Tips for Writing In-Class Essay Exams (adapted from A Student Guide to Writing at UCI, 9th ed)
For most take-home papers, you focus on a process of reading, writing, and revising that will result in a final draft. Sometimes, however, in college and in the “big world out there” you will not have the time to produce this kind of work. You will be expected to perform on the spot both in college and in a business environment that requires meeting strict deadlines.
When you are presented with time limitations in writing, you are really being asked to demonstrate how quickly and effectively you can communicate arguments, explanations, or information to a specific audience—your instructors now, and clients, co-workers, or supervisors later on.
Your purpose in these in-class essays is persuasion. Perhaps you’ll be asked to defend your position on a topic, convince your reader that your claim about a text is worthwhile, or explain how a particular passage contributes to your understanding of a larger work. Whatever the specific assignment, on the day of the test you will need to perform several steps in the writing process very quickly: recognize the scope of the task; determine your focus; develop a specific thesis; select appropriate supporting details; and organize your essay logically. Sounds hard? Not really. Business people think on their feet all day, turning out reports, memos, and analyses in response to immediate demands. In fact, you can develop habitual techniques to use when faced with similar writing tasks, just as professionals learn to shift into high gear to meet their deadlines.
If the essay test is based on material you receive beforehand (a study guide was given), knowing that material thoroughly will build your confidence and ability to write about it fluently later. Rather than just reading the text, actually identify and restate its main points in your own words. Memorizing key terms and their definitions and then thinking about how they fit the overall argument or point of the work will give you a head start on making connections between specific points and themes.
Next, you can move from mental preparation to practice by actually timing yourself and writing. If you have an idea about possible topics that may appear on the test, write about one of them the night before. If you have the questions ahead of time, write out the answer to give yourself practice and help remember the key points.
No matter how much preparation you’ve been able to do beforehand, your anxiety level will probably be high as you walk into the classroom on the day of the exam. But just as athletes use this increase in adrenaline before competitions to enhance their performance, channeling your energy to use every minute effectively will enhance yours. Here are some suggestions:
u Warm up beforehand: You will perform better after getting into the rhythm of writing. Write a note to a friend or freewrite about anything while you’re waiting for the exam to begin.
u Read the assignment carefully: Once the exam is in your hands, resist the temptation to start writing immediately. The 5 minutes you spend reading the assignment and prewriting (described below) will maximize your ability to produce better quality writing in a shorter time. Understanding every task the assignment asks you to do and thinking about how you will address each of them dramatically increases the chances that your response will be relevant and your argument well organized. It’s even a good idea to reread the assignment halfway through the essay to be sure you’re still on target.
u Pre-write: A clear sense of purpose prevents time-consuming digressions later. Mapping out a plan or making a simple outline takes only a few minutes. Jot down the main points or concepts you’re going to discuss. Quickly generate a reasonable specific thesis that presents your argument clearly.
u Jump right in: Your first sentence should jump right into the points of your whole essay. Long introductions aren’t necessary in this kind of writing; get right down to business by opening with your thesis statement.
u Write only one draft: Even though you may be used to drafting and rewriting for other assignments, recopying and rewriting take lots of valuable time. Instead, add ideas in the margins and neatly cross out unwanted material.
u Be concrete: Be sure to provide specific examples and details to support each point you make. Your reader will be persuaded by your essay if you include lots of “for instances” and “for examples,” supporting your claims rather than just listing them.
u Be aware of time: Unfinished essays don’t work as well as finished ones. Ask your instructor to announce the time remaining if he or she has not already volunteered to do so.
u Proofread: Setting aside the last 5 minutes of your writing time to read over the entire essay, making sure each word means what you want it to, gives you a chance to be sure you’ve reached your original goals, and presented a coherent argument for your reader. Also, check your essay for your particular error patterns – word choice, agreement problems, commas, fragments – whatever you seem to do most often.
Lastly, don’t forget to relax and take a deep breath! Allowing yourself short time-outs to think about what you’re going to say next will actually maximize your ability to stay on task and to make the best use of your time. Shake your writing hand out; stretch. Do what you need to do to stay relaxed and focused so you can write a clear and complete essay. By developing timed writing strategies that become almost habitual, you will be able to “gear up” quickly when presented with similar challenges either in your time in college or in the business world.