I haven't done an exam for 20 years and I've got one next week. Any tips for rambling-prevention?

[spacedonkey]

Well, I have done exams, but they were IT ones, not essay ones. Next week it's an essay one.

I know the material well (I think), but what I'm not at all confident about is managing to produce something coherent in the time limit.

I will write a plan before starting, but have a tendency to ramble.

Does anyone have any tips for exam writing style?

spacedonkey - I've just had this experience, only it was only(!) 10 years since I did an exam!

Things I did were to write out my essay plan in the exam room, and make sure any particular points were also written down there so I didn't forget them. Definitely write a structure to prevent rambling. Remember they're trying to find out what you know, not what you don't know. And, crucially, make sure you've got a pen that's easy to write with, and a spare one as well! Good luck!

First thing is to take a deep breath and really read the questions (sounds obvious but it's easy to panic).

Make your plan. Make bullet points of the main points you must include. Say you are going to have an introduction, then the main body of the essay, then your summary and conclusion. Work out how much time you have per essay, then break down that time again into chunks - so say you have 3 essays and 3 hours, then break down each essay - 5 minutes planning, 10 minutes intro, 25 mins main body of the essay, 20 minutes to summarise and conclude. STICK to it - keep an eye on your watch and if you are taking too long then rein it in. And don't take 20 words to say something you could say in 10!

It's years since I did an exam but I am the world's worst waffler and I had to learn this the hard way - after too many exams where I'd produce 3 beautiful essays and one mad dash rush one 'cos I'd run out of time.

Good luck, SD!!!

1. Do some practice, timed essays.

2. Make sure that you have collected in advance a store of points to make about the themes likely to come up. You won't have much time to think in the exam. 3. Answer the question set, not the one you wish had been asked. 4. Spend plenty of time planning your answer (e.g. 10 minutes, if you have an hour to answer a question) 5. Write an intro where you state what you will argue and what the structure of your answer will be. 6. Continue to 'signpost' your argument throughout - eg "Thus, blah blah blah. Turning now to arguments against this view, ..." 7. Try to refer to specific authors, not "some people argue that". 8. Make sure your handwriting is legible. 9. If you run out of time, write "running out of time. With more time, I would have dealt with the following points" (in bullet form). You will get credit for this,

Hope this helps. I tell my students this every year, but a lot don't follow this advice. Examiners are always grateful to people who do.

I've got my Uni exam study skills pack saved on my pc. If you e-mail it I'll attach it to a return e-mail.

Take out all the asterisks and spaces

pe achesan dcream04@bti nternet.*com

HTH

Unless it's some sort of "literature" exam, concentrate on demonstrating you know the stuff.
Maybe structure it like a program:

Define your terms

List the things that happen to them

List as many exceptions as you have time for.

If you feel time slipping away from you, then it may be worth doing a kim of each question, just to make sure you get some answer. It's a marginal payoff issue. You can get some marks for saying that the causes of WWI were:
Web of alliances between France & Russia, Britain and France, etc.
Frustrated imperial ambitions of the Junkers.
The inherent love of Germans for gay 70s disco gear uniforms.

The perfect essay isn't going to happen under exam conditions, and it can be worth getting the 10% of possible marks by a quick list than over polishing an OK essay to move from 62 to 63 %.

Finally of course the standard heuristic of , when you can't answer a question, find some small part of it you can answer, then at the problem again.

These tips are fantastic!

I am doing timed practice at home with a stopwatch. It's like the Monty Python All England Summarize Proust Contest here.

Thank you all - I will email you peachy x

Good luck, donk.

thanks scummy

yes definitely do loads of practise timed essays.
And write a short plan in the exam room. It doesnt have to be complete. Just get you started in the right direction, so that youve got something to refer back to.

good luck!

I don't know if this is relevant but at my uni they don't always announce the start/stop time very clearly. If it says the start time is 9.30 then it probably will be, reguardless of if everyone is settled down.

cheesus H kreist, had the exam tonight, v stressful and got cramp in my hand now but thank you all for your help!

did you take your mascot?

of course

WOOHOO just got my results 90%!

thank you all for your help

Well done! Clever you !

many congratulations!!