Writing for Examinations

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1. Preparing yourself

2. Analysing the question:  (Horowitz 1989)

3. Short Answer Essays
* be short and to the point
* stay on topic
* use topic sentences
* use lots of linking words
*  provide examples
* use technical language

4. Essay Answers 
* write an outline
* write a good introduction
*  mention sources
* show yourself in your writing
* summarise
* no conclusion necessary

                                  
                           

 

Questions

1. What type of questions should you read carefully?

2. How are examination essay questions different from other types of essays?

      3.        What have you learned in this lecture that will help you with your study?

Now try this (stop after 50 minutes!)

Directions: Answer all parts of the question. If this were a question on your exam, you would be marked on your writing and your content.

I.  Write a well-written and well-organised 250-300 word essay on the following topic.

             Important Steps in Revising and Editing an Essay

Include the following:
            A. an outline (of your choice) to show how you will sort your ideas.
            B. a rough draft
            C.  a final draft (which includes the following)
 i. at least one quote
 ii.     at least one paraphrase
 iii.    a bibliography

Choose your quotes and paraphrases from among the following. Be careful not to plagiarise.

Source A.  Hodges
 From the Twelfth edition of the Harbrace College Handbook. The editors are John C. Hodges, Winifred Bryan Homer, Suzanne Strobeck Webb and Robert Keith Miller. The book was published in 1994 by Harcourt Brace and Co. in Fort Worth.

"Revising means "to see again" and this activity implies that you take a fresh look at your draft and rethink what you have written." (pg. 378-379).

"The truly challenging task in revision is to look for what you might have left out that your audience expects to see." (pg. 379)

"Ensure that sentences in a paragraph all relate to the topic sentence and are placed in the most effective order" (pg. 379).

 "Edit sentences for clarity, effectiveness, and variety ...  Consider combining choppy or unconnected sentences and rework long, overly complicated ones." (pg. 380).

Source B.  Clegg and Wheeler
From Cyndia Susan Clegg and Michael M. Wheeler's book titled Students Writing Across the Disciplines. It was published in 1991 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in Fort Worth.

"Experienced writers have little difficulty identifying junk. Experience taught them to read their own writing as if it were a total stranger's. Objectivity is the first revising tool. The second is criteria for judgment. While writers may develop criteria for their special audiences and purposes, most readers expect writing to be:
* complete
* coherent
* clear
* correct
These four C's of good writing provide a useful guide for revising and editing." (pg. 58-59)

"Clutter" according to journalist and professor William Zinsser, "is the disease of American writing ....... (pg. 64).

"The last word in revising is colleagues. Those of us who write often know only too well how our writing has improved from the suggestions made by colleagues. Professional writers have reviewers and editors ...... (pg. 66).

 

Revision

1. What are the key areas covered in this paper?

2. What are the aims of the paper and objectives of the paper, and have you achieved them?

3. What is the structure of the final examination?

 

Appendix 1: REMEMBER THE PRINCIPLES OF CLEAR WRITING

One:  Get to the Point

Structure your document according to its function, and the result you want. Remember the M-A-D-E formula: Message - Action - Details - Extra Evidence

Two:  Prefer the Active Voice

Place the actor before the action (the subject ahead of its verb).
Say:  The plaintiff will seek an injunction  instead of; An injunction will be sought by the plaintiff.
Use the passive voice only for variety, sentence balance or vagueness

Three:  Replace Weak Nouns with Strong Verbs

Avoid:  I made an appearance in court     say;   I appeared in court   instead.

Four:  Keep Your Sentences Short on Average

Write sentences about 16 words long, and even shorter for impact. Variety is good. Check your readability index.

Five:  Construct Effective Paragraphs

* Use topic sentences for logic, and transition words for unity.
* Anchor the floating this.
* Use parallel construction for lists.

Six:  Use Specific, Concrete Language
  
Choose words that your reader can picture. Avoid or explain jargon.

Seven:  Streamline Sentences

Make every word count. Avoid padding and clichés, especially tired phrases like for the purpose of;  for or to will nearly always do.

Eight:  Choose the Short or Familiar Word over the Long or Unfamiliar

Write to express, not to impress. Say begin instead of commence; use money for recompense.

Nine:  Announce Your Messages with Headlines

Describe key points with headlines using verbs. Be generous: up to seven words is fine.

Sourced and adapted from Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young - Barristers & Solicitors New Zealand

 

Appendix 2: Guidelines for Combining Sentences

Each sentence you write (if it is a complete sentence) contains at least one idea. Most sentences contain several basic ideas which work together to form a complete thought. For example, if you were to write a sentence about a tornado which struck a small town without warning, causing damage, injury, and death, you would actually be working with six different ideas in that sentence. Each of those ideas could be written as a separate sentence:

1 There was a tornado.
2.The tornado struck a small town.
3.The tornado struck without warning.
4.The tornado caused a great deal of damage.
5.The tornado caused a number of serious injuries.
6.The tornado caused several deaths.

As a writer, you must now decide how to arrange or combine these six ideas into one or more effective sentences. Ideally, this will happen naturally as you write; however, sometimes you have to consciously add, delete, and rearrange information as you write or revise. There are many possible ways to go about doing this.

1.  Use a series to combine three or more similar ideas.
* The unexpected tornado struck the small town causing much damage, numerous injuries, and several deaths.
2.   Use a relative pronoun (who, whose, that, which) to introduce the subordinate (less important)          ideas.
* The tornado, which was completely unexpected, swept through the small town causing much damage, numerous injuries, and several deaths.
3.   Use an introductory phrase or clause for the less important ideas.
* Because the tornado was completely unexpected, it caused a great deal of damage, numerous injuries, and several deaths.
4.   Use a participial phrase (-ing, -ed) at the beginning or end of a sentence.
* The tornado swept through the small town without warning, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction.
5.   Use a semicolon. (Use a conjunctive adverb with the semicolon when appropriate.)
* The tornado swept through the small town without warning; as a result, it caused a great deal of damage, numerous injuries, and several deaths.
6.   Repeat a key word or phrase to emphasize an idea.
* The tornado left a permanent scar on the small town, a scar of destruction, injury, and death.
7.   Use a dash to set off a key word(s) or phrase at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
* The tornado which unexpectedly struck the small town left behind a grim calling card - death and destruction.
8.   Use a correlative conjunction (either, or; not only, but also) to compare or contrast two ideas in   
      a sentence.
* The tornado not only inflicted much property damage, but also much human suffering.
9.   Use a colon to emphasize an important idea.
* The destruction caused by the tornado was unusually high for one reason: it came without warning.
10.  Use an appositive (a word or phrase which renames) to emphasize an idea.
* A single incident - a tornado which came without warning - changed the face of the small town forever