You’ve been studying hard, finishing your assignments early and spending countless hours on essays and thesis papers. All this hard work is finally paying off – you’ve been accepted for an MA in Creative Writing (Might As Well Be Meant Aspiring Writer Graduates)!
But wait, there’s more. You’ve also managed to get a summer job as a writer, which has exposed you to a whole new world of words and phrases. It’s been exciting, but also a lot of work. And now, in order to continue producing work of a high quality, you’ll need to prepare for a writing test for a job. If you’re worried about how to go about preparing for this test, then this post is for you.
The Most Difficult Part Is Just How Comprehensive It Is
When you’re actually sitting in the testing room with the proctor, an essay test can seem pretty simple. After all, you’re just answering a few questions, right?
Wrong. The most difficult part of your essay test will not be the questions – it will be everything else that needs to be covered. What will you need to include in your essay? What knowledge will you need to have? What facts will you need to know? How will you need to arrange your ideas and arguments?
Don’t worry, this is all stuff that you’ve been preparing for. But now that the day of the test is here, it is all coming in a bit too quickly.
Keep Your Eye On The Bigger Picture
You’ve been studying for a test, so you want to do well, right? But you also need to remember that this is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Once you’ve passed this test and gone on to further studies, you’ll be faced with another test – your bachelor’s degree evaluation. This is basically a review of everything you’ve learned so far, and you’ll need to sit back and recollect on all your time in university. So while you’re obsessing over your essay and studying night and day, you need to keep in mind that there are bigger things at stake here. Your grades from this point on will matter a lot more than this one essay.
Start Formulating Your Argument Now
This is important. Not only will an essay test help you prepare for your final degree, but it will also be a good indicator of your overall academic prowess. So, even if you do well on the test and get a good grade, you might still need to do some more work before your exam results are finally out. For instance, you could be required to write a full-length book review, or you could be asked to prepare a speech for the graduation ceremony. These are just some examples, but it really is a lot of work that goes into getting a good grade on an essay. Remember: no stress, no worry – as long as you do your job, you’ll do well.
Be Confident
When it comes to getting a good grade on your essay, you need to be confident, but you also need to be calm. What does that mean exactly? It means that you need to prepare a good, solid foundation for the essay, and then you need to be calm about presenting your argument to the examiner. Of course, you’ll be anxious – after all, this is still a huge deal, and it’s all up in the air. But you need to put these thoughts out of your head and work your way through the test calmly and confidently. In other words, prepare for the test, but don’t you dare put yourself under too much stress. If the stress gets to be too much, then you could end up sabotaging your entire academic career. So, try to relax, and don’t worry about the score – focus on doing your best and preparing for the next stage.
Study The Issues From Different Perspectives
One of the best things that can help you on your way to getting a good grade on your essay is to approach the issues from as many different perspectives as you can. In other words, when you’re studying for your essay, don’t just look at the issue from one point of view – try to see it from as many different ones as you can. That way, you’ll gain a greater understanding of the topic and will be able to present it better in your essay.
For example, take the case of gun control. The issue at hand is whether or not we should be allowed to own guns. However, this is something that people are split on. Some people believe that guns are a danger to society, while others believe that they’re a necessary part of self-defense. As a writer, you might be tempted to explore this issue from one perspective – whether or not guns are good or bad – but this would be a mistake. Instead, you need to study the issues from as many different perspectives as you can. This will help you gain a greater understanding of the topic, and it will also help you formulate a more refined argument.
For example, take a moment and think about all the different ways in which you interact with guns daily. Do you hunt? Collect them as trophies? Shoot them at targets? All of these things have something to do with guns, but they’re all very different perspectives. Now, since we’re on the topic of collecting guns, let’s take a trip back in time and remember those childhood days spent in the attic, rummaging through old comics and looking for Action Comics #1. You might not have thought about it, but even then, you were collecting examples of how different writers had used the “crisis” element in previous stories, and you were forming an argument for why this element works well in comics and why it can be used in current times as well. In short, this is an example of looking at the same issue from two very different perspectives. One is from the realm of comics and the other is from the realm of firearms. If you can bring these two very different perspectives together, you’ll have something interesting and insightful to say. Don’t just focus on one area and try to fit everything else into it. Instead, look at how other nations fight crime, how other cultures have fought for equality, and how earlier civilizations have conquered their fears and prejudices to form a cohesive society.
Take Notes
Taking notes is extremely important. Not only will it make your life as a writer much easier, but it will also make the process of studying for your essay much more fruitful. When you’re taking notes, don’t just write down everything you hear. Instead, try to synthesize what you hear, and use your notes to guide your essay. In other words, when you’re taking notes, try to make a list of all the things you’ve learned so far. This will help you keep track of all the key points and will allow you to revisit these ideas later on in your essay.
As you continue to take notes, you will notice themes beginning to emerge. These themes will be the backbone of your future arguments and will help you formulate an intelligent and well-thought-out essay. To give you an idea of what these themes are, here’s a small excerpt from one of my essays:
“A theme that runs throughout the entire novel is the contrast between the ‘haves’, the wealthy and famous, and the ‘have-nots’, the struggling artists and musicians who create the music that they enjoy. Most notably, the novel centers on the creation of art and music, as well as the effect that this has on the mental state of the creators themselves. This was most apparent when Jimmy graduated from college and began to work as a street musician. One of the first songs that he played was a duet with Adam, his roommate and fellow musician. While playing this duet, Jimmy fell into a trance and was able to completely lose himself in the music, even though he was still playing it by himself. This point was brought to a head when Jimmy decided to give a private performance for Adam’s parents. During this performance, Jimmy was able to express all the pent-up feelings that he had bottled up all those years and finally let loose with a string of songs. The fact that these songs were written by Jimmy and Adam, two young men from differing backgrounds, speaks to me of the universality of this theme. As much as I would like to believe that my life would make a good novel, I realize that it is rather unlikely that any one situation would ever occur exactly as I have described it. However, this theme does show through the events of my life in a clear and inescapable manner, and it is a fundamental tenet of my being that all human beings deserve the right to live and love as they choose.”