how to memorize essay in a day

How to memorise essays and long responses

Lauren Condon

Marketing Specialist at Atomi

When it comes to memorising essays or long responses for your exams, there are three big things to consider.

• Should you even try to memorise an essay?
• Do you know how to adapt your memorised response to the exam question?
• How on earth are you meant to memorise a 1,200 word essay??

It’s a lot to weigh up but we can help you out here. If you want an answer to the first question, here’s one we prepared earlier. But wait, there’s more! If you’re super keen to read more about question #2, then go ahead and click here .

And for that third point on how to actually memorise a long essay? Well, all you have to do is keep reading...

1. Break it down

Your essay/long response/creative writing piece could be anywhere between 800 and 1,200 words long. Yeah… that’s a lot. So when it comes to memorising the whole thing, it’s a lot easier to break the answer down into logical chunks and work on memorising it bit by bit.

So if you want to memorise your Discovery Essay, you might have something like this:

• Introduction
• Theme 1 with the assigned text
• Theme 1 with the related text
• Theme 2 with the assigned text
• Theme 2 with the related text

You’re going to want to memorise the paragraphs and pay attention to the structure then you can piece it all together in the exam. Having a killer structure makes it a lot easier to remember the overall bones of this situation and if you’re finding this effective, you can even break those body paragraphs down further like topic sentence > example > explanation > connection to thesis.

2. Use memory tricks

Now, there are lots of different strategies and approaches when it comes to memorising a long piece of writing. Moving in sections, you can try reading it out loud over again (slowly looking at the paper less and less) or the classic look-cover-write-check approach. If you’re really struggling, make some of your own flashcards that have the first sentence on one side and the next sentence on the back so you can test your progress.

You could also enlist the help of some creative mnemonics (memory tricks) to remind you which sentence or section needs to come next. Pick one keyword from each sentence in the paragraph and turn them into a silly sentence to help you remember the structure of the paragraph and to make sure you don’t forget one of your awesome points.

3. Play to your strengths

Not all of us are super geniuses that can just read an essay and then memorise the entire thing but we’re all going to have our own strengths. There’s going to be something whether it’s art, music, writing, performance or sport that just ‘clicks’ in your brain and this is what you want to capitalise on. So for me, I was really into debating and public speaking (hold back the jokes please) and was used to giving speeches and remembering them. So whenever I wanted to memorise a long response, I would write out the essay onto palm cards and then practice it out loud like a speech. Did it annoy my family? Yes. Was I too embarrassed to tell people my strategy? Yes. Did it work? Absolutely. 💯

Whatever your strengths are, find a way to connect them to your essay and come up with a creative way of learning your long response that will be much easier and more effective for you!

4. Start early

So you know how there’s that whole long-term/short-term memory divide? Yeah well that’s going to be pretty relevant when it comes to memorising. You’re going to have a much better chance of remembering your long response if you start early and practice it often, instead of trying to cram it in the night before… sorry.

The good news is, you still have a couple of months before the HSC so try to get your prepared response written, get good feedback from your teachers and then make it perfect so it’s ready to go for the HSC. Then, the next step is to start memorising the essay now and test yourself on it fairly regularly all the way up to your exams. This way, you have plenty of time to really lock it deep into your memory.

5. Test yourself

The final and maybe even most important step is to test yourself. And not with flashcards or the look-cover-check-repeat anymore. Once you’ve got the essay memorised pretty well, you want to spend the weeks coming up to HSC doing past questions so you can practice

• Having the essay memorised
• Being able to recall it under pressure
• Adapting it to any question so that all your hard work will actually pay off

For this to work, you really need to commit 100% to exam conditions (no cheating!) and it’s definitely worth sending those responses to your teacher to get them marked. That way, you will actually know if you’re doing a good job of remembering the core of your argument but also tailoring it perfectly to the question.

Any subject with essays or long responses can be super daunting so if you want to have a pre-written, adaptable response ready to go then it’s worth making sure you can actually memorise it for your exam. Remember to break down the essay into sections, play to your memory strengths and make sure you consistently test yourself all the way up to HSC. That should do the trick. 👌

Published on

July 28, 2017

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Memorize 3000 words in an hour?

I fucked up big time.

It's 11pm, I have an English exam tomorrow. I have to memorize 3 essay, all together 3000 words. My stomach is screaming anxiety and I don't know how I'm going to pull this one off.

Is there any last minute technique to memorize? Please I need your help

UPDATE: click me for an updte ;P

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How to Memorise an Entire Essay or Speech

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How to memorise a complete essay or speech

Christmas and New year is over and for some there looms the prospect of mid  term exams. A lot of these exams will be closed book exams. A closed  book exam tests your knowledge and memory of a subject. One of the ways  in which some students prepare is to actively learn the subject areas and also  look at past questions and anticipate a question which might come up. At  the moment my wife is studying for exams in which she is actively learning  her subjects and also she has written 3 x 500 word essays on the three areas  of study.

Together we have come up with a system which means that she can memorise a  500 word essay in 1 day and 3 x 500 word essays in 3 days. Together with  actively learning the subject she is confident that she has prepared well.

In this article I will show you the system we came up with to memorise 1500 words verbatim. Sound hard? It is actually quite easy and is a system I used when at university studying for my psychology degree for 2 x 1000 word essays.

This method can also be used for memorising any kind of written work or speech.

Before you begin

Before you begin this it is important to actually believe that you can memorise  a complete essay or speech whether it be 500 words or 2000 words. When  I first suggested using this method to my wife she said that she would never  be able to memorise an essay word for word.

Once she got over this and started telling herself that she could do it we started.

Active learning

First off, this method of memorising an essay should not be substituted for  actively learning a subject. Active learning is when you read, not skim,  the subject area and take note of the key points. Cross reading is also  very good for active learning. This is when you read books on the subjects  by different authors. Some authors are not good at getting information across  so cross reading is an excellent way learning.

The method for memorising an essay or speech.

You will need to write out the essay or speech first. Treat this part  of the process as if you were writing an essay to hand in for marking by your  lecturer. In other words make sure it is worthy of memorising.

When you have written the essay make sure it is grammatically correct as you will be memorising every comma and full stop.

When you are sure you have a good essay or speech print it off and mark down  the left margin the number of paragraphs e.g. if you have 6 paragraphs write  at the side of each paragraph the numbers 1 "“ 6. In the right hand  margin write the number of sentences in each paragraph. This is the first  part of the memorisation process.

A quiet place to study

Now, make sure you have quiet space to be able to read, walk and vocalise  your essay. When you are sure you will not be interrupted you can start.

With your printed essay start walking and reading out loud the essay or speech. When  you have read it out loud a few times go back to the first sentence and read  it out loud. Then read it again and again until you have memorised it. When  you are confident you have memorised it word for word go on to the next sentence. When  you have memorised the second sentence, whilst walking vocalise the first two  sentences without looking at your printed essay. If you are okay  with this go on to do the same with your 3rd sentence and so on until you have  memorised your first full paragraph. This can take anywhere between 15 "“ 45  depending on motivation, alertness, quietness etc.

The reason I ask you to walk is to keep your blood flowing whilst memorising. If  you are sitting down you might nod off, by walking it will prevent you from  nodding off. I find walking up and down an excellent way to concentrate  on reading.

Keep reading, and vocalising your essay or speech until you have memorised  it completely. When you are confident of having memorised it. Vocalise  it without looking at your printed sheet. If you get it right, do it  again, and if you get it right a second time reward yourself with a cup of  tea or coffee or whatever is your want and leave it for a few hours.

When a few hours have passed go back to the essay, read it out loud whilst  walking and looking at the printed sheet and then try to memorise it again.

Once you are confident that you have memorised it completely, at the bottom  of the page write down the first few words of each sentence of your essay,  separated by a comma, and number each line for each paragraph. When you  have done that put in the number of sentences at the end of the list and bracket  it.

For example if I was writing out the first few words of this article for the  first 3 paragraphs it would look like this;

• Christmas and New year, A lot of, A closed book, One of the, At the moment (5)
• Together we have, Together with actively (2)
• In this article, sound hard? (2)

Now what you should do is only look at the list at the bottom of the paper  and read out from that whilst walking. This way you are only looking  at the first few words and finishing the sentence without looking at it. If  you get stuck just go back to the main essay and look at it, until you have  got it completely.

Now memorise the bottom of the sheet of paper with the first few words of  the essay and how many sentences are in each paragraph. This should only  take 10-15 minutes at the most.

This sounds a very convoluted way of memorising an essay but it is a lot easier  than it reads here.

Time taken to memorise

You should be able to memorise a full 500 word essay in about  3 hours, for your first time, using the above method. When you are practiced  you should be able to memorise a 500 word essay in about 60 "“ 90 minutes.

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You may also like, 50 jobs that ai will replace in the next 5 years, what is the tinkerbell effect, discover your emotional intelligence, the love language quiz will reveal your true self, the esm method of goal setting, 7 things you don't want to learn too late in life, about the author, steven aitchison.

Steven Aitchison is the author of The Belief Principle and an online trainer teaching personal development and online business.  He is also the creator of this blog which has been running since August 2006.

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• How to do a large amount of work in a small amount of time: advice from a veteran of rushing, botching, and bashing it out

1. Get in the zone

I don’t know about you, but I have a dozen little rituals I have to perform before I sit down to do a big slog of work. In general, I make it a rule to work in the library or university, because I find working at home, with all its possibilities of making and drinking tea, drifting off to watch TV, or being drawn into long conversations with my housemates, too distracting.

But when I’m really up against the clock, or even about to start what I know will be an all-nighter, I prefer to be in my room, with easy access to vital things like coffee, food and the shower. (N.B. There is nothing like a shower for waking yourself up in the middle of a miserable work-session. Just don’t do what I did one particularly inauspicious Wednesday at 4am: fall asleep sitting down in it with a foot covering the plug, and wake half an hour later under a jet of now-freezing water to find that you have transformed your bathroom into a giant soapy sea).

But back to the rituals. Before I do any serious, or seriously rushed, work, I’ve got to do a number of things to ‘get in the zone’. This might sound like elaborate procrastination — which, in reality, it most definitely is — but if I don’t do these little things, I find my concentration is poor, and my mind constantly wanders. First, my room has to be absolutely, books-in-alphabetical-order, spotless — mess is incredibly distracting, and when I’m working I want to use all the space on my desk. Plus, while you’re tidying you get to watch videos of cats falling over on YouTube. Next, I have to have a strong coffee (which I never drink more than a few sips of before remembering that I hate coffee and it gives me a headache — but it smells nice and is somehow a very reassuring thing to sit next to). Third, classical music doesn’t work for me; while I’m working, and especially at night, I find it keeps the mind sharp to blare out tragic noughties techno music. In particular, the songs of the ultimately unsuccessful Australian band Pendulum played at approximately a million decibels are so unpleasant they keep one constantly skittish with adrenaline, hammering out a thousand questionable words an hour while simultaneously imagining you’re in a warehouse rave. Finally, and most embarrassingly, I have a pair of leggings called my essay leggings that I like to wear while I’m working. They’re very comfy (and holey) and haven’t been replaced since my first year of university, because they’re somehow magically conducive to getting lots done in very little time. Now, the line between preparing oneself for work and procrastination is always thin, and one I continually find myself on the wrong side of. Your rituals might look very different to mine, and perhaps take a little less time. But if you need to do certain things to change your mindset from play to work, I’d advise you do them.

2. Work out exactly what you’ve got to do

Now that you’re sitting comfortably at your desk in your spotless room, work out exactly what you’ve got to do — and how long you’ve got to do it. Make a list of your tasks in order of priority, what they involve, the date they’re due in and how long you realistically think they’ll take. Your list might look something like this:

• Write out labels for Art coursework (2 hours, due tomorrow)
• Write self-analysis for Art coursework (3 hours, due tomorrow)
• Finish researching, plan and write History coursework essay (12 hours? 2 days? Due Friday)
• Finish Physics lab report (2 hours, due Thursday)
• Maths problems (3 hours, due tomorrow)

Now, for some of these tasks it will be absolutely essential that you hand the work in on or before the deadline. For any task that counts towards your coursework, or an exam, you’ll usually lose marks if they’re late — in my university, we would lose 5 marks out of 100 if an essay was handed in one minute after 12pm on the day of the deadline, and a further 10 if it was more than a day late. For these tasks, you absolutely can’t mess about — they should sit right at the top of your list of things to do, and be the first thing you get out of the way — and the ones you put most effort into getting right. But, even though it won’t make you very popular with your teachers, sometimes you’ve got to accept that you can’t do everything you’re expected to in a small amount of time. When I’ve got a big deadline coming up, I jettison everything else: I tell people I can’t make other commitments, even if that annoys them, and if I haven’t got time, I simply don’t do less important pieces of work. On the list above, for example, I might decide that only the pieces of coursework were really important, and that I wasn’t going to bother handing in the lab report or the Maths problems. Of course, all this is advice for an emergency situation: if you’ve got the time to do everything you need to, then deciding that you won’t is probably not the best strategic move and will mean you have to endure hours of unnecessary telling-off.

Make a timetable detailing exactly when you’re going to do each of the things on your list. Make sure you plan enough time for each task rather than being overly optimistic — you’re going to stick to this timetable no matter what . Think about the times of day when you work best, and how tired you’re going to be at various stages of the day/night/week you’re mapping out — the morning of your deadline, for example, when your eyes are itchy with tiredness and your brain about as much use as its equivalent weight in mincemeat, is probably not the best time to be proof-reading or tackling difficult Algebra problems. I study English and consequently write lots of essays, and I find that I can read and take notes at pretty much any time of day, but planning and writing are tasks I can only really do well first thing in the morning. Once you’ve made your plan, sit back and take a deep breath — it might be a rush, and you might not see sunlight for the next week, but it is possible to do everything you need to in the time you’ve got. All you need to do (and this is the important bit) is make sure you stick religiously to your timetable. Here’s how:

 4. Let things be less-than-perfect

If you’re still not happy with something near the end of the time you’ve allotted for it — tough. Finish up and leave it in its imperfect state — if you’re lucky, you might have time at the end to come back to it, but it’s much more important to stick to a schedule which will allow you to get everything done than it is to perfect one part of the task. This means not reading that extra useful-looking article, not toying with the wording in an introduction any longer, and leaving a problem you just can’t solve. Remember — when you’re working on any task, it’s completely normal that that task will feel like the most important one — but it’s important to take a step back and gain some perspective over your whole project. I’m constantly messing up because I find it really hard to leave things alone – – for example, I wasn’t happy with my dissertation last year the day before I handed it in, and decided to stay up all night before the deadline restructuring and rewriting the last 3,000 words before I’d even begun my referencing or conclusion. This meant (as I’m sure you can guess) that the section I rewrote was garbled and full of spelling mistakes, my footnotes and bibliography were a total mess and my conclusion was 5 lines long- not exactly what I’d planned when I decided to begin my noble rewriting mission, and not exactly the formula for a winning dissertation. Polished and finished, if slightly flawed, work will always make a much better impression than something messy and incomplete, even if it’s more carefully thought out — it actively irritates examiners to find silly mistakes or signs of haste in things they’re marking. Take it from me, look at the bigger picture and simply move on .

5. Be selfish

I’ve got a friend who actively refuses to make any plans other than a quick coffee for about four weeks before any deadline. Sometimes she doesn’t leave her house for days, and while she’s working she lets other people cook for her and tidy up her mess. Last year she didn’t go to her boyfriend’s birthday party because it was the week before a talk she was preparing. Now, this might all sound a bit mad, but my friend always does really, really well at everything she puts her mind to. Basically, in quite an extreme way she’s got her priorities straight — most of the time she’ll do anything for anyone, but when she’s got important work on her plate, she’ll say honestly that she needs to concentrate, and just can’t make other commitments. I, meanwhile, work in the absolute opposite way. I let friends come to visit me the week before a deadline because I don’t want to annoy them by cancelling, and am anxious about work and cranky for the whole time they’re there. I’ll go to the library with someone else but get annoyed when we distract each other. I end up getting so stressed out over all the commitments I’ve made that I can’t concentrate even when I’ve actually got time to work. I’ve come to conclude that my friend’s got it sorted. When you’ve got stuff to do, be selfish. This is one of very few chances you’ll have in your life (apart from, if you’re a girl, maybe your wedding) to be totally unreasonable, self-centred, and rude to everyone around you. Like a mad cross between Professor Snape and Kim Jong Un. Get your mum to make you dinner but refuse to sit and eat it at the table. Cancel plans, leave a mess. Refuse to read someone else’s work or do anyone a favour. Your friends might not like the new crazy you, but you’ll probably annoy them just as much by being irritable and stressed than you will by being selfish — and if you pick the latter course, you might actually get stuff done.

6. Do not entertain the thought that you might not finish

With the energy I’ve spent over the years asking for extensions, making up excuses or writing cringing apology emails to tutors and employers explaining that I just haven’t done things, I could have written novels. Stuff it, I could have written the Iliad . Extensions and the like might feel brilliant in the short term, but they’re not the solution to anything — you’ll still have to do the work one way or another, and you’ll annoy people and complicate your own life in the process of putting it off.

7. Just do the work

This is fairly self-explanatory. Though this article has tried to show that you can make things seem easier and more surmountable by organising, rationalising, and preparing, there are no magic solutions that can make you work miraculously quickly. There’s no substitute for sitting down, closing the door, turning off the internet and just doing your work . It might not be exactly fun, but it’ll feel worth it when you’re done, and then you can sleep and relax properly without feeling guilty or stressed. Got any top tips for getting things done quickly? Let us know in the ‘Comments’ section below!

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• how to memorise essays in less than a day

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Re: how to memorise essays in less than a day

Theaspiringdoc.

What I do to memorise essays is to read it out first, then look away from the paper and recall what you just read. Do this a few times until you’ve remembered most of it. If you want do it paragraph by paragraph and then rewrite the paragraph without looking at your paper. Then read the 2nd paragraph, recite it and write the 1st and 2nd paragraph from memory and so on. This is just something that works for me!

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Hi there, i have an essay to write in class this thursday (8th March) and i've just finished writing it. II have the memory of a goldfish, so I find it really hard to memorise essays. I need some tips as to how to memorise an essay in less than 2 days.. Any tips are appreciated, Thanks

• Rewriting the text. This helps (especially handwriting) as you have to go over words repeatedly. Consciously make an attempt to read each word, like you're talking to yourself in your head.
• Recording your own voice reading it back to you and listening to this, or getting a friend to do a favour and read it to you. Even if you find your voice annoying, you get used to it after a while. It's a really good way to memorise because you can be doing other things while phrases are being dumped into your brain.

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Okay, maybe this is just specific to me, but it seriously helped especially during prelims. I was having tests every day and for my English Extension I had 1 night to remember both my narrative and essay and I did word-by-word. All i would do is print out a copy, get and empty notebook and write. I would start with my bodies as they were most vital, then I would copy it down while reading it. This really helps. Then i would flip it over and see how much i could write before forgot what I needed, so would flip it over, read it, and cover it until I needed it again. Then do the same with you other paragraphs. After that I would go back to the first and try to do the whole essay still doing the read and cover thing I had going on, I think I did that twice and at this point you can see a massive improvement in how much you remember. Keep writing it and writing it.  I would really try and stick the first sentence of every paragraph as this will jog your memory, I always found if I couldn't remember the first sentence I couldn't remember anything. Its very tedious but it seriously sticks.

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How to Memorise HSC English Essays Using Only Key Points

When it comes to the HSC, trying to memorise HSC essays can seem almost impossible. With so many to draft, write and memorise, it can feel like you’re staring down an impossible task and asking yourself, ‘How do I memorise an essay?’

We’re here to tell you that you don’t have to memorise HSC essays — and shouldn’t!

What you should be focusing on is using key points , and we’ll guide you through this with our advice on how to smash out awesome essays based on memorised key points when it comes to the HSC.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!

Why You Shouldn’t Just Memorise HSC Essays The Benefits of Memorising Key Points How to Memorise Key Points

Why Shouldn’t You Just Memorise HSC Essays?

We’re not going to lie, there’s definitely some solid logic behind both sides of the debate on whether or not you should memorise HSC essays.

While we think attempting to memorise an essay is a great way to build up confidence and prepare for your exams, we know it’s not a technique that works for everyone.

With that in mind, let’s check out some of the benefits and drawbacks.

• Confidence – knowing your essay before you even walk into the exam room reduces any anxiety about not knowing what to write.
• Preparation – in order to memorise HSC essays you have to study and prepare, so you’ll be setting up good study patterns.
• Time saver – once you get into the exam you won’t end up spending any of your writing time trying to think up an idea or draft a plan for an essay.
• Quotes – it’s pretty much a given that you’ll only learn a certain amount of quotes for one essay, so having an essay pre-planned around those quotes avoids any chance of them not suiting what you’re trying to write.
• Answering the question – many people forget that they have to adapt their planned essay to the actual question, leading to essays that don’t actually suit or answer the question being asked.
• Memory – learning a whole essay is tough! Taking the time and effort to memorise HSC essays which can be 1000 words just isn’t reasonable for many people.
• Adapting – if the question asked is even a little different to what you prepared for you’ll be forced to adapt your essay, meaning you have to think fast and change things you’ve already drilled into your head.  

As you can see the pros are pretty awesome, but the cons definitely present some major drawbacks when you try to memorise an essay. So how do you get the best of both worlds?

It’s simple! You don’t memorise HSC essays – just the key points of an essay!

Why Memorise Key Points?

You’re probably wondering why memorising key points is going to be any better than trying to memorise an entire essay – and I get it, I do! I mean, where’s the logic in only learning pieces of a whole, right?

Wrong. Here’s why.

#1: It makes memorising easier

There’s no questioning that it’s easier to remember 16 dot points over a full, 1000 word essay.

The fact that there’s less content to learn will not only make it easier to get the info stuck in your head, it’ll also cut down on the time it takes to do it. Plus it’s way less daunting than trying to remember 3-4 pages of essay.

#2: It makes adapting easier

As mentioned before adapting is important and can be tricky when you’ve memorised a full essay, but if it’s only your key points you have stuck in your brain it’s pretty simple to adapt how you write about them.

It’s just a case of building the essay around the question, using your key points as the bricks and filling in the rest as you go.

#3: You can answer any question

This kinda goes with the last point, but being able to adapt your response easily means you can also make it suit any question.

Again, you’re avoiding the possibility of getting in there and writing something you know back to front, but doesn’t answer the question.

#4: It prevents rote learning

This is less about the essay itself and more about how you learn, but when you get into the habit of memorising an entire  response and just rewriting it in the exam, it creates rote learning.

Rote learning is basically just learning from memory recall and it can be useful, but it’s not the best way to learn to adapt your knowledge (and essay!) to different questions and situations. Just learning key points helps prevent that.

#5: It gives you confidence

Even though you’re not going in there with a full essay planned and memorised you’ll still be entering your exam knowing exactly what you need to know to formulate a strong response.

This will naturally make you feel way more prepared and help avoid any extra panic or anxiety on exam day.

How Do You Memorise Key Points?

Memorising key points is actually pretty simple, much more so than trying to memorise HSC essays!

It’s really just a case of figuring out what the most important elements of your essay, essay plan or analysis are and then studying them.

Follow our simple 5-step formula and you’ll have your key points memorised in no time at all without having to memorise an essay.

Step 1: Write an Essay

Okay, before you come with the pitchforks yelling about how this was supposed to be about key points, hear me out.

In order to know what your key points are, you actually have to have an idea of what you could write for an essay response. And what’s the best way to do that? You got it; write an essay.

The purpose of this section is for you to figure out what themes you want to work with, how you’re going to analyse your texts, what techniques and quotes you’ll use, etc.

The essay you write doesn’t have to be a perfect Band 6, but you want it to have all the features and functions of something you’d hand in to be marked.

Unsure how to write a strong essay? Check out this step by step guide to writing a Band 6 worthy essay here!

You can even use an essay you’ve already written if you don’t feel like writing a new one!

In that situation it’s super important that you go through the essay and edit it. Maybe you got some feedback from your teacher you need to address, or you’ve found some better quotes to use, just make sure it’s up to date and of awesome quality.

Step 2: Pull out TTEA

This is where we start breaking down and figuring out our key points so that we can learn them.

The best and quickest way to do them is by actually printing out your essay (or just grabbing it if it’s hand written) and highlighting anything that fits the TTEA structure.

What is TTEA, you ask?

Theme –  What theme are you talking about and in what way? Technique – What technique are you analysing? Example – What is your quote/textual reference? Analysis – Why does it all matter?

Basically these are the key points you’re pulling out of your essay to start memorising.

You’ll have to go through and highlight these in each body paragraph of your essay in order to figure out just what your key points will be.

If you feel like there are other things you need to include in your key points (e.g. context, comparisons, etc.) feel free to highlight them too.

That said, remember to highlight only the most important elements of your essay – we don’t want to end up with the whole thing coloured in with fluorescent marker.

In the end it will look a little like this (as an example, this paragraph is on Frankenstein ):

You’ll notice that in this case there’s also a lot of context in the paragraph, so I’ve gone ahead and highlighted the key parts of that too.

Other paragraph structures that may be useful to know include PEEL , TEEL and STEEL ! You’ll also want to know how to write effective linking sentences for your paragraphs.

Step 3: Study Your Key Points

So now that you’ve gone and highlighted all this stuff what are you going to do with it? Study it!

In order to get your key points into a study-ready format you’ll need to turn the TTEA things you highlighted into a set of super succinct notes.

Dot points are usually the best way to go, and I always found it good to break them up paragraph by paragraph.

This means you should end up with 4-5 dot points* per paragraph , making 16-20 dot points overall – way less than what you’d need to memorise HSC essays in full.

Disclaimer: If you have more than one quote per paragraph (which you definitely should) you can also choose to turn each quote into an individual dot point. I did this for the sake of organisation, making each quote and the techniques it included a single dot point, so this did mean I ended up with a fair few more than 4 dot points per paragraph.

My dot point format often ended up a little something like this:

• Theme statement
• Quotes (repeat for each quote, usually 4-5)
• Analysis point

Yours may follow this same pattern or be totally different, it’s up to your personal preference and what you want your notes to look like.

That all said, each set of notes will end up looking something like this.

These are now your key points!

That means it’s time to start studying them and trying to memorise them for your essay. Most people like to start by just reading over these notes a few times, but that’s definitely not the only or even the most effective way to learn them.

Some of the best techniques for learning your key points include:

• Flashcards – write your text and theme on the front and the context, quotes, techniques and analysis points on the back. Then only look at the front and try to remember what the back says. If you can remember them all you’re good to go, if not flip the card over and try again!
• Quizzing – you can quiz yourself just by not looking at the notes and trying to recall them, but giving them to a friend or family member to quiz you is way more fun. Just hand over your key points and have someone else ask you questions about them to see how well you remember them.
• Re-write them – getting some practical study in is always an awesome way to start memorising things, but it’s especially useful when learning how best to use key points. That means you’re going to want to start writing practice responses!

Step 4: Write a Practice Response

I can hear the indignant screams already; “You said this wasn’t about essays!” “This is the second essay you’ve made me write!”.

I get it, I do, but here’s the thing – if you want to be able to use your key points to effectively write an essay in your exam, you’re going to have to practice it at least once first.

Even though you’re not trying memorise HSC essays, the only way to test how well you can actually utilise your key points for an essay in an exam situation is by doing it. That means grabbing a past paper question and your key point notes, sitting down and getting stuck into it. This way you’re putting your knowledge to practical use as well as teaching yourself how to actually use your key points to develop an essay.

The best way to do it is by giving yourself 5 minutes to create a quick essay plan first. It’s as simple as reading over the question and then jotting down how you’ll fit each of your key themes/texts to the question – the rest should just flow naturally.

Let’s try an example!

Question: Understanding context is essential to understanding a text.

Looking at our notes from before we can pretty much just jot down how we might link it to the question. In this case it’s really important that we had that dot point on context, so by drawing on that we’ll be able to build up a really strong essay around it!

Pro Tip: If you feel like the question isn’t really suiting your key points you can always twist it by playing devil’s advocate!

I always recommend keeping your notes on hand the first time you try to write your essay based on your key points, just to give that sense of security, but if you feel super confident with your knowledge then give it a try without them!

Step 5: Rinse and Repeat

You know what they say – memory comes through repetition. That means you have to keep doing these things over and over to really get those key ideas stuck in your brain.

While I recommend doing at least a few practice essays (even some timed to make sure you’ll get everything down in the exam time limit) how you choose to study is up to you.

If you’re the read and re-read type or the kind who loves to be quizzed every other night then go with that – it’s all about what works for you!

Just keep practising and before long you’ll know every key point and quote at the drop of a hat. You’ll be ready to write those Band 6 essay responses in no time!

Preparing for the Common Module? Check out our step-by-step guide to HSC English Paper 1 with study tips and tricks!

Now you give it a try!

Remember that the big takeaway from this is that by knowing your key points you’ll be memorising enough information to get you ready for an essay, but the amount of effort you put in is always going to influence your final outcome.

That means that if you write 5 practice essays and study your key points every day for a week you’ll probably get a different end result than if you write your notes out once and then let them collect dust on your desk.

The effort that you put in is the results that you’ll get out, so get out there and start studying those awesome key points instead of trying to memorise an entire essay!

Not sure whether or not to memorise your essay? Check out our article on Memorising vs Improvising Essays !

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We can help you master HSC English essay writing and ace your upcoming HSC English assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

If you live in other areas of Sydney, we have tutors that can come to you! Get in touch with our Hoxton Park tutoring team or our  Wollongong HSC English tutors !

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Maddison Leach  completed her HSC in 2014, achieving an ATAR of 98.00 and Band 6 in all her subjects. Having tutored privately for two years before joining Art of Smart, she enjoys helping students through the academic and other aspects of school life, even though it sometimes makes her feel old. Maddison has had a passion for writing since her early teens, having had several short stories published before joining the world of blogging. She’s currently deferring her studies until she starts her Bachelor of Communication at UTS in the spring.

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How to Write an Essay in 1 Day

H ave you ever written an essay in 25 minutes? You have if you have ever sat for the SAT. While the stakes may be higher for a last-minute academic essay, the point is this: do not panic! Instead, read this six-step guide to writing an essay in a day:

1. Understand your goals

Whether you are writing a personal statement for a college or graduate school application, or an essay for a high school or college class, your assignment will have specific goals. Before you begin to write, review these goals. Clearly understanding your objective is essential when working with a shortened timeline.

2. Choose a topic

Under normal circumstances, you might devote several days to brainstorming a promising topic, and then you might write a detailed outline before writing and revising your essay over a week or two. When you are on a tight schedule, this is not possible.

So—write down the first three or four ideas that occur to you. If you cannot think of an appropriate topic, ask a parent or a friend to review the assignment with you. Do not spend more than 10 or 15 minutes on this part of your essay, as the execution ultimately matters more than the idea itself.

In addition, do not stress yourself about selecting the “perfect” topic. Without a topic, you will have no essay to turn in, and any essay is better than no essay. (It naturally follows that any topic is also better than no topic at all.)

3. Set deadlines

Establishing deadlines for a one-day essay is key. Budget 5-10 minutes for brainstorming, 15-20 minutes for creating an outline, and several hours for writing. You can also set aside an hour for feedback and review, and another hour for any necessary revisions. You should also allow for an hour-long break to recharge your mind. Finally, plan to submit your essay several hours before the deadline. A schedule with some flexibility will allow you to adapt to any unforeseen complications.

4. Arrange for reviewers in advance

Whenever possible, arrange for reviewers (such as your parents or friends) first thing in the morning, and let them know when they can expect a draft. When your deadline is in several days or weeks, you have the luxury of finding reviewers after you have finished your draft. With a shorter deadline, you will not have this ability. Be clear on the short turnaround time to ensure as smooth a review period as possible.

5. Outline your essay

There are many resources that can advise you on how to write a wonderful essay, but the purpose of this article is to shape that advice to the demands of a very short timeline. This includes resisting the urge to abandon the outline. Having an outline is even more important for a one-day essay than for a week-long project with a similar word count. A strong outline will keep your essay focused and organized from the start—which is critical when time constraints will limit your rewrites.

Your outline should not be detailed, and it should take no more than 15 or 20 minutes to complete. Determine your hook (see below for more information), and then jot down the threads that connect this moment to your central argument or idea.

6. Stay organized

When you are under pressure, your tendency may be to start writing and to see where your essay goes. Try instead to use a brief anecdote or emotional impact statement (i.e. the “hook” in your opening paragraph) to set the stakes for your essay. This is essentially your opportunity to state why your argument or idea is worth your reader’s attention.

Finally, remember that “perfect is the enemy of good.” Manage your expectations. Your goal should be to write a good essay, not a perfect one. If you have a compelling hook and a well-organized flow of ideas, check your writing for errors, and then send it in.

Brian Witte is a professional SAT tutor with Varsity Tutors , a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington and holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University

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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

• Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
• Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
• Revision:  Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

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Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

• Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
• Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
• Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
• Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
• Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

• Returns to your thesis
• Ties together your main points
• Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

• Including new arguments or evidence
• Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
• Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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10 Questions to Ask Kids Beyond "How Was School Today?"

These questions can open the door for more meaningful dialogue with kids..

Updated September 2, 2024 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina

• A Parent's Role
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• With a little creativity and a few well-crafted questions, you can have meaningful conversations.
• Don’t ask too many questions or your curiosity may feel like an interrogation.
• Resist the urge to tell your child what they should do if they say they experienced a problem.
• It’s important for kids to know that mistakes aren’t something to be embarrassed about.

It’s tempting to ask your child, “How was school today?” to get some information on how things are going. But you're likely to get back a monosyllabic response if you ask the same question day after day.

If you want to know more about what’s going on in your child's day-to-day life, you’re not alone. With a little creativity and a few well-crafted questions, you can turn those vague answers into meaningful conversations.

As I explain in my book, 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do , showing interest in your child's opinions and ideas is important. And there are many things you can do to encourage them to open up and share their thoughts.

Here are 10 creative questions designed to encourage your child to share more about their day, along with tips for fostering a comfortable environment for open communication.

1. "What was the best part of your day?"

This question shifts focus from the usual routine and encourages your child to share their favorite highlight. This question is also helpful if your child tends to gravitate to the negative things going on. Talking about the positive aspects of school might help them see that there’s always something good going on in their day, even if that highlight involves lunch or recess only.

2. "Did anything surprise you today?"

Surprises can range from unexpected science experiments to getting picked second for the kickball team. This question invites your child to reflect on the day’s events and share fun details you might not otherwise hear.

3. "Who were you proud of today?"

This question can foster social skills as you ask your child to think of someone they were proud of. Whether they were excited a friend got a good grade in math or they were proud of a peer who dared to participate in a game at recess, this question can help them see how they can cheer others on, instead of thinking of everyone else as their competition .

4. "When did you feel proud of yourself today."

In addition to pointing out why they feel proud of others, it’s also important for kids to celebrate their accomplishments. No matter how minor something might seem, taking a minute to acknowledge a time they were brave or a time when they were kind, can boost their confidence and reinforce good behavior.

5. "What’s one thing that would have made today even better?

This invites your child to express any frustrations or challenges they might have faced, giving you insights into areas where they might need support. It can also help them build problem-solving skills and identify things they want to change for tomorrow.

6. "What was the most interesting thing you learned?"

Encourage academic curiosity with open-ended questions that give them the freedom to share what interests them. Instead of asking about a specific subject or focusing on how they scored on a test, this question gives them the freedom to talk about their passions and it can foster a love for learning, regardless of how they perform on standardized tests.

7. "What did you play during recess?"

Recess is a key part of social and physical development. This question can lead to stories about friendship , teamwork , and play, revealing information about your child's social skills. It’s good to know whether they spent their recess playing alone, talking to friends, or joining in a group activity.

8. "Who were you kind to today?”

This encourages empathy and altruism . It prompts your child to consider how their acts of kindness have the power to impact others. It can also show that you value being kind to others if that’s something you value within your family–as to only valuing their academic success in school.

9, "What’s something new you’d like to try at school?"

This question can lead to your child sharing things they’re curious to try, whether it’s a new club or a musical instrument. Sometimes children get caught up with their current activities and forget to look for new ones. This question might remind them that there are plenty of other things to explore and try if they want.

10. "What’s a mistake you learned from today?”

Kids need to know that mistakes aren’t something to be embarrassed about and it’s not a sign of their intelligence . Instead, mistakes can be great learning opportunities. The more you normalize mistakes and failures, the more likely your child will recognize how to take responsibility and learn from their missteps.

How to Create an Environment for Open Communication

To make the most of these questions, it’s crucial to create a space where your child feels comfortable sharing. Here are some tips:

• Listen actively . Show genuine interest by maintaining eye contact and responding positively to their stories.
• Choose your timing. Your child may not be eager to talk right when they get home. You might find it’s better to talk over dinner or after they've had some time to unwind.
• Ask limited questions . Don’t ask too many questions or your curiosity may feel like an interrogation. If your child doesn’t want to talk, move on to another subject to keep your conversations about school fun.
• Model how to share. Share your day, showing that it’s okay to talk about both highs and lows.
• Don’t immediately give advice. Resist the urge to tell your child what they should do if they say they experienced a problem. Instead, ask them what they plan to do to address the issue and help them problem-solve.
• Talk during activities . Staring face-to-face may put pressure on your child. They may be more likely to open up when they’re coloring or while you’re playing catch.

Your conversations don’t have to be long and in-depth about school. Keep in mind the goal isn’t to just gather information, but it’s also an opportunity to connect and show your child that you value hearing about their thoughts and feelings.

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and the author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do .

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How to improve your memory: strategies for kids and adults

Coordinadora del Doctorado en Educación y Procesos Cognitivos, Universidad Nebrija

Investigador Sénior en el Centro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición (CINC), Facultad de Lenguas y Educación, Universidad Nebrija

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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We tend to think of people’s memories as being either good or bad. However, you might know someone with a terrible memory for names and faces who is very good at learning languages. Another person might have an extraordinary ability to recall past events in detail, but they struggle to memorise phone numbers.

These apparent contradictions are the result of our memories’ complexity. In fact, our memories are made up of various systems, which are supported by an array of neurobiological structures and mechanisms that vary depending on what we are learning and how we learn it.

Learning a new language, for instance, does not use the same brain mechanisms or processes as scientific information. This makes it difficult to generalise about what makes a particular memory strategy more or less effective in an educational environment.

In this article we will focus only on declarative memory : explicit pieces of information that we can consciously access, such as facts, dates, names, past events, concepts, and so on.

Memory strategies and mnemonics

Studies on competitive memory experts (people who can recall huge amounts of information) have shown that, although genetics accounts for much of our differences in being better or worse at remembering data, people can develop an exceptional ability to remember by using strategies they have practised over long periods of time.

The most commonly used techniques, known as mnemonics, are based on the creation of mental images or verbal strategies that usually require a lot of training.

Visualisation methods – such as the method of loci – consist of associating the items to be remembered with specific places. For example, you could memorise a shopping list by mentally following your route to work and leaving the items on the list in different places along the way. When you want to remember them, you would only have to mentally retrace the route.

This method is commonly used by memory experts, and neuroimaging data shows that, during memorisation tasks, memory experts have greater activation in the brain areas responsible for processing spatial environments.

The effectiveness of mnemonic strategies is rooted in three fundamental principles:

Relate the information you want to learn with things you already know.

Remember the route to access the information along with the information itself in order to recover it quickly.

Practice makes perfect: training and practising the first two processes is essential to having a sharp, agile memory.

Research on memory experts suggests that if someone can be trained in memory strategies to remember 67,890 digits of the number pi, it could also be used to boost learning in schools. However, while spatial or verbal mnemonic techniques have been proven to be highly effective, their actual use in everyday life is limited.

In school, this means they can be used to learn lists – such as planets or chemical elements – but not for more complicated materials or information.

Encoding memories and knowledge networks

Because of these limitations in school contexts, it is worth looking at other ways of improving memory. We can do this by focusing on the elements involved in memory processes themselves and applying the same principles as mnemonic strategies.

The creation of a memory begins when information is first perceived, catalogued and encoded in the brain. We know that the most important factor in learning new information is not the intention or desire to learn, but rather what we do with the information.

Deeply processing information by relating it to existing knowledge is the key to making it easier to memorise – it is much more effective to relate information to things we already know than just mentally parroting something until it sticks.

It is therefore essential to create rich networks of knowledge in which you can integrate and organise new knowledge. Remembering when the first American president was elected will be much easier if we relate it to what we already know about, for instance, the French Revolution. Researchers call this semantic encoding .

The process of retrieving a memory is just as important as the process of encoding it. All too often we know something but cannot access it, like when you have a person’s name on the tip of your tongue but cannot actually remember it.

For memory training to be effective, we must therefore store the keys with which we are going to access it together with the information itself. Repeated practice is essential for memorisation to occur more efficiently and quickly.

Getting to know your own memory

In schools, the most effective method is not to simply teach memorisation techniques, but to help students learn how their own memories work. As a general rule, the more knowledge they already have and the longer they practise effective memorisation strategies, the easier it will be for them to acquire new knowledge.

It is also essential to teach students which study strategies are the most effective for different types of content and assessment, and to focus on applying them with flexibility.

This article was originally published in Spanish

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Tackling the Personal Essay: Tips from a Notre Dame Admissions Counselor

Published: August 30, 2024

Author: Zach Klonsinski

If you ask almost any admissions professional which part of reading applications is their favorite, it’s likely their answer will be a resounding, “The essays!” Essays are where we get to engage with students’ hopes, fears, dreams, life experiences (and more) in their authentic voice. We are humbled every year getting to “meet” all the incredible young people who are applying to Notre Dame through their essays!

Yet, writing an essay introducing yourself can be really hard. Maybe you’ve never done so before, or you haven’t for a really long time, and often it will seem really awkward. That’s OK!

It feels hard because it is–or at least it can be.

Don’t worry, though! I love sharing tips with applicants about the personal essay that will hopefully help you see it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself and then share that discernment with the colleges who will be fortunate enough to receive your application!

Getting started

The easiest way to get started is by simply brainstorming! I love using pen and paper (I’m anti-pencil, though I realize that may be a divisive opinion). The physical materials help me feel less constrained by technology, though you may find the technology comforting.

Use bulleted lists or short phrases to capture ideas, life experiences, values, and more. Every day, set aside five minutes to write about yourself or your college discernment process without stopping to think. Where does your mind lead you when you get out of your own way?

Ask your friends and family to help you identify values that are important to you or things that make you.. well… you! Often it’s easier to highlight and say nice things about someone else than it is ourselves, so lean on those who know you well!

Group these collective nuggets to see if any patterns or stories emerge. Do you see any prompts on your application that align with your brainstorming? The Common Application, for example, has seven to choose from, including a make your own prompt! Start writing on one that makes you pause, as that means you might have something to say! Don’t be afraid to go longer than your word count or to use an atypical form of writing.

While that specific level of chaos may not work for you, I always recommend staying away from sentences and avoiding constraining yourself while writing because…

Editing is more than spelling and grammar!

When we want to “edit” something, it can be tempting to start–and just as quickly end–with spell check. (Yes, your essay should have proper spelling and grammar, but please know we are not reading your essay with a red pen “grading” every single comma.)

What is far more important–though also far more intimidating–is your essay’s content.

What really improved my writing actually had nothing to do with me–rather, it was finding trusted editors to give me honest and constructive feedback. While it’s tempting to have your best friend or family member read your essay, I’ve found my best editors possess a strong rhetorical mind, ask thoughtful questions, and are not afraid to tell me when something isn’t working the way I think it is.

This may describe someone close to you, but maybe not. Maybe there’s a classmate or teacher who you have always admired, even if you don’t know them that well. Editing is an incredibly vulnerable process; don’t be afraid to lean into that vulnerability! I promise that a strong editor who works with your voice and style–rather than rewriting your essay how they would have–will help bring forth an authentic essay you didn’t even realize you could write!

Speaking of, authenticity will lead to your best essay

The best application essay is the one that helps us get to know you. Period. Full stop. Any topic can be a good topic, any topic can be a bad topic. At the end of the day, the topic you choose to write about is only a gateway to help us get to know you!

Let’s think of it another way. Say you printed out your essay at your school, without your name or other identifying information on it, and someone who knows you picked it up and read it. If they said, “I bet this is (your name)’s essay,” I can already tell you’re on the right track. There’s something truly you about it!

Where can I find more about writing application essays?

I’m so glad you asked! On our On-Demand Sessions webpage , you can find a number of helpful recorded sessions from our College Application Workshop series. One of them, co-presented by yours truly, is called “Crafting the Perfect College Essay”. My colleague Maria Finan and I present our own tips and tricks for about 20 minutes and then take questions from a virtual audience for the remainder of the 45 minute session. I invite you to check it out, as well as the other sessions we have recorded!

Ready to Write Your App Essays? Advice from an Admissions Counselor on the Notre Dame Supplement

Zach Klonsinski is a senior assistant director with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

He is the regional counselor for Minnesota, Missouri (Kansas City), Wisconsin, Rwanda, Kenya, France, Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, and China - Beijing

• Read Zach's profile.

Georgia Bar Exam Details

Georgia Bar Exam information is subject to change without notice. Please verify with the Georgia Office of Bar Admissions . Please also reference the NCBE Covid-19 updates page for NCBE updates and individual jurisdiction announcements.

Bar exam details

A typical Georgia Bar Exam is a 2-day exam.

• Two 90-minute Multistate Performance Test (MPT) questions (AM)
• Four 45-minute essay questions (PM)
• Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), a 200-question, multiple-choice exam (100 questions in the AM, 100 questions in the PM)

Subjects tested

• Constitutional Law
• Contracts/Sales
• Criminal Law/Procedure
• Federal Civil Procedure
• Real Property

Georgia Essay Subjects

• Business Organizations
• Federal Practice and Procedure
• Georgia Practice and Procedure
• Non-Monetary Remedies
• Professional Ethics
• Wills and Estates
• Uniform Commercial Code (Articles 2, 3, & 9)
• Plus all MBE subjects
• “Closed universe” practical questions using instructions, factual data, cases, statutes and other reference material supplied by examiners.
• A scaled score of 75 or higher on the MPRE is required for admission.

Click here to learn more about the MPRE .

Scaled MBE and scaled essay/performance test scores are combined to determine if applicant has achieved a passing score of 270.

• MBE scaled score of 115 required to have MPT questions and essays graded.
• Combined score of 265-269 will result in re-grading of essays and MPTs.

Reciprocity

Acceptance of mbe score.

• Georgia does not accept an MBE score from an exam taken in another jurisdiction.
• A one-day Attorneys’ Exam, testing only the essay/MPT portion of the Georgia Bar Exam, may be offered to attorneys of other jurisdictions meeting certain criteria. A score of 135 is required to pass the Attorneys' Exam.

Admission on Motion

• A member in good standing of a reciprocating jurisdiction may be admitted on motion in Georgia if the applicant has engaged in the active practice of law for five of the seven years preceding application. Additional requirements apply.

BARBRI Bar Exam Digest

We compile all of the information that you need to know about the dates, format, subjects tested, deadlines, fees and more - for each U.S. state - in the free BARBRI Bar Exam Digest.

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How to Memorise Paragraphs

Last Updated: June 24, 2024

This article was reviewed by Annaliese Dunne . Annaliese Dunne is a Middle School English Teacher. With over 10 years of teaching experience, her areas of expertise include writing and grammar instruction, as well as teaching reading comprehension. She is also an experienced freelance writer. She received her Bachelor's degree in English. This article has been viewed 167,946 times.

This is a simple way to learn long paragraphs for any occasion. It helps to learn speeches for presentations, lines for plays or answers to questions in language speaking exams.

Community Q&A

Reader Videos

• Once you know a phrase highlight it. Thanks Helpful 28 Not Helpful 9
• Try learning five phrases, go to do something completely different for twenty minutes, then come back and test your knowledge of the five phrases before learning the next few. Thanks Helpful 20 Not Helpful 11
• Hand-writing the paragraph can also help you remember it. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2

Tips from our Readers

• Don't over work your brain! Spending all day trying to memorize will only make it more difficult. Split your day up so that you get to do activities that interest you in addition to learning your text. It's all about how your balance and manage your time!
• Depending on how long you have to memorize, try setting a goal each day and try to memorize at least 1-2 sentences.
• Try highlighting different sections in different colors. This may make it easier to remember.

• This technique won't work for everyone and it also depends on the size of the script. Thanks Helpful 69 Not Helpful 29

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• ↑ https://www.theclassroom.com/memorize-long-passages-12148758.html
• ↑ https://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/how-to-memorise-an-entire-essay-or-speech/
• ↑ https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/backstage-experts-answer-ways-quickly-memorize-lines-6719/

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Word of the Day

What it means.

Memento is a synonym of souvenir ; it refers to something that is kept as a reminder of a person, place, or thing.

// The box on the shelf in her closet is filled with mementos of her basketball career—awards, newspaper clippings, team photographs, and her old uniform.

See the entry >

memento in Context

“In the months after the Eagles trial was tossed out, the music memorabilia world returned to business. And if you think we’re just talking boomer items, think again. As the Prince guitar shows, a new generation had already begun prepping to lay out sizable cash for mementos of their youth. Those patched Cobain jeans went for $412,750. An anonymous buyer (rumored to be Jay-Z, whose team would not confirm) shelled out nearly $600,000 for a plastic crown the Notorious B.I.G. wore for a photo...” — David Browne, Rolling Stone , 7 June 2024

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Did You Know?

In Latin, memento is the imperative form (meaning it is used as a command) of meminisse , a verb that means “to remember.” (The term memento mori , which refers to a reminder of mortality, translates literally as “remember that you must die,” for example). The history of memento makes it clear where its spelling came from, but because a memento often helps one remember a particular moment, people occasionally spell the term momento . This is typically considered a misspelling, but it appears often enough in edited prose (including the work of such esteemed authors as George Eliot and Dylan Thomas ) to have been entered in most dictionaries as an acceptable variant spelling.

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How to Craft a Memorable Message, According to Science

• Charan Ranganath

Four ways to make your point in a way that sticks.

Numerous researches have shown that we forget much of what we experience in a day. Knowing this, how do you create messages so there is a better chance of people remembering them? The author uses concepts from memory science to help you craft messages — whether it’s a presentation, an email, or a speech — that will be likely to stick. One way to craft a memorable message is to chunk it up. Explicitly tie together the points that you want to convey under the umbrella of a central idea. With this approach, your listener can stitch the pieces together in a meaningful way and build a rich memory for that material. Or, when communicating about a complex topic, you can make your message memorable with a concrete example instead of something vague. Remember to provide callbacks as recalling something that we previously learned can make it stronger and easier to access when we will need it. Lastly, spark their curiosity. The key to memorable communication lies not in conveying the answer, but in establishing a compelling question.

Imagine sitting in a meeting where someone is giving a presentation. You’re somewhat interested in the topic, and the speaker seems to be doing a good job. The meeting ends, and 30 minutes later, you try to recall what was discussed. You can remember that the coffee was weak, the room was too cold, and the speaker was wearing a pink tie … but you can’t remember what he was talking about.

• Dr. Charan Ranganath is a professor at the Center for Neuroscience and Department of Psychology and the director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis, and the author of the book Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold On to What Matters (Penguin Random House).

Partner Center

30 years later, readers recall the 1994 Green Day ‘riot’ concert at the Hatch Shell

“i ended up at mgh because a glass bottle that had been randomly thrown into the air hit someone with me on the head.".

By Molly Farrar

Before Chappell Roan brought unthinkable crowds to Boston after blowing up seemingly overnight, there was Green Day.

In 1994, the punk-pop trio released their studio debut “Dookie,” and with it hit singles like “Basket Case,” “When I Come Around,” and “Welcome to Paradise.” Green Day quickly went from California indie to worldwide fame.

Maybe WFNX Radio didn’t anticipate their catapult onto the charts when they scheduled them for a free concert on the Esplanade. Thirty years ago, on Sept. 9, 1994, Green Day drew between 70,000 to 100,000 fans to the show, which quickly got out of control, The Boston Globe reported at the time.

Green Day headlined at the Hatch Memorial Shell to celebrate college students returning to the city. After the crowd swelled, fans stormed the metal barricades, and bottles were thrown, Green Day lasted about 20 minutes on stage.

More than 100 people were treated for illness and injuries, at least 20 were transported to local hospitals, and least one officer was injured, the Globe reported.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out,” a state police captain told the Globe then. “This will probably be the last [rock] concert on the Esplanade. We’ll have to bring the Boston Pops back.” (That prediction about further rock concerts proved false , although the next show to draw crowds of that size —  Dispatch’s farewell show in July of 2004 — was more subdued.)

HATCH SHELL MEMORIES:

An oral history of ‘The Last Dispatch,’ which brought 110,000 to the Hatch Shell 20 years ago

Readers share photos, memories of dispatch at the 2004 hatch shell concert.

Boston.com asked readers if they attended the show 30 years ago and what they remembered about the Green Day “riot.”

Some responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

‘It seemed like every teenager in the Boston area was there’

About 100 readers shared their memories with Boston.com. Some remembered blood and violence, while others thought the “riot” description was overblown. Troy Smith, the music director of WFNX at the time, told Boston.com that just a few hundred attendees were out of control.

“There was no riot,” Smith wrote to Boston.com. “State and local police bullied and punished some of the rowdies and it stirred up an already smoldering pot of emotions. Most who attended didn’t even know there were altercations and left the show in an orderly fashion.”

Here’s what some other attendees had to say:

“When the mayhem started I moved to where the ambulances were and watched as bloody kids were brought over and treated.” — Suzanne, Allston

“I ended up at MGH because a glass bottle that had been randomly thrown into the air hit someone with me on the head. I spent the rest of the night in the hospital waiting room watching the news coverage of the concert’s aftermath on a lobby TV. We’re still talking about that Hatch Shell show three decades later though, so unlike the bottle, Green Day’s back-to-school gig clearly left an indelible mark on Boston.” — Chris, Beverly

“The news reports and Boston PD totally overreacted and made a fun time into ‘a riot,’ which was far from the truth.” — Joe, Charlestown

Some readers remembered their experience leaving the venue more than they did the crazy crowd.

“When we were leaving the show, footbridges were shaking from the crowds walking on them and people were crossing Storrow Drive while cars were ripping by. It was a date night for me, with my now-husband. We still talk about that night!” — Dina, Back Bay

“My sister’s shirt was partially torn and then the pedestrian bridge that spanned Storrow Drive began to sway a bit as crowds frantically exited the area.” — Chris, Cambridge

Others, who were mostly teens at the time, remember the mosh pit, a lack of police and security, and a sadly shortened show.

“The crowd was huge, much bigger than everyone expected. I was in a mosh pit near the stage and got my glasses knocked off my face. Never saw them again so I had to stumble around the rest of the day without them. When the show was shut down there were so many people trying to cross Storrow Drive that people were walking over cars, including police cars. The whole event was quite memorable. My friends and I still occasionally discuss how crazy it was.” — Tom, Acton

“It was clear the organizers and city were underprepared as there were far fewer police than you would see for an event of a similar size, like a game or concert at Foxboro Stadium.” — Ryan, Cohasset

“I remember WFNX staff pleading with the crowd to back away from the barriers in front of the stage. When Green Day took the stage, the crowd erupted and formed what seemed to be a giant mosh pit. I remember laughing as I was separated from my friends by the movement of the crowd. It was like I was caught in a riptide. I remember seeing the crowd throwing pieces of the turf towards the stage.” — Steve, California

“It seemed like every teenager in the Boston area was there. They did a great job of advertising on the radio and word spread fast. It was the beginning of my junior year of high school. My friends and I weren’t particularly fond of Green Day, but they had some good songs that had become really popular that summer and were all over MTV. You tell a bunch of high school kids ‘free concert’ and you’re gonna have a huge, rowdy crowd.” — Pete, Wellesley

Review & setlist: Green Day celebrates two albums at Fenway Park

Two readers said the 30-year anniversary was especially resonant, since they were able to bring their children to see Green Day play “Dookie” in its entirety at Fenway Park last month .

“We were pretty far in the back of the crowd, and once we realized the show was over we watched most of the aftermath standing on Storrow Drive. Memorable night though. Still a fan — saw them for the second time last month at Fenway with my son, and it was a very different experience from the first time.” — John, Beverly

“My dad took me and my two friends into Boston for the show. We were 13 years old, and arrived as the show was starting. It all took a turn so fast. The glass Snapple bottles breaking!  The crowd almost pushed us into the duck pond! Somehow we all held hands and made it over the Fiedler bridge together and out of the mob, adrenaline pumping. My dad was a saint for navigating us through that! Core memory from my teen years. Fast forward to 2024 and I just took my 17-year-old daughter to the show at Fenway last month. So fun to see one of my favorite albums, ‘Dookie,’ performed in its entirety 30 years later.” — Abigail, Mendon

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