------------------------------------------------------------------- WRITING ESSAY EXAMS ------------------------------------------------------------------- A. When you write an essay exam, which is like writing any other kind of expository essay, you need to follow a few basic rules of good writing: 1. Present a well organized answer. A survey of faculty members indicates that the majority of those who grade essay exams consider coherent organization to be the most important characteristic of a well-written exam (in addition, of course, to evidence that the writer knows the material). To write a clearly organized and logically developed answer, you will have to spend a few minutes planning your essay before you begin to write. After you are done planning and have a scrap-paper outline to serve as a guide, be sure that what you write has a clearly marked introduction which both states the point(s) you are going to make and also, if possible, indicates how you are going to proceed. In addition, the essay should have a clearly indicated conclusion which summarizes the material covered and emphasizes your thesis or main point. Some words you can use in your conclusion follow: for these reasons in conclusion to sum up therefore consequently 2. Answer the whole question. Many essay questions have several parts, and answering only the first part will get you only partial credit. However, once you've answered all the parts of the question, stop writing! You need to be as concise as possible because the people who grade your essay value brevity. They are also fairly good at detecting "padding," "shooting the breeze," "slinging the old B.S.," etc. A lot of rambling and ranting is a sure sign that the writer doesn't really know what the right answer is and hopes that somehow, something in that overgrown jungle of words was the correct answer. 3. Offer adequate support. Do not just assert something is true, prove it! What facts, figures, examples, tests, etc. prove your point? You may be intelligent, trustworthy, loveable, etc., but no one is going to believe all your statements just because you say they are true. In many cases, the difference between an A and a B as a grade is due to the effective use of supporting evidence. 4. Follow the conventions of grammar. People who do not use these conventions or rules of language may be thought of by their readers as less competent or less educated. If you need help with these or other writing skills, come to the Writing Center! B. Some pitfalls to avoid: 1. Some instructors have a preferred way of presenting information, or the content of the course may dictate certain kinds of responses. Thus you may find yourself repeating the same method of organization when answering several questions, but do not be lulled into thinking this is all that is asked of you. The next question may challenge you to respond somewhat differently. For example, after several short-answer questions asking you to list some items of information, you may find that the next question asks you to interpret the facts, not merely list them. 2. During the first few minutes of an exam, other students may begin writing furiously. This might cause you to panic and to think that you should be doing the same. Don't! The people who plunge in and begin writing often do not read through the questions thoroughly and have not planned their answers. 3. Be sure that you answer ALL parts of a question which may proceed from point to point, such as the following: Example: Discuss at length the X army. Why was it organized, and how did the reason for its organization affect the kind of institution it became? Who served in this army? How was it trained? Was it ever used? Seemingly unrelated questions within a larger question may actually be the instructor's attempt to lead you through a discussion of a unified point. Consider this question, for example: What was President B's background prior to his entry into American political life? Why was he possibly the most significant figure in American politics between President A and President M? Do you feel that he was a good president or a poor one? Explain. 4. Read the question carefully to be sure that you've determined not only what is being asked but also how you are being asked to prove your answer. Example: X wrote, ". . ." Using material from both the lectures and the readings, analyze X's statement. To what extent and in what ways is it true? How is it false? 5. Some exam questions ask for objective reporting of the facts or objective observation, not opinions or interpretation. In these cases, phrases such as "I think," or "it seems to me," or "I thought this was a pretty good example," are irrelevant or wrong kinds of responses. Other questions, however, ask for your interpretation, not just your ability to recall facts. Given all the facts, what do you think about this issue or idea? How and why do you interpret the facts this way? C. Some organizational patterns: Analysis involves breaking something down into the elements of which it is composed, discovering the parts that make up the whole. X 1 2 3 4 Example: What factors influence "X" type of company in deciding where to locate in a metropolitan area? Useful transition words: first, second, third, etc. next another in addition moreover Cause and Effect involves tracing probable or known effects of a certain cause or examining one or more effects and figuring out the reasonable or known cause(s). Examples: How can story/music sessions help a young child to develop a sense of trust? What were the weaknesses of X government, and why was it unable to reform itself? Useful transition words: because consequently therefore for this reason as a result Comparison involves examining two similar but not identical things for the purpose of discovering in detail their likenesses and differences. Two possible organizational patterns: 1. Opposing pattern I. Subject A (education in high school) subpoint 1 (teachers) subpoint 2 (classes) subpoint 3 (activities) II. Subject B (education in college) subpoint 1 (teachers) subpoint 2 (classes) subpoint 3 (activities) Conclusion: tie A and B together 2. Alternating pattern I. Point 1. (teachers) subject A (high school) subject B (college) II. Point 2. (classes) subject A (high school) subject B (college) III. Point 3. (activities) subject A (high school) subject B (college) Examples: Provide three major advantages of an open question; provide three major disadvantages of an open question. How do the advantages and disadvantages of closed questions relate to the advantages and disadvantages of open questions? Compare and contrast the reforms of the A Era and the B Period--their origins, aims, success, and failures. Was the B Period an extension of the A Era or something entirely different? Useful transition words: on the other hand similarly unlike A, B. . . While A is . . ., B is . . . While both A and B are... , only B.. but conversely despite however nevertheless though on the contrary in the same way Definition usually proceeds through three steps: 1) stating the term to be defined, 2) stating the class of objects or concepts to which the term belongs, and 3) differentiating the term from the rest of the class by stating the characteristics which distinguish what the term defines from all others in that class. To define an object or term thoroughly you can use some of the following: --details which describe the term --examples and incidents --comparisons to familiar terms --negation to state what the term is not --classification (i.e., to indicate classes which compose the term) --analysis (i.e., to break it down into parts) --examination of origins or causes --examination of results, effects, or uses Examples: Define the following terms: directive interview vs. nondirective interview informal communication vs. formal communication What is the cosmological argument? Does it prove that God exists? Why or why not? Process (sometimes called Process or Causal Analysis) involves giving directions or telling the reader how to do something. Your organizational pattern is fairly straightforward. Go step by step, giving the reader reasons for each step and defining terms if you need to. The sequencing may be chronological or ordered by the material. A B C D Examples: With the heavy snows of the last two winters, you are considering the purchase of a snowmobile. Your spouse says it's too expensive. Explain how you should estimate the cost per hour of snowmobile use. Useful transition words: first second third, etc. next then following this after afterwards after this subsequently simultaneously concurrently finally Thesis and Support involves stating a clearly worded main point and defending it with all the data, examples, statements of authorities, tables, logical reasons, graphs, etc. that support your main argument. State your thesis in your introduction, support it in the body of your essay, and sum up in your conclusion. Examples: Why should the government intervene during a gas shortage? "It is almost always a good strategy to imitate your competitors." Do you agree or disagree? Discuss, illustrating your argument with examples from the cases studied. The price of coal has recently risen steeply. Who will benefit most from the price rise, the mining companies or the owners of the land on which mining takes place? Why? What assumptions do you have to make in order to get your answer? Useful transition words: therefore for this reason it follows that as a result because furthermore moreover ______________________________________ WHILE THE TYPES OF ORGANIZATION PRESENTED HERE ARE FAIRLY DISTINCT FROM EACH OTHER, YOU WILL FIND MANY ESSAY EXAM QUESTIONS WHICH WILL MIX TOGETHER SEVERAL OF THESE PATTERNS OF THINKING. Examples: Outline briefly the systems approach to business management. Illustrated how this differs from the traditional approach. Explain why it is more difficult for those bringing about change to succeed in the political process than those supporting the current existing values. What kinds of audiences and issues is rhetoric good for, and what kind of person makes or should make good speaker, according to Aristotle? Compare with Plato. D. EXERCISES How would you plan the structure of the answers to these essay exam questions? 1. Was the X Act a continuation of earlier government policies or did it represent a departure from prior philosophies? 2. Suppose you are a consumer of bus services in Topeka. What criteria would you recommend that the appropriate regulatory commission use in setting bus fares? 3. There is near consensus in Washington that our economy needs to be stimulated. What evidence would you present to support this view? What can be done and by whom to stimulate the economy? Explain briefly how each tool would be used and how it works. 4. Should the organization structure of X Company be changed? If so, tell 1) how it should be changed 2) what existing problems will be solved by the change you recommend, and what problems will be encountered under the new structure. If not, describe the best available alternative structure and tell why the present structure is better. Select one of the two options above. 5. What seem to be the sources of aggression in human beings? What can be done to lower the level of aggression in our society? 6. If England and France had gone to war during X period, which type of explanation would you find most plausible, one focusing on human nature, one focusing on the nature of the societies involved, or one focusing on the international environment? 7. Which of the following two answers is the better one? Why? Question: Discuss the contribution of William Morris to book design, using as an example his edition of the works of Chaucer. A. William Morris' Chaucer was his masterpiece. It shows his interest in the Middle Ages. The type is based on medieval manuscript writing, and the decoration around the edges of the pages is like that used in medieval books. The large initial letters are typical of medieval design. Those letters were printed from woodcuts, which was the medieval way of printing. The illustrations were by Burn-Jones, one of the best artists in England at the time. Morris was able to get the most competent people to help him because he was so famous as a poet and a designer (the Morris chair) and wallpaper and other decorative items for the home. He designed the furnishings for his own home, which was widely admired among the sort of people he associated with. In this way he started the arts and crafts movement. B. Morris's contribution to book design was to approach the problem as an artist or fine craftsman, rather than a mere printer who reproduced texts. He wanted to raise the standards of printing, which had fallen to a low point, by showing that truly beautiful books could be produced. His Chaucer was designed as a unified work of art or high craft. Since Chaucer lived in the Middle Ages, Morris decided to design a new type based on medieval script and to imitate the format of a medieval manuscript. This involved elaborate letters and large initials at the beginnings of verses, as well as wide borders of intertwined vines with leaves, fruit, and flowers in strong colors. The effect was so unusual that the book caused great excitement and inspired other printers to design beautiful rather than purely utilitarian books. From James M. McCrimmon, Writing With a Purpose, 7th ed., pp. 261-263. Washburn University Writing Center, 257 Morgan This handout adapted and revised from one prepared by the Purdue University Writing Lab, W. Lafayette, IN.