HOW TO TAKE AN ESSAY TEST ESSAY TEST CLUE WORDS SAMPLE RESPONSES Predict Test Questions Successful students learn to predict examination questions. Predicting test questions is not nearly as difficult as it might seem at first. Every examination is based on only a limited amount of material, and there are only a certain number of questions that instructors intend to ask. Usually they are willing to tell you how many of these questions there will be in advance. Perhaps you can figure out, for example, that if you have made 25 pages of notes in lecture and the instructor says he or she intends to give you a 50-item true-false test, on the average, he or she will have to build about two items from every page of notes. Actually, this is only a broad guess, but reviewing for the main ideas on each page of notes will keep you from attempting the impossible task of memorizing every word. It also warns against a superficial skimming of your notes. The best way to begin anticipating your test questions is to imagine yourself in the place of the instructors. They want to find out just how many of the important ideas (important in their judgment, don't forget) you were able to understand. Chances are that they are not particularly interested in holding you responsible for every footnote--only the big ideas. What are the main ideas in the course outline the instructor gave you at the beginning of the term? What were the main points emphasized in the textbook readings or in the outside readings? What was the main point in the demonstrations or experiments? If you know what is important, you can place yourself in your instructor's shoes and think of some questions that would test whether or not a person really understood the important ideas. You probably will never to able to predict the exact wording of your instructor's questions, but this is not important. If you predict any sort of question that tests for the important idea, you are much better prepared to answer any other question which calls for the same information. If you would like to make a game of this serious business, you might enter into a little friendly competition with someone else taking the examination to see which one of you can most accurately predict the actual test questions. After the test, get together and compare scores. In fact, after the test it is often a good idea to go back through your study material to find the source of the questions actually asked. Such an approach gives you hints on the effectiveness of your study methods. Understand the Relation of Each Question to Every Other Question Usually it is best to read each question twice. In this way you become aware of the over-all plan of the test and how each question relates to the others. If you simply answer each question as you encounter it, you may give certain information or evidence in replying to one question which actually is more suitable for another question. A thorough reading of all questions at first prevents this possibility. It is also important to know exactly how many questions there are so that you can plan your time accordingly. Sometimes the directions will state that you need only answer three out of four questions. If so, it would be foolish to plan your time to answer all four questions. Understand the Directions There are certain key words that appear in the directions of essay questions which tell exactly what is expected of you. These key words determine how you should answer the question. Instructors have different expectations depending on the key words they use: a. When instructors want you to tell all that you know about a certain question, they may use such terms as describe, discuss, review, or state. b. When they are looking only for certain specific characteristics or certain limited facts, they may ask you to: compare contrast diagram illustrate prove explain define c. When they want you to give the important facts or characteristics without elaborating on them all, they might ask you to: enumerate trace list summarize tabulate outline d. When they are interested in your own opinion and how well you can substantiate your opinion, they may ask you to: interpret evaluate choose justify select criticize It is very important to do exactly what these key words ask. You should give instructors what they ask for, no more and no less. A good way to insure that you note these words is to go back and underline them on the test paper. In this way you will not forget what you are to do. Plan Your Answers on Your Idea Page As soon as you are sure you understand the directions, you will begin getting ideas about how you ought to answer each question. There is danger that you will forget some of these ideas by the time you get to the question where you need them. Thus it is important that you record them immediately upon what you might label your "idea page." Jot down ideas as each one comes to you; later on you may scratch them out, rearrange them, and organize your answers. Perhaps the most serious error that students make in answering essay questions is to pitch right in and begin answering the first question without thinking through exactly how they intend to organize the answer. By labeling one of your answer pages as your "idea page" or "organization page," you forcibly remind yourself, "Now first of all I've got to think about what I'm going to do." Incidentally, it won't hurt to turn in your "idea page" as part of the exam, so that the instructor will see that you were foresighted enough to attempt to organize your thinking. He will be impressed! Be sure, however, to use paper provided by the instructor so that he or she will not think you have smuggled in some "crib notes." Plan Your Time Every minute is valuable. It is most important that you plan your time so that you have a chance to answer all questions. It is extremely easy to "panic" and feel too pressed to take time to plan. The exact amount of time cannot be specified, but it is safe to suggest that 10 minutes out of the hour (often only a 50- minute period) should be devoted to the initial planning on the idea page. Begin with Questions You Know You Can Answer If there are some questions which you do not know too much about, it may be well to begin with a question that you know you can answer. Naturally, you must be careful in arranging your answers so that each will eventually appear in the correct order. Label each answer with the number and subpart numbers corresponding to the original question, so that both you and the instructor will be able to keep them straight. There are several advantages in beginning with an easy question. First of all you will not "spin your wheels" over a question for which you cannot immediately dig out ideas. Start where you can go to work immediately, for as you write on the question you know something about, you may get ideas about some of the doubtful questions. Use the Technical Vocabulary Nothing is more convincing to your instructor than accurate use of the technical vocabulary of the course. This is not to say that a student should "show off" knowledge by use of the terminology in an overelaborate manner, but do not undersell yourself by using an everyday term when you know the appropriate technical term. Do Not Try to Convince the Instructor He or She is Wrong As a general rule, an examination is not the place to write your declaration of independence. It may well be that you have an entirely different opinion about some controversial matter than does your instructor. Indeed, one of the principal values of a college education is that it provides a place where you can enter into intellectual controversies without fear of reprisal. However, it is doubtful that an examination is the place to do this. In an examination the instructor is trying to determine how much you have learned. You may have become convinced that the instructor's attitude or conclusion is "dead wrong," but you will not have time to convince him or her of this "fact" in the brief time allotted for your answer. Always Write Something Even if a question leaves you with an almost complete blank, it would be well to write down something that you believe is related to the topic. The only exception to this would be in the case where instructors actually subtract points for wrong answers. Ordinarily they will give a zero if you write nothing, so you have nothing to lost by writing some information if it is in any way related to the question. Sometimes, in spite of your good intentions to stay within the time limit, you find that you do not have adequate time to write an answer to the last question. In such a case you at least ought to sketch an outline of what you had planned to write. Maybe you could even ask the instructor to look at your idea page where you have recorded some notes. He or she may be willing to give you some credit for showing that you did know something. Instructors are not mind readers. They cannot judge how much you know if you have not put it down in black and white. Avoid Excuses Instructors do not enjoy reading excuses on examination papers. To say, "I know the answer to this but I ran out of time," does not convince any instructor that you know the material. To say, "I've been sick and didn't have time to study," also makes a poor impression. If you have been legitimately absent and have not had time to prepare, then you probably should not be taking the examination. Such excuses in any event should be delivered by means other than a statement on the examination paper itself. "Pad" an Answer Only with Discretion Instructors are usually quite adept at detecting student bluffing. They give no credit for elaboration of the obvious. However, when students find themselves in a spot where they just honestly do not know the right answer or many part of the answer, they have very little to lose by elaborating on what they do know. Sometimes in the process of elaborating, students will think of other pertinent facts which they can then include. Such a procedure should be following only when your "back is up against the wall." In any event, at the end of each answer you should plan to leave some blank space. Then, if later in the examination you happen to think of other pertinent points, you can still add them at the right spot. Write as Legibly as You Can Good handwriting is an aid to getting higher grades. Sometimes students think they can get by with poor ideas or sloppy thinking if they disguise it in poor handwriting. They delude themselves into thinking that the teacher, being unable to read their writing, will conclude that they must know the material. Actually the opposite is true. The teacher is merely frustrated and irritated in trying to understand what they are saying. A study was performed to find out just exactly how much influence handwriting had on grades. Forty-three teachers were asked to grade the same compositions at two different times. One time the handwriting was quite legible and neat; the other time the handwriting was less legible, although still readable. Care was taken to insure that the only difference between the papers was the quality of the handwriting. It was found that the papers with good handwriting were scored the equivalent of one letter grade higher than those papers with poor handwriting. Reread and Correct Your Answers While writing hurriedly it is easy to make many mistakes in punctuation, capitalization, and wording. Sometimes the whole meaning of a sentence will be changed if you have forgotten to include a certain word, for example, the word not. The planning of your time for the questions should allow a few minutes at the end to reread your examination. You need not have time to elaborately polish and reconstruct your sentences, but you should have time to correct any obvious errors that could turn out to be tragic ones. (Material adapted from William W. Farquhar's book Learning to Study, pages 126-144). ESSAY TEST CLUE WORDS Clue Word Action Required Analyze Means to find the main ideas and show how they are related and why they are important. Comment on Means to discuss, criticize, or explain its meaning as completely as possible. Compare Means to show both the similarities and differences. Contrast Means to compare by showing the differences. Criticize Means to give your judgment or reasoned opinion of something, showing its good and bad points. It is not necessary to attack it. Define Means to give the formal meaning by distinguishing it from related terms. This is often a matter of giving a memorized definition. Describe Means to write a detailed account or verbal picture in a logical sequence or story form. Diagram Means to make a graph, chart, or drawing. Be sure to label it and add a brief explanation if it is needed. Discuss Means to describe giving the details and explaining the pros and cons of it. Enumerate Means to list. Name and list the main ideas one by one. Number them. Evaluate Means to give your opinion or some expert's opinion of the truth or importance of the concept. Tell the advantages and disadvantages. Illustrate Means to explain to make it clear by concrete examples, comparisons, or analogies. Interpret Means to give the meaning using examples and personal comments to make it clear. Justify Means to give a statement of why you think it is so. Give reasons for your statement or conclusion. List Means to produce a numbered list of words, sentences, or comments. Same as enumerate. Outline Means to give a general summary. It should contain a series of main ideas supported by secondary ideas. Omit minor details. Show the organization of the ideas. Prove Means to show by argument or logic that it is true. The word "prove" has a very special meaning in mathematics and physics. Relate Means to show the connections between things, telling how one causes or is like another. Review Means to give a survey or summary in which you look at the important parts and criticize where needed. State Means to describe the main points in precise terms. Be formal. Use brief, clear sentences. Omit details or examples. Summarize Means to give a brief, condensed account of the main ideas. Omit details and examples. Trace Means to follow the progress or history of the subject. This list is too long for most students to memorize, but try to remember the six most often used clue words: contrast, compare, criticize, define, describe, list. (This list was taken from pages 231-233 of Carman and Adams' book Study Skills: A Student's Guide for Survival.) SAMPLE RESPONSES: EXAMPLES OF GOOD AND POOR ESSAY ANSWERS Read through the following examples of essay answers and the thoughts of the instructor upon reading them. QUESTION: Short Answer: Compare the problems of the student sitting at the back of a classroom with one sitting at the front. STUDENT 1: At the back, students have lots of distractions and they think they can daydream, while they really can't because professors know what they're doing. Students in front don't have these problems. INSTRUCTOR'S THOUGHTS This answer is minimal. Student 1 remembers two facts from the lecture and puts them down with no imagination and with poor organization, also saying nothing about the problems of students up front. My lecture had made no mention of such problems, so the students answering the question were called upon to think independently, and apparently this one has difficulty doing that. STUDENT 2: Sitting in back of a classroom brings about trouble to a lot of students. They sit back there and they find out they don't do as well as students who sit up front. Those up front, according to one experiment, got better grades. They are also better students, while the ones in the back of the class are not so good. I think sitting in the middle is about best. INSTRUCTOR'S THOUGHTS Student 2 uses a lot of words but says almost nothing. In the answer, Student 2 loses sight of the original questions and begins to answer a different question, getting off track. What was this person thinking? Or was this person thinking clearly or accurately at all? STUDENT 3: Students sitting in the back of a classroom find more distractions. The heads of the students in front of them, the opportunity of looking out the window, good-looking classmates-- all these are distractions. In back they are more likely to be with other students who are not good students, but who may be writing letters, daydreaming, or goofing off. The students in front, on the other hand, may feel that other students think they're trying to gain the instructor's favor, "polishing the old apple." Also, though students in the front may easily gain the instructor's attention and be able to communicate more easily with him or her, they may have difficulty responding to comments made by other class members, having to crane their neck or twist in their seat to reply. INSTRUCTOR'S THOUGHTS This looks good! Student 3 gives a somewhat informal answer but covers the ground quite well and stays on track. I like reading this. Good work! Examples adapted and revised from Richard A. Kalish's Making the Most of College (p. 131-132). Washburn University Writing Center, 257 Morgan This handout adapted and revised from one originally prepared by the Purdue University Writing Lab, W. Lafayette, IN.