Another old handout. Some of this is particular to Great Books, but the majority applies to any history essay exam.
- gks
The midterm and final for Great Books may ask you to identify quotations. They will certainly ask you to write essays in answer to particular questions. I'm often asked for advice about these exams and especially this essay component. Students want to know: how should they prepare for an essay exam? what should they do when they sit down to write an exam essay? what makes a good exam essay anyway? Here are my rough answers.
The examination essay is a difficult genre. You may have from twenty minutes to an hour to write a coherent essay on a topic that probably deserves many days of thought and writing to be treated well. Of course, I know this, and I grade exam essays with this in mind. But let me set out a few of my own criteria for a successful exam essay (and note that not all instructors will agree on these). A strong exam essay:
1) Consider all of the questions, choose those that you can handle most completely.
2) Next, reread the question. Be sure you know what all the words mean. Be sure you have a grasp of what it is asking you to do.
3) Before you start to write, take two to three minutes to brainstorm ideas and examples. Be sure to think through if there are any obvious or unavoidable examples that you should include in your essay. Make a rough outline in the back of your blue book.
4) Write a coherent essay. Be sure to answer the question. Make your point of view clear. Don't waste time with a long introduction or with vague generalities. Get to the point quickly. Present a series of examples that bear directly on the question and analyze them.
5) Give details that support your argument. These may be descriptions, plot details, or rough quotations. These show that you have been reading carefully and remember what you've read. In an essay on choice, you can note that Achilles has a choice between two lives. A better essay will paraphrase his own words -- "My mother says I have two fates" -- and go on to interpret them.
6) Obviously, there are many ways you might organize your essay, and certain questions might invite a different organization, but these elements will be part of almost any successful essay:
7) Analyze. It is not enough to list examples. Be sure that you explain and interpret the examples you present.
8) Have some thesis, some argument. Very often this will only be apparent at the end. Do not agonize over a thesis statement. You can launch your essay with a simple overview: "The homecoming scene is essential to both the Odyssey and the Agamemnon. BUT, by the end of your essay, it should be clear EXACTLY how you analyze these two examples, what is similar and what is different.
Some further hints
* If you want to emphasize a point you are making, or a particular word, write it in all capital letters. You can abbreviate, so long as your meaning is clear: b/w for between, w/o for without, Agam. for Agamemnon the second time you use his name.
* If you want to revise your essay in some way (say, to add or delete a paragraph), simply make some marks in your blue book to make your revisions clear. For example, after you have written your essay you might want to add two sentences to the introduction. Write them in the margins, at the top of the page, or on a blank page and make a clear note to tell me where they go. To this end, it makes for a cleaner copy if you write on just one side of the blue book pages (so that you can use the extra pages for any additions you want to make).
* If you are running out of time, you might try to finish your exam in outline form. (Obviously, this is not as good as a completed essay, but it is better than half an essay or no essay at all). If you do this, try to give the examples you would talk about AND what you would say about them (just listing the examples does not do so much). You might try to leave time, in any case, to write a conclusion, that makes it clear how you answer the question, how you compare these various examples.
* Watch the clock. Divide your time among the questions. A very long answer won't necessarily be a better one.
Read through your lecture notes, section notes, and the study questions. While you are doing so, think about the following:
Think through the big themes that we have considered in this class. These are listed on the study guide we hand out at the end of the semester. A very partial list: violence, justice, honor, glory, men/women, family ... For each of these, think about a set of examples (scenes or passages or characters) that you would use to discuss them. Think through some comparisons.
Look at the books we've read from some other angles. Look for points of comparison between Aeschylus and Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. A few might include: Penelope vs. Clytaemnestra. Homer's use of similes vs. Aeschylus' dense symbolic language. The values of the Iliad vs. the values of the Odyssey. ...
If there will be id's/short essays, you should practice pulling out important lines, identifying them, and commenting upon them.
I would suggest doing this in small groups, or perhaps meeting in a group after you have done some preparation.