Since that time is upon us, at least in the southern hemisphere (somehow we didn't want the end of the year to be dominated by Christmas, so we put exams on as well), I have been requested to tap something out about writing theology essays under exam conditions.
1. This is no place for perfectionists. This is the frustration of the exam format for many people, but why I was quite good at them - me with my 'near-enough-is-good-enough' attitude. What you aren't going to write under exam conditions is theology for the ages. So have a cry and a cup of tea, and get down to work. The point of the exam is usually to test a) the breadth of your knowledge and b) your ability to marshall theological evidence to answer a question
2. Prepare long term. Weeks before your exam, refine your notes. Determine what will be on the exam - and do remember to cover your butt against the exam by preparing enough material to make sure you have an essay to write on each question. If you want to gamble, go put your pocket money through the pokies. But as I say, refine your notes and other material so that for each topic area you have a single A4 sheet. On that sheet you should have: basic data; Scriptural passages that are relevant; a couple of short quotes from great theologians or brief descriptions of their opinions. Make it neat! Use colours. Mind map if that floats your boat. Then: put everything else away. Just use the single A4 sheet from then on. Except:
3. Two days before the exam. Your short term memory is amazing, so make the most of it by doing a bit of cram-reading just before. Because you have your A4 sheet, you shouldn't have to stress here about memorising anything absolutely vital. You are just giving your mind the chance to pick up some interesting things that will spice up your exam answers. If you want to prove that you've absorbed something, explain it verbally to a poor relative or friend or spouse.
TIP: Don't study from group study papers. Group study papers are fine at one level but they produce two problems. One is: the point of the distilled notes is that you yourself have put your brain through the mill of the much larger body of knowledge that they summarise. If you just have someone else's notes, THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE. It's a shortcut to disaster. Second, the group study paper leads to everyone writing EXACTLY the same thing. As a marker, there is nothing more tiresome than reading the same study paper - often with the same errors in it - 30 or 40 times in the one session of marking. Study paper answers rarely fail, but they rarely excel, and it is kind of disappointing as an educator to read them.
4. The night before and the day of the exam. Return to your a4 sheets. You might have 5 of them. Everything is simple, clear and tidy. Get a good night's sleep - don't pull an all nighter: that's suicidal. Whatever you do at this stage, DON'T TALK TO OTHER STUDENTS. It will only cause you stress and anxiety. For this reason, I recommend arriving at the exam moments before you are due to walk in to the exam room. Your confidence is precious- if you arrive an hour before, every other bozo will be walking around saying 'did you read up on Moltmann's view of impassability' and you won't have and then you'll get frantic and you'll forget the really important stuff. Believe me.
The key to a theology exam is to remember that it isn't like a maths exam. You only have to write what you know; but you do have to write what you know. There are a number of ways to answer any of the questions. Not remembering Moltmann is (in most cases) completely fine, because you will be able to put other things down instead. Unless there is a question explicitly about Moltmann, but then you'd probably have been told that already...
(to be continued)
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