Tips for the exam this week

Hi All

Your paper is in three days time, on the 25th, and I know you're all getting ready for it. So I thought I'll post some exam advice.

1. Make sure you read the question carefully, and think about how to address it. Your introduction should be your interpretation of the question -- it should describe to the examiner how you have interpreted it and what you will discuss in your answer.

2. Don't give a general introduction to the writer or the text in your exam answer, particularly if it's not relevant to the question.

3. Give yourself about 5 minutes to read the question and make a quick plan for answering the question. Don't start writing as soon as you get the paper.

4. Attach your plan to your answer script. This will be useful just in case you run out of time and cannot complete answering. (Don't worry if your handwriting is not perfect in your plan :) )

5. Remember, concentrate on quality not quantity. Don't discuss ALL the relevant points to answer a question, choose the most relevant ones, and discuss them in some depth. So don't write loooong answers that are full of general comments. Its more than enough if you write two sides of a page, especially those of you who have fairly small handwriting.

6. Keep a few minutes to check what you've written, for language errors. Then you'll be able to correct the slips you've made.

7. Make sure, in particular, that you spell the NAMES of the writers and their works correctly.

Good luck everyone, I hope the paper goes smoothly. In the meantime, all the best with the studies, and do post questions if you have any.

take care,

ms dinali