Resource: Leki, Ilona. (1995). Academic Writing: Exploring Processes and Strategies (2nd edition). New York: St. Martin's Press. (Chapters 15 and 16)
OVERVIEW
1. The purpose of an essay exam is to relate facts and show significance of facts.
2 An essay exam is NOT the same as a timed essay. The first day in-class essay was NOT an essay exam and that the final writing exam at the end of the term is NOT an essay exam.
3. The most common types of essay questions are definition, classification, comparison and contrast, cause and effect
4. Beginning your answer: you begin by stating the thesis.
Part 1. Analyzing and Answering an Essay Exam Question
Analyzing the question
1. Read the question carefully.
2. Read the question very carefully.
3. Read the question very, very carefully.
4. Underline the key words in the question, for example:
compare
contrast
discuss
causes
results
effect
reasons for
5. If the question has several parts, figure out how the parts are related. Are some of the parts more important than others?
Answering the Question
1. List the things that you know about the subject under question. You can write in the margin of the exam paper. Often, the professor will look at your notes and give you credit for items on your list that you don't have time to cover in your essay answer.
2. Organize the items in your list: by order of importance
by the way they are connected to each other
3. To focus on the exact answer to the question, write a "thesis statement" at the very beginning of your essay.
4. As you write, check the wording of the question several times to make sure that you have not accidentally drifted away from the subject.
5.Your ability to memorize facts is seldom helpful in an essay exam. Most likely, you will be asked to evaluate a concept and give examples. The analysis is more important than the examples. Be sure to state the main points of your analysis clearly and if you have time to give examples, make sure that you point out the connects between them and your analysis.
6.Since you are working under the pressure of time, you should concentrate on writing about what you are most sure of. Don't waste time trying to "fake" an answer that you don't know anything about.
7. Most professors understand that you are working under pressure, so don't worry about grammar and spelling. If you do have time before the exam is finished, do go over your answer and see if you can find any obvious errors. However, even though you have to write quickly, be sure to write legibly. If a professor has to work hard to figure out your scribbles, he may become irritated and give you low marks.
II. Understanding the Question
A. Common Essay Exam Terminology
Discuss
Explain
Give (an) example(s) to show that
Illustrate
Show
Compare........to........
Contrast........with........
What are the major differences between........and........
Show the differences between........and........
Discuss the advantages of........over........
What are/were the causes of........
What are/were the results/effects of........
Why........
What factors contributed to........
What is the effect of........
What has been the result of........
Discuss the reasons for........
What types of/kinds of........
Classify........
Discuss the most important features of........
Define........
What does........mean
What is meant by........
How does........work
Explain the process by which........
Trace the development of........
Thesis: (6 points)
____ thesis is clear
_____ thesis addresses the question
Body of the Essay: (8 points)
____ stays on the topic
____ reflects an accurate understanding of the text
Examples: (6 points)
_____ are appropriately chosen (they support the thesis)
_____ are sufficient in number
_____ are both specific and accurate
____ TOTAL (out of 20 points)
D. Essay Exam 2 - Sample answers
Question 1.
In the poem, "The Road Not Taken, Frost explains how important making decisions can be. Sometimes when we make a decision we can't change it later, so we must be very careful. In the poem and in Joyce's story "Eveline", the main characters have to make a decision that will change their lives; the both choose a difficult road. In the poem, the author tells us that he "took the e road less traveled. And that has made all the difference" in his life. He took the way few people willl go. If he had chosen the easy way, which most people take his life, would have been changed to be more boring and he would not be famous. In the "Eveline", she has to choose between her happiness and her family. She can be happy by marrying her boyfriend to escape a terrible, poor life with too much work and mistreatment from her father. Or she will have to stay in Ireland and accept her responsibility to her family and keep her promise to her dead mother. The same as Frost her choice is the hard one, which is staying in Ireland. Unlike Frost, she probably wasn't very happy with her choice when she was old, but she could do a good thing.
Question 2.
In "Eveline", by James Joyce, Eveline was living in the early 20th c. in Ireland when the church had too much power; today she could have more freedom because the church has less power and changed some ideas, too. In "College", by Anzia Yezierska, she was studying in the early 20th c. in America when the society did not want to accept immigrants who were poor or had a different religion and background; today she could succeed in her college easily and be accepted by the other students and teachers because the society has changed some ideas about immigrants and different cultures are treated with more respect, especially in a university. Nowadays, Eveline would have lots of choices. She could marry Frank and go to Buenos Ayres because she could call or visit her family easily. Also her father would be able to get lost of help from the government to help take care of the family so she would not have to stay and help him. Also the church power is less and they respect women more than before so she can be more free even if she stayed at home. Nowadays, Anzia would have lots of friends at school and everyone would have more kindness and respect for her. Maybe they would think that she is very smart and be impressed that she could go to college even with a poor family and too much hard work as a child.
Question 3.
Immigration to America can have both good and bad results even nowadays. At the time of these stories it was much harder for immigrants to be accepted by the general society and their socio-economic problems were usually worse than the general society. For Anzia Yezierka, in "College", immigration had good and bad things. Leaving Russia very young was good because the people and government there were unfair to her group and even put them in jail and killed them. Her family could be safe in the U.S. However, they found some discrimination in New York and a very hard life with too much work to do to live. Then she also was rejected in college by teachers and classmates because she was a Russian, Jewish immigrant. That was such a bad experience she wrote the story about it to tell about how bad she felt. For Tito, in "Tito's Goodbye" by Garcia, immigration also had good and bad things. Like Anzia's family his family y could run away from a bad government and unfair treatment in Cuba. They could all be safe in the U.S. But being an immigrant in the 1980's was still hard in the socio-economic problems for Tito like the early 20th c. for Anzia. He had to work so hard to get money for his family even as a crook. Also his illegal business took too much time and he became too interested in money, so he lost contact with all his family. It is the opposite of his idea to save them by becoming an immigrant far from his home.
Question 4.
Although the majority is terrible to both minority groups in the two stories, the Native Americans in "The School Days of an Indian Girl" have worse problems from the government than immigrants like Anzia with her problems in a new society in "College". The difference is that the government makes hard laws to discriminate against the Indians. They take away their land, and children and culture from them. Zitkala-Sa gives some examples such that she is forced to go the missionary school by those laws. Also she has to accept the missionaries' rules that try to destroy her culture when she can't speak her language, wear her traditional clothes and even has to have her hair cut. Cutting hair is a big insult to Indians like her. All those examples show that the government rules were too hard trying to make them like Whites. In Anzia's case the problems and from the society not any government laws. Maybe the law says all Americans can be free and equal, but at her college she discovers they do not really believe everyone is equal in the U.S. She is not part of the usual White(W.A.S.P.) society so they want her to go away back to the ghetto and stay away form them. They want to change her culture, they want to ignore it completely.
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