<p>anyone have tips on what TAs/Professors want to see when answering short answer/essay questions on exams (non-science)? </p>
<p>i think i always tend to get a little too verbose and my main points get lost in the middle of BS... </p>
<p>what do you guys do?</p>
<p>To practice I would take longer paragraphs of text and trying to condense each paragraph into a sentence.</p>
<p>Don’t get too concerned with writing the five paragraph essay. Don’t be too concerned with having each paragraph be 6-8 sentences. Make sure there’s a flow to essay. The transitions should be logically connected. </p>
<p>USE EXAMPLES TO MAKE YOUR POINTS!!! This is how you get your points across. Make a larger point, then support it with examples, especially those that the prof concentrated on in class. Every single general statement you make must be backed up by a concrete example.</p>
<p>Are we talking short answer or short essay?</p>
<p>If you’re writing an essay you’ll be expected to have a thesis and supporting points. That’s basic.</p>
<p>Maybe you should contact the learning strategies center. I’m sure there are workshops to help students on technical writing, although I read recently that they were ending part of that program for international students due to cutbacks.</p>
<p>thanks for the posts…i was really just looking to see what other people do…</p>
<p>i am ending my 5th semester at cornell and am not TOTALLY new to this…but there’s always room for improvement… </p>
<p>i know that the commonly taught method is: </p>
<p>say what you’re going to say
say it
and then tell them what you told them </p>
<p>i dont think i’ve ever mastered this though…anyone familiar with this method?</p>
<p>ResurgamBell: That “method” is full of stupid rhetoric. All you need to remember is:</p>
<ol>
<li>Thesis statement, or argument.</li>
</ol>
<p>Let’s say this is a history exam, and the essay prompt you’re given is:
“The Civil War really wasn’t about human rights, it was about money. Discuss.”</p>
<p>You will take a stance. Your argument should be complex, though (i.e. you shouldn’t simply choose to agree or disagree). A good thesis would be something like:</p>
<p>“While the war began over money issues, the inherent link between slavery and the economy showed that money issues in fact fueled a human rights debate that in turn steered the course of the war.” (This is pretty badly written - I didn’t spend any real time or thought on it - but it captures the general structural idea of a thesis).</p>
<ol>
<li>Supporting points.</li>
</ol>
<p>Example paragraph 1. “Historical events/trends a,b,c support the money argument.”
Example paragraph 2. “Historical events/trends x,y,z support the human rights argument.”
Example paragraph 3. “The two arguments are connected.”</p>
<p>Again, this is very (too) basic, but hopefully you get the idea.</p>
<p>thanks lianri…yeah that’s basically what i do…</p>
<p>but i’ve heard grad students and others who prefer the rhetoric…</p>