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?
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How do I really "answer the question"? + Exam Anxiety (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter dennisp
- Start date
hschelper01
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2020
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- HSC
- 2019
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
.
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)...
- 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!
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
.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
)...- 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!