How to Memorise an Essay - Guide (1 Viewer)

[Flop21]

Hi guys, so this is a guide on my method on remembering essays word for word. This may not work for everyone. So far the highest word count I've remembered is an 1,200+ word essay.

Method:

Set up your document:
- Put your essay into a new word document, and put each sentence on its own line - keeping at least a space between each line, so you can read and see each sentence easily.
- Bold your thesis and topic sentences.

Example Layout

Read:
- Go into a quiet room. I go into the spare room next door. Start reading the first sentence until you remember it. Read > look away > say it out loud > if you do not remember it, go back and read it again until you do > then move onto next sentence.
- Read back from the start, try reading it without looking - if you have to, read the first couple of words of each sentence to kick start your memory. Do this every so often you think you need to. I usually always do this when I finish a paragraph.

Remember:
- Once you finish doing the steps in the 'Read' section above, you can now practice reading your essay whenever/wherever. You can again use the first words of each sentence to kick start your memory if you forget.
- Practice writing your essay once or twice.
- The longer you have till your test, the better. If you have a while till the test, you can practise reading / remembering your essay in the mornings and at night, to get it into your long term memory.

 

[obliviousninja]

Yup thats my strat. Memorise individual sentences then, memorise the beginnings of sentences together.

I memorised 4.2k words in 5 days. word for word. u mirin.

 

[strawberrye]

Memorising essays word for word is extremely risky, it highly restrict your ability to adapt your essay to different essay questions, one is much better off to memorise the key quotes, effects and ideas and practice how to adapt these theses to all possible essay questions.

 

[Simran-]

Really helpful guide! It will really help in future during my exams

 

[obliviousninja]

Memorisation is fine if have a 'super' essay. May I bring you attention to my essay selling thread

 

[nerdasdasd]

Memorisation is fine if have a 'super' essay. May I bring you attention to my essay selling thread

Subtle advertising there.

 

[monopolistic]

If your class teachers have told you the essay, then this method is very effective.

 

[strawberrye]

Different methods work for different people mate.

I acknowledge and appreciate the diversity of different study methods, and it is likely this will work for some, I am also pointing out other methods to maximise ones academic potential. At the end of the day, regardless whether one has memorised an essay word for word or not, it is how closely they have engaged with the given question that is the ultimate determinant of their results.

 

[matchalolz]

haha the last time i tried to memorise an essay, in the actual exam, i actually mixed up all my quotes and put them into the wrong paragraphs hahahaha i was then sort of panicked but then got back into it. i ended up ditching half my memorised essay and making some stuff up on the spot. i didn't think it was that good but got a good mark!

if i do however decide to memorise an essay in the future, how do i prevent mixing up everything?? i memorised this one in about 2.5 days (while also preparing for my other subject exams) and i think it was around 900 ish words. was this enough time?

 

[matchalolz]

Of course! This method really only works for short essays (around 1000 words). I'm in year 11 myself and haven't come across any super long essays yet, but I would recommend remembering dot points / main points for them - as my teachers recommend.

I seriously was just sick of my friends telling me they wrote out their essay 10 times over the weekend. That doesn't work for me at all, I do what I wrote about, reading a loud and I remember it!



I had a 1000 word essay yesterday, and I understand your problem, happens to me. If you do the method above, you will probably remember it fully - although I do sometimes forget which paragraph is what and what goes where. Yesterday I wrote a little acronym of all the techniques in my essay and quickly wrote it down in the test. I then just looked at the letter, remembered the technique and that kick started my memory of that paragraph. 2.5 days is alright, I remembered my essay in around that time, although my topic sentences got a bit jumbled up. The longer you prepare, the better you will remember it.


EDIT: Also! Of course this method only works if you have the question before hand! We get loads of these at my school, which is a little annoying since it's really only a test of your memory, but hey I guess I'd rather this than not knowing it!

thanks for the acronym tip! i'll definitely try it out sometime if i get desperate. you're so lucky you get the question! i don't get it so i basically remember quotes/techniques/examples and some topic sentences and then tweak it to fit the questions. the only reason i memorise is because my vocab isn't so great and it's nice to have something to work from rather than having to do everything from scratch

 

[teridax]

I acknowledge and appreciate the diversity of different study methods, and it is likely this will work for some, I am also pointing out other methods to maximise ones academic potential. At the end of the day, regardless whether one has memorised an essay word for word or not, it is how closely they have engaged with the given question that is the ultimate determinant of their results.

@strawberrye

Agree with the rest of your post, but the bolded I strongly disagree with. By your rationale, you're saying that memorising key quotes + techniques will further one's academic potential than others who do not utilise that study method - which in my opinion is illogical. You can't say that those who write on the spot will be the ones who will maximise their education in English for instance, because really; the course is significantly flawed. Some would be better off preparing a generic essay that has been meticulously edited in consideration of the main concepts that encapsulate the rubric. Then, they'll be able to adapt their scaffold to any question and thus achieve the desired marks, which in turn is "achieving academic potential". People need to realise that the HSC is about how well you satisfy the markers, it has nothing to do with deriving enjoyment from the subjects you learn. It's a real shame, I know, but unfortunately the way BOSTES sets out year 12 just forces many students to adhere to the former practice.

 

[dan964]

@strawberrye

Agree with the rest of your post, but the bolded I strongly disagree with. By your rationale, you're saying that memorising key quotes + techniques will further one's academic potential than others who do not utilise that study method - which in my opinion is illogical. You can't say that those who write on the spot will be the ones who will maximise their education in English for instance, because really; the course is significantly flawed. Some would be better off preparing a generic essay that has been meticulously edited in consideration of the main concepts that encapsulate the rubric. Then, they'll be able to adapt their scaffold to any question and thus achieve the desired marks, which in turn is "achieving academic potential". People need to realise that the HSC is about how well you satisfy the markers, it has nothing to do with deriving enjoyment from the subjects you learn. It's a real shame, I know, but unfortunately the way BOSTES sets out year 12 just forces many students to adhere to the former practice.

I would actually disagree.

To your statement in bold, I say don't memorise a full essay. why?
for a very simple reason. you could be asked to write a speech (like they did for the module a assessment at selective school)
and regurgitating essay generic or not would get you good marks. in fact it would get you no higher than 9 and this would have to be a band 6 essay.

General:
yes hsc is about satisfying the markers etc. but writing a generic essay can be a problem.
I would recommend not memorising a whole essay especially for module b.
This is because they can ask really specific questions. And yes a good essay may cover all the necessary areas, but it would firstly would be really long.and secondly you run the risk of being too vague and not answering the question directly.

What I did was put together a summary sheet of examples, short paragraphs that expanded on the ideas raised in the example, and then I would just use the suitable ones for the question. I actually used something like 18 examples for module A and what I did was grouped them in pairs (for module A) to allow direct comparison between the two texts.

I would also still recommend writing practice essays but memorising full essays. Maybe a well worded Section or good topic sentences, but not a whole essay. I would also recommend getting good at looking at a question and getting a topic sentence. Don't pick absurd or obscure themes/ideas.

 

[teridax]

I would actually disagree. yes hsc is about satisfying the markers etc. but writing a generic essay can be a problem.
I would recommend not memorising a whole essay especially for module b.
This is because they can ask really specific questions. And yes a good essay may cover all the necessary areas, but it would firstly would be really long.and secondly you run the risk of being too vague and not answering the question directly.

What I did was put together a summary sheet of examples, short paragraphs that expanded on the ideas raised in the example, and then I would just use the suitable ones for the question. I actually used something like 18 examples for module A and what I did was grouped them in pairs (for module A) to allow direct comparison between the two texts.

I would also still recommend writing practice essays but memorising full essays. Maybe a well worded Section or good topic sentences, but not a whole essay. I would also recommend getting good at looking at a question and getting a topic sentence. Don't pick absurd or obscure themes/ideas.

Fair point about the risk of memorising essays for module B since the questions are generally brutal, but that doesn't take away from the fact that many students have succeeded in doing so with utilising (what's arguably) the most dominant study method for English. Since the rubric for mod B asks for a informed personal understanding, this connotes that you're allowed to disagree with the question so that your memorising essay will still be able to be moulded to the demands of the marking criteria, hence you will attain the marks. Given this, I acknowledge that memorising essays can be dangerous for Mod B (it can still work though), but you can definitely get away with it for the AOS and the other modules.

Which is why you test your generic essay out through doing practice questions determining the adaptability. And really, all a generic essay requires is a change in topic sentence, intro and conclusion to ensure the marker sees an insightful and fluid response that directly answers the question.

But that's you - you may feel like memorising quotes and techniques is the best strategy. However, as I stated before, different methods work for different people. Writing on the spot may not necessarily go along well with everyone in all honesty.

EDIT: if a speech did come up in an assessment, all it requires from your generic essay is a change in tone, i.e. inclusive language.