Exam technique: How to answer the question for English Essay Exams?

One of the most important aspects of exam technique is answering the question. Most of you would have written out a preprepared essay and memorised it, yet no matter how perfect your essay is, no matter how many times your tutor has helped you refine it, you will not score above a 16/20 if you make no attempt at answering the question. Therefore, being able to adapt to the essay question for an in-class task is crucial for you to score in the A range. So how do you do it? Let me break down the most comprehensive approach to answering the question.

First look for the keywords of the question. You can underline these words at the start of the exam so it visually reminds you what the important concepts to include in your essay are. You must DEFINE each keyword of the question in your thesis statement and topic sentences rather than a simple regurgitation of the keyword or mindlessly putting it into your sentence and expecting the marker to make sense of it.

For Introductions: All keywords of the question must be in your thesis statement and 1-2 keywords must be integrated into each main idea you outline in the remainder of your introduction.

For Body Paragraphs: Use all keywords of the question in every topic and concluding sentence of your essay. Have one keyword/synonym for each of your IQTVE sentences (don’t use the same keyword every time to avoid repetition). Feel free to use synonyms of the keywords but alternate it with the actual keyword to make it obvious that you are answering the question.

ANSWER ALL PARTS OF THE QUESTION

A few days before your exam, write out 5-10 exam questions and practice writing out your essay to at least 2-3 of those exam questions so you can judge how much you can realistically write in 40 minutes. For the remaining exam questions, for time efficiency, you can mentally figure out how to adapt the thesis sentence and topic sentences to the practice questions and give yourself a time limit of 5 min per question. 

Want more insights into exam preparation? JP English incorporates school assessment help into our high school program so that students benefit from tailored exam preparation and feedback. We offer school assessment guidance during lesson time and also have a free online marking service for students enrolled in weekly group classes for additional line-by-line marking so you can optimise your marks. Enquire today, spots are running out soon.