Having difficulty studying or not sure where to begin? This guide has been put together to help students who have exams coming up in a few months.
Tip one
- Plan your answer. So, before you write.
- Read the question properly
- Then read the extract.
- Jot any ideas down. Use a list or a mind map that you can quickly put down on paper.
- Don’t go into too much detail because this is not your actual answer. It is just ideas.
Tip two
- Remember to use PEED:
- Make a point to answer the question you’ve been given
- make sure you give an example from the text (this will be a quote)
- explain your answer that will back up your point that you gave
- then develop your answer further. This would be to say what the effect was on the reader, what the writer’s intention was and finally link it back to the point. This is so you don’t go off topic.
There are slight variations to PEED. It could be PEEL. This would mean for point 4, you would link the point and explanation back to the question.
Tip three
- Use a variety of sentences starters. For example:
However…
Furthermore…
This highlights the fact that…
The imagery reflects…
Also…
Nevertheless…
On the other hand….
These are just a few sentence starters that can help create a more structured answer.
- Don’t use slang or local dialect. Avoid using words and phrases such as ‘like’ after sentences.
- Use paragraphs to structure your answer. This should help you clearly organise and link point together.
Tip Four
- Remember to read more than just the words. This would mean look at what the writer is trying to say. For example, why did the writer use similes or a metaphor.
- Writers don’t make things obvious. However, there will be evidence to show that the writer uses inference to get the reader to think. For example:
Pride and Prejudice
The narrator of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ uses the words “self-conceited” and “self-importance”, which imply disdain for Mr Collins.
In this example, the writer is using language to indicate their emotions and attitude towards the character of Mr Collins.
More possible sentence starters you could use here
The writer gives a sense of…
The writer appears to be…
This suggests that…
Tip five
- Important check your spelling punctuation and grammar
- Don’t forget that some words sound the same but are spelt differently so doublecheck you are using them correctly.
- Don’t use abbreviations such as e.g. write it out in full.
- Remember to check you have spelt the quotation correctly. That means to make sure it is spelt exactly the same way as it was written in the text.
- If you have made a mistake, don’t scribble it out, just use one line through it and then put the correction in.
- Finally, save a few minutes so that you can just read over your work in case there are any mistakes that you have missed.
Hopefully these will help you when you are studying and when you are in the exam. Remember to stay calm because you can do this and best of luck to all of you.
