Exam Techniques

Exam Techniques

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

Make sure you look at the question closely

Look at the time it tells you to take on the question so you plan your time sensibly

Spend 5 minutes making an essay plan

Pay attention to the word limit if there is one. Try to stay within 20% of what it tells you

Look closely at what you are asked to do. Is it asking you to compare, contrast, describe etc

Look closely at the style you are asked to write in eg. report, magazine article, persuasive style

Are you being asked to write for a particular genre eg. Teenagers, small children, OAPs

OPINION QUESTIONS

You may be asked to write about your opinion such as a news report where you argue for or against a statement eg;

 ‘Footballers are paid too much money’. Write a short article of about 300 words for your school magazine in which you argue for or against this statement.

Look at the question paper to see if it gives you any tips of what to write about and make sure you include them all in your answer.

Use persuasive language to make your point.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Read all of the questions before you pick one and choose the one that gives you the most opportunity to gain marks; not just the one that seems easiest at a glance.

QUESTIONS ABOUT A CHARACTER IN A NOVEL

This is a common type of question in Literature. An example would be;

‘How is Ralph changed by his experience on the island in Lord of the Flies?’.

Here you would write about what Ralph is first like when he gets to the island.

How he responds to other characters and events

How the writer portrays Ralph-

·         use of language to describe him,

·         how other characters respond and interact with him,

·         the situations he is in and how he responds

·         What does the writer want Ralph to represent

Here to gain extra marks it is important you delve further in to the character of Ralph and look at what the writer’s intentions are with regards to the portrayal of Ralph and how the writer achieves this.

COMPARISON QUESTIONS

This is an area where many people lose marks. They fall in to the trap of writing about one thing and then the other but do not make explicit links and comparisons between the two.

In your essay plan make a list of similarities and differences of the pieces. Look at what is written, how it is written and what the writers wanted to achieve. This will score you extra marks.

As you make a point about one novel/ poem/ character say how it is similar or different to the other one eg;

In (poem one) the poet is writing in her native tongue in parts and the words are written phonetically for the reader to understand. This can be seen in line (line here) where the poet writes; (quote here). This is similar to (poem two) where the writer also uses phonetic spelling of her language (quote here).

In the example above you can see how the two poems have been contrasted/compared.  Use words such as ‘this is similar to’, ‘in opposition’ etc to compare the two. Look at similarities and differences and say why they are similar or different.  Do this as you go along- do not simply analyse one poem and then the other.

Use plenty of quotes to illustrate your point.