Tom Davis
how to answer an exam question
I write this as a result of just having read and marked 90 first year exam papers. Many of the students knew very well the techniques that one should use in approaching an exam question, but a surprising number did not: about thirty percent. This is for that thirty percent. If you follow these instructions you will get better marks. It's as simple as that.
An exam answer is not the same as any other piece of writing. The exam system is designed to test specific skills (fast readable handwriting, for instance, and rote memory, both vitally useful in the age of the Internet; but not just those). The main point of the exercise is to find out whether you know enough, and are intellectually flexible enough, to answer the question. So, that is the main thing that the marker has in mind when reading the script. All the way through marking every answer, I am thinking, has the candidate understood the question? Is what is written here relevant to the question? Is this to the point? If the answer is yes, then the marks go up; if no, then the marks go down. Of course, I am also thinking, how intelligent is this, is it well written, knowledgeable, coherent, closely argued, and so on. But these issues, while of course important, are in a sense secondary; no matter how well written, knowledgeable, coherent, etc an answer may be, if it doesn't answer the question then it loses marks in a serious way. So, in that sense the main thing is, for every single word in an exam answer, is it relevant to the question?
Therefore you should make absolutely sure, as soon as possible in your answer, that the examiner knows that you have understood, or rather that you have a valid and coherent understanding of, the question. Nothing is more important than this.
The journalist Alistair Cooke used to broadcast on the readio every week for fifteen minutes a normally brilliant Letter from America. His technique was to gradually and tantalisingly reveal, through a web of anecdote, scholarship, and gentle humour, what it is that has happened recently in America that would be the subject of his talk. You usually get to find this out in the last three minutes. It's beautifully done.
Some people write exam answers like this. The result is, a disaster. It's clear that the candidate is thinking, I am being intelligent and knowledgeable and coherent and so on, and that's the main thing. Well, it's not. What the examiner is thinking is, when on earth is this person going to reveal whether all of this is relevant to the question? Very very frustrating. Please, never, ever, follow the Alistair Cooke method in writing exam questions.
Before you even begin to write, please copy out the question. That way, I'll know that you've read it. And the act of copying will focus your mind on it. Tedious, and time-wasting, you may think; but the benefits are worth it.
Then: the first paragraph of your answer must always be spent in analysing the question. Always. Without fail. Paraphrase it, even. Show that you have understood every significant word in it. Discuss it, then announce how you are going to answer it. You can use the first person pronoun: it's allowed. Or, if you don't want to say: 'I will answer this question with reference to...' you can use the passive voice: 'the question will be answered with reference to...' But whichever way you do it, it is very important to announce the parameters of your essay and show how they are relevant to the question. Once I've understood that, I can relax and start engaging with the quality of the essay itself--maybe, even, enjoying it; but until that has been made clear I can't.
And during the course of your essay, reassure me occasionally that you haven't lost sight of the question, or rather your interpretation of it. Refer to it. Let me know you're still thinking of it. Put up signposts to make clear to me the structure and shape of your answer. Imagine what it's like to have to read 90 of these 3 hour scripts, against the clock: you can see that it's not easy to remain as focussed as the job of marking requires. Help me by reminding me from time to time of the strategy of your answer.