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Timed Essays: Top 5 Tips for Writing Academic Papers Under Pressure
Jerz>Writing>Academic
Ifyourefacingatimedessayverysoontoosoontoread,reflectupon,anddigestmymoredetailedTimed
Essays:PlanningandOrganizinginaCrunchthishandoutofferssomeverybasic,veryquicktips.
1. Planyourtimewisely.
2. Answertherightquestion.
3. Collectyourthoughts.
4. Leavetimetorevise.
5. Reviseyourthesisstatementbeforeyouturninyourpaper,soitlooksliketheconclusionyoustumbled
acrosswastheoneyouplannedfromthestart.(Thissmallstepcanoftenmakeahugedifference.)

1.Planyourtimewisely.
Ifyouare,atthismoment,franticallycrammingfortomorrow
morningsexam,thatfirsttipmaynotsoundallthatuseful.
Procrastinationisprobablythebiggestreasonwhybright
studentssometimesgetpoorgrades.(Startearly!)
Youcanalsoplanyourtimeduringthetestitself.Your
professorknowswhichparagraphsarehardertowrite,andwill
evaluatethemaccordingly.Doesthequestionaskyouto
evaluate?Ifso,dontfillyourpagewithasummary.Likewise,
ifthequestionasksforevidence,dontspendallyourtime
givingyourownpersonalopinions.
Startwiththelargeressayquestions,sothatyou
answerthembeforeyouburnoutorrunoutoftime.
Ifoneessayquestionisworth50%ofthetestscore,
spend50%ofyourtimeonit.
Ifyoufinishearly,youcanalwaysgobackandadd
moredetail.(Aslongasyouradditionsandchanges
arelegible,yourinstructorwillprobablybehappytosee
signsofrevision.)

2)Answertherightquestion.
Beforeyoubeginyouranswer,youshouldbesurewhatthequestionisasking.Ioftengradeauniversitycomposition
competencytest,andsometimeshavetofailwellwrittenpapersthatfailtoaddresstheassignedtopic.
Ifthequestionasksyoutoexplainatopic,thenaparagraphthatpresentsyourpersonalopinionwontbeofmuch
help.Ifthequestionasksyoutopresentaspecificexample,thenaparagraphthatsummarizeswhatsomepeople
sayaboutthetopicwontbeveryuseful.

3)Collectyourthoughts.
Resisttheurgetostartchurningoutwordsimmediately.Ifyouaregoingtogetanywhereinanessay,youneedto
knowwhereyouaregoing.
Toavoidtimeconsumingfalsestarts,jotdownanoutline,ordrawanideamap.Anideamapislikeafamilytree
foryourthesis.Startwiththetrunk(acircleinthecenterofyourpaper).Drawlinesthatconnectthatcentralideato
mainbranches(circlesthatrepresentsubtopics),andkeepfanningoutinthatmanner.Ifoneparticularbranchis
fruitful,cutitoffandmakeitaseparateentity.

Ifabranchdoesntbearfruit,pruneitoff.Youshouldidentifyandavoidthedeadwoodinadvancebeforeyoufind
yourselfoutonalimb.(SorryIlltrytoleafthepunsaloneIwoodknotwantyoutobeboard.)
Getrighttothepoint.Dontburyyourbestpointsunderanavalancheoffluff.
TheGreatDepressionwasanimportanttimeinournationshistory.Unemployment,urbandecay,andasense
ofhopelessnessfilledalmosteverypartofhumanlife.Yet,eveninthemidstofgreatmisery,peopleneededto
entertainthemselves.Peopletriedmanydifferentwaystorelievetheirtensions,fromreligiousrevivals,toJazz
music,tomembershipintheCommunistparty.Butawholelotofaveragepeoplewhoweresufferingintheirdaily
livesoftensoughtescapistentertainmentintheformofmovies.OnesuchmoviewasCharlieChaplinsModern
Times.InModernTimes,TheLittleTrampsymbolizesthesimplehumanvaluesthatarethreatenedbyindustrialism.
Theauthoroftheabovepassagenotonlywastestimecomposingsixsentencesbeforegettingtoherthesis(thevery
lastsentence),shealsocloudstheissuebybringinguptopics(religion,music,andCommunism)thatshehasno
intentionofevermentioningagain.Shecouldhavespentthattimeonmoredepth,oronproofreading,orevenon
someothersectionofthetest.Ifshehadattheveryleastcrossedouttheunnecessaryintroduction,shewouldnot
havemisleadtheinstructor.
InCharlieChaplinsModernTimes,TheLittleTrampsymbolizesthesimplehumanvaluesthatarethreatened
byindustrialismleisure,selfreliance,andcompassion.
Therevisedexampleissimplythe[slightlyedited]lastsentenceoftheoriginalwordyandvagueparagraph.This
clear,directthesisstatementhelpsthestudentfocusonthecommunicationtaskathand.
Toooften,theonlyrevisionstudentsdoiscrossingouttheirfalsestarts,orexplainingtheirwayoutofacornerby
addingtotheendoftheiressay.

4.Leavetimetorevise.

Note:simplytackingonadditionalparagraphsorinsertingwordsisnotrevision(see:Revisionvs.
Editing).

Sometimes,inthemiddleofadifficultparagraph,studentswillglancebackatthequestion,andgetanewidea.They
willthenhastilybackoutoftheircurrentparagraph,andprovidearoughtransitionlike:Butanevenmoreimportant
aspectis.Theycontinueinthismanner,likeabuilderwhokeepsbreakingdownwallstoaddnewwingsontoa
house.
Toavoidthisproblembeforeitstarts,seetheprevioustip,orthisniftyhandoutonBlueprinting.
Tohandlethisproblemwhenitoccurs,dontautomaticallyaddtotheendofanessaywriteinthemargins,
ordrawalinetoindicatewhereyouwanttoinsertanewparagraph.
Leavespacetorevisetoowriteoneveryotherlineandleavethebacksofpagesblank,soyouwillhave
roomtomakelegibleinsertionsifyouneedto.
Obviously,ifyouarewritingyourtestonacomputer,youshouldjustinsertandrearrangetextasyouwould
normally.

5)Reviseyourthesisstatement
Ifinspirationstrikeswhileyouareinthemiddleofanessay,andyourconclusionturnsouttobenothinglikeyou
thoughtitwouldbe,changeyourthesisstatementtomatchyourconclusion.(Assuming,ofcourse,thatyour
unexpectedconclusionstilladdressestheassignedtopic.)
Whenawriterrealizesthatanessayisveeringoffinanewdirection,andhandlesitbytackingmoreparagraphsonto
theend,theresultcanbeextremelyawkward.
JoeStudentwritesathesisstatementthatexaminestherelationshipbetweenindependenceandpublic
morals.
Midwaythroughhisessay,Joehitsuponadifferentideathatrelatestoprosperity.
Tomaskthetransition,hewritesasentencethatreferstoindependenceandprosperity,asifthetwo
conceptsareinterchangeable.

Afterwritingafewmoreparagraphsonprosperity,Joerealizesheneedstounifythetwoideasinhis
conclusion.Hewritesanewparagraphthatexaminestheconnectionsbetweenindependenceandprosperity.
Hethenwritesaconclusionthatprovesthatindependenceandprosperityareinseparable.
Unfortunately,Joestartedoutbymakingaclaimaboutindependenceandpublicmorals.IfJoetacksyetanother
paragraphontotheendofthepaper,hewillfurtherdilutehisconclusion.Ifheignorestheproblem,hisessaywill
appeardisorganized.Suchhastyadditionswillrapidlyobscuretheoriginalstructure.
JoewillhavetowrapuphisessaywithsomethingghastlylikeTherefore,thisessayhasdiscussedsuchimportant
issuesasA,B,CandD,allofwhichshedanimportantlighton[rephraseessayquestionhere].
Toavoidlinearadditions,youshouldideallyavoidgoingoffontangents.Butevenaveryshortpaperisaresultof
aprocess.Ifyoustumbleontoagoodideainthemiddleofyourpaper,gobackandchangeyourthesisstatement
toaccountforyournewideas.Then,revisethesubpointsandtransitionssothatyourwholeessaypointstowards
thatconclusion.Yourprofessorwillbepleasedtoseethatyouwereabletomaketheconnection,andyourwhole
essaywillbemuchstronger.
DennisG.Jerz
04May2000firstposted
26May2000typoscorrectedpunsadded
26Jul2000minoredits
04Dec2002revision

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TimedEssays:PlanningandOrganizinginaCrunchWritingthatDemonstratesThinkingAbilityThesisStatements

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1. TimedEssays:Top5TipsforWritingAcademicEssaysUnderPressureJerzsLiteracyWeblogJerz's
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2. AWellPlannedStrategyforEssayExamQuestionsOnlineCollegeCourses
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[]toconductanoverallcheckofthemechanicsofyourresponse,suchasproperspellingandgrammar.
Revisionwillhelpyoucheckyourwritingforclarityandensurethatitisconciseandclearlyfocusedon[]