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Writing Essay Examinations

Organize Thinking Before Writing

Even professional writers fear the blank page. This fear is probably felt nowhere more acutely than during an essay exam. When time is short, words often fail to materialize. However, there is some good news. Your professor has provided help, and that help is located in your essay question.

On the previous page, reading your essay question, we discussed how to spot keywords and sort them based on their centrality to your answer.

Once you have sorted the words, the next stage is to use them as a guide for organizing your thoughts. Remember, if your professor has instructed you to “compare and contrast,” this is no arbitrary choice of words. Your professor is guiding you to perform that very activity.

Take Note

Imagine a question that asks you to compare and contrast two different architectural styles. It requires you to describe both styles and then discuss their similarities and differences. To do this, decide which characteristics to compare and contrast and what criteria to use in selecting them. Then discuss the similarities and differences.

Locating the type of essay you are to write will give you purpose as you organize the rest of your answer. Use the central analytic activity of your prompt to organize the assessment-related activities also required.

Sample Organizing Strategy

Take, for example, the question above on Whitman, Thoreau, and Emerson. Although the central activity of the prompt is the requirement to synthesize the ideas of the three authors, the question also requires you to “examine” and “describe.” The challenge for this question will be to find a way to examine and describe while you synthesize. To meet this challenge, ask yourself, what activities will synthesizing require?

Notice that developing conclusions about “individualism” drawn from Whitman, Thoreau, and Emerson will require you to describe each author’s thoughts on individualism. These conclusions should also come from an examination of what the authors have in common. Effectively communicating conclusions about individualism in the nineteenth-century United States will require describing and examining the writings of Whitman, Thoreau, and Emerson.

Key Takeaways

As you organize your thoughts before writing, use your prompt as a guide.
The essay type and the tasks you will need to structure the paper are often there in the prompt.

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91ֱ��

Online Guide to Writing and Research Thinking Strategies and Writing Patterns

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

Writing Essay Examinations

Organize Thinking Before Writing

Take Note

Essay Question Types

Sample Organizing Strategy

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

91ֱ��

Online Guide to Writing and Research Thinking Strategies and Writing Patterns

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

Writing Essay Examinations

Organize Thinking Before Writing

Take Note

Essay Question Types

What are the causes of the current crisis in the Asian market, and what effects will the crisis have on the European Economic Community?

Demonstrate the feasibility of enterprise zones in cities with population under 300,000 and crumbling infrastructure.

Contrast the architectural styles of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier as expressions of their beliefs about what a house should be.

Evaluate Leakey’s contribution to anthropology in light of at least two major criticisms leveled against him.

Identify three of Kant’s categorical imperatives and discuss their impact on twentieth-century life.

Synthesis: Examine individualism in the writings of Whitman, Thoreau, and Emerson. Describe each of their perspectives. From their writings, what conclusions can we draw about individualism in the nineteenth-century United States?

Explain (explicate) the importance of the line “Turning and turning in the widening gyre” in Yeats’s poem “Second Coming.”

Sample Organizing Strategy

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Chapter 5: 91ֱ�� Integrity

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Appendices

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule