Nothing can take the place of knowing the subject well, so you can start preparing for an essay examination by taking careful notes on lectures and readings. You may want to outline a reading assignment, list its main points, list and define its key terms, or briefly summarize its argument. A particularly effective method is to divide your notes into two categories, labeling the left-hand side Summaries and Quotations and the right-hand side Questions and Comments. Then, as you read, use the left side to record summaries of major points and noteworthy quotations. On the right, record questions that your reading has not answered, puzzling ideas, and your own comments. This note-taking encourages active, critical reading and, combined with careful class notes, will do much to prepare you. Here are one student’s notes:

In addition to taking careful, detailed notes, you can prepare by writing out essay answers to questions you think are likely to appear on the exam. Practicing ahead of time is much more effective than last-minute cramming. On the day of the exam, do ten to fifteen minutes of writing just before you go into the examination to warm up your thinking muscles.

Analyzing essay questions

Before you begin writing, read the question carefully several times, and analyze what it asks you to do. Most essay examination questions contain two kinds of terms, strategy terms that describe your task in writing the essay and content terms that define the scope and limits of the topic.

Words like analyze, describe, and explain tell what logical strategy to use and often set the form your answer takes. Since not all terms mean the same thing in every discipline, be sure you understand exactly what the term means in context of the material covered on the examination. In general, however, the most commonly used strategy terms have standard meanings. Don’t hesitate to ask your instructor to clarify terms you’re unsure of.

If strategy terms are not explicitly stated in an essay question, you need to infer a strategy from the content terms. For example, a question that mentions two groups working toward the same goal may imply comparison and contrast, and a question referring to events in a given time period may imply summary.

Thinking through your answer

You may be tempted to begin writing your essay examination at once. Time is precious—but so are organizing and planning. So spend some time (about 10 percent of the allotted time is a good rule of thumb) thinking through your answer.

Begin by deciding which major points you need to make and in what order to present them. Jot down support for each point. Craft a clear, succinct thesis that satisfies the strategy term of the exam question. In most writing situations, you start from a working thesis, but when writing under pressure you will probably find it more efficient to outline (or simply jot down) your ideas and craft your thesis from your outline. For example, if you were asked to define the three major components of personality according to Freud, you might write a brief informal outline as a framework for your answer.

From this outline, you can develop a thesis: According to Freud, the human personality consists of three major and interconnected elements: the id, the ego, and the superego.

For Multilingual Writers: Writing notes in your own language