How to Write an Essay Examination
1) Read the directions carefully
2) If you are given a choice of questions, select carefully and do no change your minds. If given the questions beforehand, prepare your answers in advance.
3) Determine how much time should be spent on each question in terms of points assigned. Stick to the time limits established.
4) Read the question carefully.
5) Ask yourself, “What does this question require me to do?”
6) Read the Question again with regard to the key direction words: compare, contrast, define, explain, summarize and evaluate. KNOW WHAT THESE TERMS MEAN AND WHAT THEY ASK YOU TO DO.
7) Decide what the general answer is to be and how you will organize it before you begin to write. Outlines, whether written for questions given in advance or otherwise, help greatly.
1) Writing the essay question requires you to state a purpose or a position.
2) The purpose or position should be stated clearly in a brief introductory paragraph. Clever students construct their thesis, purpose, or position statement in such a way as to restate the question.
3) The bulk of the essay should support the purpose or position.
4) Each paragraph in your essay is part of an organic whole. If a fact or concept is not pertinent, it does not belong in the essay. Thus, if it does not aid in answering the question or prove the validity of your position, it does not belong in the essay. Make certain to explain how the evidence presented in the essay answers the question.
5) One pattern of development is to generalize and then support the generalizations with specific facts and details. Generalizations alone are not adequate.
6) Another method of development is to present facts and details before reaching a generalization, but mere facts are not adequate.
7) You must include a brief summary at the conclusion of the essay. Generally, the summary is a brief restatement of the purpose and position contained in the first paragraph, along with a general statement that summarizes the argument / evidence given in the body of the essay.
8) Remember that the idea is not to write all you can think of, but only so much as to answer the question well. The real work involved in taking an essay examination is preparation, and that should occur over the days preceding the exam.
Compare: Look for qualities or characteristics that resemble each other. Emphasize the similarities, but also mention differences.
Contrast: Stress the dissimilarities or differences of things, qualities, events, or problems.
Define: Give concise, clear and authoritative meanings. Do not give details, but make sure to state the limits of the definition.
Describe: Recount, characterize, sketch or relate in sequence or story form.
Discuss: Examine, analyze carefully, and give reasons pro and con. Be complete and give details.
Explain: Clarify, interpret and spell out the material you present.
Interpret: Translate, give examples of, solve, or comment on a subject.
General
Ideas and Suggestions on Essays
1) Proofread and take care on essays, especially those written at home. Essays should be polished written pieces.
2) Take-home essay exams must be typed (size 12, double spaced). If you do not have a computer at home, use those provided for you in the library either before or after school. Computers are also available in public libraries.
3) Read the textbook to gain insight into the questions. Not everything can be covered in class, nor should it be. The internet can also be a valuable tool.
4) Grammar is an important part of any grade. Run-on sentences, sentence fragments and other writing errors will hurt your grade. Do not just rely on “spell check”. It does not catch everything.
5) Numbers less than 1000, as a general rule, should be spelled out, with the exception being those numbers in dates.
6) Capitalize only proper nouns, and then be consistent.
7) Cover pages and fancy folders are unnecessary. Do not use them.
8) NO FIRST PERSON
9) Avoid the use of contractions in academic writing
10) Break the paper into MULTIPLE PARAGRAPHS, each headed by a topic sentence.
(these guidelines are taken from the website below)
© 2000-2004 The Write
Place
URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/research/plagiarism.html
When writers intentionally or
unintentionally present another person's words, ideas, or work as their
own, they are committing plagiarism. Most students know that passing off
another individual's paper as their own is plagiarism. However, fewer students
understand that accidentally including someone else's sentence in their writing
without quotation marks and a reference is plagiarism, too.
For several important reasons,
you must reference the original work and author in your writing whenever
you:
First, effectively integrating source material from the experts with your own ideas and accurately referencing that source material can lend support to the argument in your paper and credibility to your reputation as a maturing professional in your field. Second, providing complete references enables readers who are interested in your topic to find out more about your research, easily. Third, just as you expect to receive credit for your work, other authors expect and deserve credit for theirs.
And
finally, neglecting to correctly acknowledge material from outside sources in
your writing is plagiarism that can result in serious academic consequences. In
some cases, plagiarism can have legal consequences as well.
The
following suggestions may help you avoid plagiarism:
I didn't know! is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism.
In
addition to knowing the rules for documenting outside sources, you must also
understand how to effectively integrate outside source material in your
writing. If you have questions about, paraphrasing, quoting, or other ways to
use outside sources, you should speak to your teacher or purchase a writing
handbook that includes advice, explanations, and examples.
Although this may seem like common sense, writers often leave writing tasks until the last minute, perhaps because they don't have enough time, they don't manage the time they do have effectively, or they just aren't looking forward to the tasks. Procrastination can lead to panic, and panic can cause writers to use poor judgment with regard to plagiarism.
Start
researching your topic right away and carry a notebook or paper with you so you
can jot down your ideas and notes about how to support your ideas with
information from your sources. That way, if your mind goes blank when you sit
down at a computer, you'll have material to draw from, and the desire to copy
someone else's words, ideas, or work will seem less tempting.
Remember,
too, that your professors are in the business of words, ideas, and people.
They'll most likely notice the change in your writing if you copy from an
outside source without referencing it. Moreover, by talking with you about your
topic, they'll probably discover when you've tried to present someone else's
ideas as your own. In addition, if you've copied part or all of your paper from
the Internet, your professors will easily be able to locate the original text
by using an Internet search engine.
Oops! is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism, either. As you research your topic, make sure you clearly indicate in your notes which ideas are your own and which ideas are quoted or paraphrased from other sources. If you quote something from another source, copy it exactly the way it appears and put it in quotation marks. If you paraphrase something from another source, make sure you use all of your own words. Don't just change a few words in the sentence to make it look a little different--that's plagiarism!
In
addition, if you've quoted or paraphrased an outside source, carefully record
which source the material comes from and all the information needed for
referencing that source. You won't want to try to retrace your path to an
Internet site or run back to the library the night before your paper is due
just because you forgot to write down the necessary information the first time.
As you research, you may even want to build a numbered list of all the sources
you encounter and then number your notes from each source accordingly. However,
no one right way exists for taking notes about research, so develop a system
that works for you.