How do I really "answer the question"? + Exam Anxiety (1 Viewer)

dennisp

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Apr 20, 2020
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2020
Nearly all of the essays that I've done for school have gotten the same feedback - doesn't answer the question. How do I really address the question, and is it a bad idea to take a prepared essay into an exam and adapting it to the question? I've tried other methods to prepare like using tables and doing practice questions but the anxiety I feel on the day makes panic, get mental blank and stop writing. Is there a way to fix this?
 

hschelper01

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Apr 6, 2020
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Firstly, whenever you get a question in an exam, spend at least 1 minute 'dissecting it'. Ask yourself "What is this question asking me?" and highlight the important terms and take note of the informative word ("Assess", "Describe", "How", "Extent") - this will then dictate how you write the rest of your essay.

THEN, make the question in your own words by stating with 'In this question, I need to..." - here's an example:
To what extent does the exploration of human experience in The Crucible invite you to reconsider your understanding of love?

..."In this question, I need to explore the extent
to which human experiences in the crucible shape how I understand love."

This method helped me a lot - especially in the HSC when they threw curveball questions - like love in The Crucible o_O:(.


I memorised essays throughout Year 12 last year and it seemed to work very well. BUT, you do need to prepare in advance - it's not just simply "I've memorised... I should be fine." Here was my ADV English study schedule:

- 3-4 weeks before exam - Memorise ONE 'perfect' essay I had written (after receiving heaps of feedback from my teacher over the term).
A general rule I had last year was that I would give my English teacher one essay every time she returned one that I had previously given her (she hated me because of it but it worked :biglaugh:)...

- 1-2 weeks before exam - Practice writing that essay in exam conditions - The key is to work on adapting it to the question.
--> Then submit it to teacher/s for feedback. Its always good to get feedback from more than one teacher - if you can - as some are more subjective than others.

The practice you do is key
. The more practice you do, the less anxious you should feel.

Also, remember that you don't need to remember your whole essay. When memorising, I would split my essays into dot points and then memorise that way - it really helped. But if I ever forgot in an exam (which happened) I would try to remember the dot point I was up to and spin-off a sentence like it.

If that still doesn't work, you might be better off just memorising thesis statements and quotes, then working on writing essays after that.

It's a lot, but honestly, the study I did for English amounted to the study I did for all of my subjects combined. Good luck!! If you need anything - just PM me!
 

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