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How to write exam essay |
HOW O WRI E A ESSAY 1. Wha is a essay? A orga ized collec io of YOUR IDEAS abou li erary ex s icely wri e a d professio ally prese ed . I o her words, he essay mus be well s ruc ured (i.e. orga ized) a d prese ed i a way ha he reader fi ds easy o follow a d clear: i mus look idy a d o prese a y obs acles o he reader. I mus have a clear readable i eres i g s yle. Bu , above all, i mus co sis of your ideas abou li erary ex s. his is he ce re of i : his, a d his o ly, ge s he marks. o quo es from cri ics, o ge eralisa io s a seco d ha d abou li erary his ory, o filli g a d paddi g; your hough s, ha you have had while i he ac of readi g specific bi s of li erary ex s, which ca be adduced i he form of quo a io s o back up your argume s. 2. Why wri e i his way? 2.1 Lear i g how o wri e professio ally I he E glish Depar me you lear how o respo d o li erary ex s. his is a i eres i g a d wor hwhile hi g o do, bu u less you become a eacher of E glish remarkably few people i la er life will be i eres ed i your hough s abou Ja e Aus e . Wha hey will be i eres ed i (I'm alki g abou po e ial employers ow, bu o o ly hem) is your abili y o alk, o hi k, a d o wri e. his par of he course is where you lear o wri e: professio ally. he guideli es ha follow ell you how o do i , or ra her how o lear o do i . hey se a higher s a dard ha is usually asked of a firs year u dergradua e essay i his Depar me . his is for he followi g reaso s. (1) I hi k i 's my job o offer you he bes advice I ca , o o ell you how o ge by. (2) If you lear wha hese guideli es each, you will ge be er marks i all he essays you do from ow o u il fi als. You will surprise he markers wi h he quali y of your prese a io s, by produci g a be er quali y ha hey expec . (3) You will lear a skill, a o -very-hard- o-lear skill, ha will las you for he res of your life. 3. Collec i g he ma erial he firs ask is o ge he ma erial oge her. he ma erial comes i wo ki ds: primary a d seco dary sources. Primary sources i his case are li erary ex s: he ac ual ma erial ha you work o . Seco dary sources are works of cri icism. Here is your Seco d Impor a Message: (ii) I is always be er o read a origi al ex a d refer o i ha o read a d refer o a cri ic. he more li erary ex s you read a d ca refer o he be er. You ca ' possibly read oo ma y. Remember, he key o your essay is he umber a d quali y of your ideas abou li erary ex s. If you casually refer, from a leas a appare posi io of familiari y, o some obscure li erary ex , you will wi he admira io of your marker. If you refer o a cri ic, par icularly a obscure o e, he cha ces are his or her eye will glaze over. here are excep io s o his rule, which I will me io la er, bu he basic pri ciple is ex remely impor a : origi al ex s are be er ha cri ics, a d you ca ' k ow oo ma y. Whereas i is possible o ge a firs class degree a d ever o have read a y cri ics a all. 3.1 Wha are cri ics for? he shor a swer: o be disagreed wi h. A lo ger a swer: readi g cri ics ca give you a idea of wha he s a e of cri ical opi io is abou a li erary ex , o save you re-i ve i g he wheel a d comi g up wi h some brillia origi al percep io ha William Empso hough of six y years ago.
Readi g cri ics mea s ha you ca s ar a he coal face ra her ha have o dig your ow mi e. Seco dly, hey ca s imula e your ideas. Bu he hi g o remember is: o ly your ideas ob ai meri . herefore, ever, ever, quo e a cri ic jus o agree wi h him or her. Always, u der all circums a ces, quo e a cri ic i he followi g form: Leavis says x, bu I disagree as follows. Or: Leavis says x, a d his is very rue, bu I would develop his hough as follows. ever, EVER: as Leavis says, followed by a quo e, followed by o hi g. his is very commo i u dergradua e essays, a d i is simply a was e of space. 3.2 Books a d ar icles A seco dary poi abou cri ics. hey publish i wo forms, books a d ar icles. You should be familiar wi h he library elec ro ic ca alogue a d he ways of searchi g i , i order o fi d books: i 's o difficul , a d if you do ' k ow how o do i by ow go immedia ely a d fi d ou . If you have a problem, ask a libraria , hey'd be happy o help. Jus spe d half a hour simply playi g wi h he library compu er, fi di g ou wha i ca do. Bu : books are o usually much use. hey're usually ou , as you will surely have discovered by ow. A d you gai o special meri poi s for havi g read hem, because so has everyo e else. Ar icles are a differe ma er. Ar icles i academic jour als are (a) o ormally read by u dergradua es, a d herefore (b) ormally o he shelves. hey are more work o rack dow , bu success will be rewarded by he admira io of your exami er, because u dergradua es are ' expec ed o k ow abou such hi gs. A d hey are full of i eres i g, origi al, a d up- o-da e ideas abou li erary ex s, ha , maybe, your exami er wo ' eve have heard of (bu do ' cou o his: s eali g ideas is heavily pe alized). Also of dross a d garbage, of course. Bu his is good oo, because you'll have ple y o disagree wi h. he way o ge hold of ar icles is o go o he library a d play wi h he CD ROM works a io . here's o e o every mai floor. I ca ' ell you here how o work i : fi d ou , i 's o difficul , a d, as before, a libraria will be glad o help you; also here are copious i s ruc io s. Spe d some ime playi g wi h i : he da abase you wa is called he MLA I dex. You will come up wi h a lo of i les ha are ' i he library, which is very frus ra i g, bu from every search you will fi d a leas a few releva ar icles, a d some of hese will be valuable. his is almos guara eed. o e: his i forma io is ow ou of da e. here is a wo derful da abase called BIDS ha lis s ar icles published si ce 1981. I 's o he Web; i 's easy o search, very user-frie dly, a d i emails you he lis of ar icles you are i eres ed i . Remarkable. You eed o go o he equally frie dly I forma io Desk i he Mai Library o ge a logi a d password firs . 3.3 Usi g he World Wide Web he Web is rapidly becomi g a fa as ic resource: easily available, full of ma erial, a d wi h a a a swer o every ques io . However, here are problems, a d you should use he Web carefully. 4. Readi g, maki g o es, havi g ideas Whe you have fou d he books a d ar icles you are goi g o read, you will eed o read hem. Here are he golde rules: (iii) Always carry a o ebookAlways read i erac ivelyFile a d rewri e he o es so you ca fi d hem agai Make a bibliography I will explai .
he key is: you are i he busi ess of maki g a collec io of your ideas (do I have o say i agai ?) abou li erary ex s. hese ca come o you a a y ime. If you do ' wri e hem dow , you will probably forge hem. If you do wri e hem dow , you will probably hi k of some more ideas while you are wri i g. Wri e hem dow oo. I does ' ma er if hey do ' seem very good: jus wri e hem dow . Carry o e of hose spiral-bou d shor ha d o ebooks a all imes, a d, if a idea comes o you, however i ima e or urge he accompa yi g mome , wri e i dow . o-o e eed ever see his o ebook, so you eed feel o self-co scious ess abou wha you wri e i i . his is perhaps he mos useful a ribu e of he shor ha d o ebook: i bea s he ce sor. he ce sor is he cause of wri er's block: he small voice i side your head ha ells you ha wha you're wri i g is rubbish. I your o ebook you ca ig ore ha voice, a d as a resul you will accumula e ideas. Some will be good, some bad; whe you re-read he o es you ca sor ou o e from he o her more ra io ally ha while u der he s ress of crea ive wri i g. hus he ce sor has bee by-passed. 4.1 Maki g o es he bes ime o have ideas is whe you are readi g, ei her a li erary ex or a work of cri icism. his is where o e- aki g comes i . Do ' make o es i he form of summaries, u less you eed i o help you remember a plo (lec ure o es are a excep io o his): i 's ormally bes o read he hi g agai (a d ge more ideas he seco d ime rou d). Bu always, always, read wi h a pe a d o ebook o ha d: read i erac ively. hi k abou wha you're readi g a d wri e dow your hough s. Always. Whe a hough occurs u der hese circums a ces i will be i reac io o a piece of he ex a ha d: a quo a io . Copy ou he quo e, a d a page refere ce so you ca fi d i agai o check i if ecessary, a d he pu your idea u der ea h i . If you ie he idea i wi h he quo e i his way, he your ideas will always be ex -based a d close o he co cre e life of he ex , as Leavis migh possibly have said. Always wri e o e idea a d o e idea o ly per page of he shor ha d o ebook. Why? So ha you ca file hem. O ce a week go hrough all of he o es ha you've accumula ed duri g he week. ake hem ou of he shor ha d o ebook: ear hem ou , or remove he spiral. You pu headi gs o each o e, hrowi g away he dross ( he obvious dross, ha is: dross ca ur o gold if lef o i self for a bi ). Rewri e if ecessary; make more o es if more ideas occur. he file hem i a way ha you ca fi d hem agai . Make sure you k ow where all he quo es came from: edi io s, page umbers, a d so o .4.2 Bibliography For his you eed a booklis , ei her compu er-based, or i he form of a card i dex. A bibliography, some call i . Every book you read should have i s de ails lis ed i your mas er book-lis , your card i dex or compu er file. Au hor/s, i le, da e, publisher, shelf mark, place of publica io . I repea : every si gle book a d ar icle you read should be i his lis . I (o ly) wo a d a bi years' ime whe you are despera ely ryi g o fi d some hi g origi al o say abou he Book of he Duchess for a exam ha is goi g o happe i a few weeks' or days' ime, you will eed his booklis a d hese carefully filed o es, co ai i g your ideas abou li erary ex s.
Otherwise you'll seem a risky bet to admissions committees, no matter how good you are. Which implies a surprising but apparently inevitable consequence: little liberal arts colleges are doomed. Most smart high school kids at least consider going into the sciences, even if they ultimately choose not to. Why go to a college that limits their options? Thanks to Trevor Blackwell, Alex Lewin, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, Eric Raymond, and several anonymous CS professors for reading drafts of this, and to the students whose questions began it. Writing, Briefly (A lot of people ask for advice about writing. In the process of answering one, I accidentally wrote a tiny essay on the subject. I usually spend weeks on an essay. This one took 67 minutes-- 23 of writing, and 44 of rewriting. But as an experiment I put it online. It is at least extremely dense.) I think it's far more important to write well than most people realize. Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them. If you're bad at writing and don't like to do it, you'll miss out on most of the ideas writing would have generated
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