this case

otherwise, go ahead an rote essays lol

 

[ekat]

I'd recommend not memorising essays. Your better off learning your quotes, techniques and a few sentences of analysis that you can use and adapt to any question which will allow you to answer the question more effectively.

 

[enigma_1]

Have a one size fits all essay and adapt on the spot (change topic sentences, key words etc.)

^ This is the way to go

not sure if this would work for Mod B though lol

esp when it comes to hamlet, or speeches, or poetry

probs better to memorise paragraphs in this case

otherwise, go ahead an rote essays lol

Yeah memorise all your essays except for Mod B. Memorising techniques and quotes is sufficient for this section.

 

[Queenroot]

Memorise unless you have a natural flair

 

[andreismolnikov]

Here's the thing - most people will memorise essays. Personally I always do, but change key sentences and points as I go along in accordance with the question.

The reason I wouldn't recommend just remembering points and quotes and analysis is because, unless you are one of the few who can write with flair and sophistication pretty much on the spot, you lose a whole lot of your lexical density and your essay won't stand out.

If, like me, it takes you a long time to write a good essay with sophisticated, intelligent language, then remember that failing to memorise an essay will cost you marks when you are assessed for control of language, which is a significant criterion in the marking scheme. This could end up pulling you down an entire band.

So I always memorise a more-or-less generic essay and adapt it to the question.

 

[Crisium]

tbh, it depends on the person. if you do well with memorising essays, then keep at it. conversely, if you're comfortable with writing on the spot, then continue to do so. you should probably experiment these holidays as to what will assist in getting the marks in the long term. personally, i plan to memorise essays - so that my ideas expressed are more fluid and coherent - and allows me to reasonably mould to the question on exam day.

the only thing that annoys me is that some people assert that roting and adapting generic essays is the only way to go in any circumstance, because frankly, it's an arrogant and narrow-minded perspective.

really, there's no one size fits all method when it comes to studying english.

best of luck

Great explanation

But I think that the most important thing to remember here is that

Quality is important, but quantity is quality in itself.