A simple way to get the best mark for your exam essays

When you have to write essays in exams, time is vital. But students often make the mistake of not fully answering the question given, and so they lose marks. This is because they ignore part of the question.

Essay titles often have two parts e.g.

'How can schools make better use of IT (information technology)? Are there any drawbacks to using IT in the classroom?'

Before starting to write, you must decide how many words to give to each part. In this case you may decide that the first part (How ...) is more important and should have 60% of your answer, so the second part (Are there ...) would get 40%.

If you are writing 1,500 words the introduction and conclusion should take about 20%, which is 300 words, leaving 1,200 for the main body. The first part would then have about 700 words, and the second part 500.

If you do not organise your answer in this way you may find you have written too much for the first part, and do not have enough time to answer the second part properly.

The same principle applies to essays done for coursework: even if there is less time pressure it is still important to balance your answer in this way.

Time management is crucial to writing successful essays

Writing successful essays is about more than style or vocabulary. One of the keys to academic success is good time management. Decide if the following ideas are true or false:

• Essay deadlines are often set several months after the course starts
• Reading and note-making often take longer than writing
• A wall chart can help you plan an assignment
• The best time to study is during the night
• All students should spend some time every day relaxing with friends

Actually these are all true except for the fourth: it's better to work during the day and then get plenty of sleep. The main thing is to schedule your work week by week, so that you give enough time for each stage: note-making, drafting, re-writing and proof-reading. By following this plan you will avoid the last-minute panic that leads to careless work, bad marks and having to re-take courses.

Another common mistake students make is to spend too long on the note-making phase. If you have planned your essay carefully you can avoid the trap of collecting too much information. It is often better to start writing - then you will have more time for re-writing and proof-reading before the deadline.

Why is effective reading an important part of good writing?

Many international students worry about having to write essays, but good reading habits are equally critical in preparing to write. Reading for study is not the same as reading a story for fun; students need to be quite selective in what they read. You are normally expected to read various articles or textbook chapters before starting to write, and in your writing you are expected to show that you have done so.

At the start of a course students are often given a reading list by their teacher; this may be printed or electronic. The list will often include textbooks, journal articles and websites. But you do not have to read every word of a book because it is on the list. Your teacher will often suggest which pages you should focus on.

If your English is less than perfect you do not have time to waste on reading texts that are irrelevant to the writing task. It is better to understand a few pages well, than attempt to read long articles without clear understanding. The best method is:

a) Read texts extensively to find the most useful sections.

b) Then read intensively in order to make notes.

Formal verbs - answers

These are the synonyms of the formal verbs given in the July 3 post (see below):

1. occur

2. conduct

3. have features of

4. explain

5. find

6. distinguish

7. look closely at

8. show

9. get over

10. add to

What's the best sentence length?

When students read academic texts and journals they often find them difficult to understand. This is because academic style frequently uses very long sentences (and paragraphs). But students should not attempt to copy this style in their own writing!

Short sentences are easier to read and write:

Electric cars are less polluting than cars that burn petrol or diesel. However, their popularity is limited by the high cost of batteries and their limited range. Consequently sales of electric cars have remained low.

But too many short sentences can be boring to read. Use conjunctions to link some together:

Although electric cars are less polluting than cars that burn petrol or diesel, their popularity is limited by the high cost of batteries and their limited range. Consequently sales of electric cars have remained low.

By varying the sentence length in this way, the text becomes more interesting. However, students are advised not to use too many conjunctions in one sentence, as multiple clauses can make a sentence too complex to understand. If in doubt - keep it simple!

Using definite articles accurately

Many students find difficulty with using the definite article, 'the', in English. There are good reasons for this: some languages do not use articles, and English-speakers are not always consistent about the use of the article.

However, students should remember that it can be confusing if they use articles inaccurately, and try to learn the basic rules. 'The' is used for specific things:

Students often have to write essays (In general)

The students on my course have to write two essays per module. (Specific)

Writers, therefore, need to ask themselves if something is general or specific:

General
Global warming
Cyber crime
Fossil fuels

Specific
The Russian revolution
The moons of Jupiter
The research programme begun by Dr Lee

Note also that 'the' is used with the following:

Superlatives (the fastest)

Some countries (the USA, the UK)

Time periods (the middle ages)

Unique things (the president)

Regions (the midlands)

Institutions (the University of Derby)

Positions (the left, the middle)

Using more formal verbs in academic writing

A feature of most academic writing is the use of more formal verbs to express an idea more carefully:

         A reliable supply of energy is needed to accelerate growth ....

          Half the patients studied exhibited signs of improvement ....

In spoken English we might use 'to speed up' instead of 'accelerate' and 'showed' in place of 'exhibit'.

Although phrasal verbs such as 'make up' can be used, it is preferable to employ one-word verbs such as 'invent'.

Study the examples 1-10 and find a synonym from the lists below for each of the more formal verbs used.

1. A similar situation arises when we look at younger children.

2, The largest study was carried out in Finland.

3. Developing countries are characterised by a young age profile.

4. The project was designed to clarify these contradictions.

5. The water content of the mixture was determined experimentally.

6. There was a failure to discriminate between the two species.

7. Her work focused on the behaviour of female managers.

8. All the surveys indicate that employees prefer pay rises.

9. Both difficulties were overcome in the first year.

10. Their diet was supplemented with calcium.


get over       find         show        occur       add to           

explain     distinguish         conduct      look at closely       have features of 


ANSWERS ABOVE - SEE SEPTEMBER 19TH